Travelling through UK, what is considered a "common format residence permit"?
I will be travelling through UK (Manchester) from Africa to Paris.
I will pass through border controls since I have to pick up my luggage and check in again in a different terminal but still at Manchester Airport. It is a landside transit.
My flight to Paris is on the same day (7 hours later). I have a Lebanese passport and a 10-year French residence permit (titre de séjour). It was issued in April 2010 (to April 2020). It is plastified, pink/purple in color, and has a bull and 5 stars on it. It does not have a chip. It is a little bit bigger than the "credit-card sized model" (mine is 10.5 cm by 7.5 cm).
Having a common format EEA residence permit allows me to transit via the UK.
Is the residence permit that I have considered a common format residence permit? Even without a chip and not the credit card size?
Best Answer
The common format residence permit is indeed a red and blue (or pink and purple, depending on the ambient lighting) card with a bull and stars. Older ones will not have a chip, but they remain valid even without a chip. France added the chip to theirs in June 2011.
France residence permits after and before June 2011:
Image source: Government of France
You will need to show both your passport and this residence permit when you check in for your flight in Africa, so that the airline can confirm your ability to transit the UK. They will deny boarding without it.
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What is classed as the Common Travel Area?
The Common Travel Area (CTA; Irish: Comhlimist\xe9ar Taistil, Welsh: Ardal Deithio Gyffredin) is an open borders area comprising the United Kingdom, Ireland, Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands. The British Overseas Territories are not included.What counts as continuous residence UK?
Continuous residence is time you've spent in the UK without gaps. You can leave the UK during the continuous residence for up to: 180 days at a time. 540 days in total.What is UK Common Travel Area?
Details. The Common Travel Area (CTA) is a long-standing arrangement between the UK, the Crown Dependencies (Bailiwick of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Isle of Man) and Ireland that pre-dates both British and Irish membership of the EU and is not dependent on it.What is common format residence permit?
People with a "Common Format" residence permit for another EEA (European Economic Area) or Switzerland are usually exempt from requiring a Direct Airside Transit Visa or A Visitor In Transit Visa. The term "Common Format" simply refers to a residence permit issued within the EU (European Union), EEA or Switzerland.Direct Airside Transit VIsa UK (DATV)
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Answer 2
A new uniform format (or common format) had been adopted by the EU in 2017 and issued since 2019. Its use has been mandatory for member states (incl. EEA and Switzerland) since 2021. Existing cards will remain valid until their expiry dates or by 3 August 2026 (whichever is the earliest).
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