The Immigration (Passenger Transit Visa) (Amendment No. 2) Order 2003
1.
This Order may be cited as the Immigration (Passenger Transit Visa) (Amendment No. 2) Order 2003 and shall come into force on 16th October 2003.
2.
(1)
(2)
In article 2(5), for “paragraph 4”, there shall be substituted “this Order”.
(3)
In article 3, for “A”, there shall be substituted “Subject to article 3A, a”.
(4)
“Exemption from the requirement for a transit passenger to hold a transit visa3A.
(1)
A transit passenger is not required to hold a transit visa if he holds or a person with whom he arrives in the United Kingdom holds on his behalf:
(a)
a valid visa for entry to Canada or the United States of America and a valid airline ticket for travel via the United Kingdom from another country or territory to the country in respect of which the visa is held;
(b)
a valid visa for entry to Canada or the United States of America and a valid airline ticket for travel via the United Kingdom from the country in respect of which the visa was held to another country or territory;
(c)
a valid USA I-551 Permanent Resident Card issued on or after 21st April 1998;
(d)
a valid Canadian Permanent Resident Card issued on or after 28th June 2002;
(e)
a valid common format Category D visa for entry to an EEA State;
(f)
a valid common format residence permit issued by an EEA State pursuant to Council Regulation (EC) No. 1030/2002;
(g)
a diplomatic or service passport issued by the People’s Republic of China; or
(h)
a diplomatic or official passport issued by India.
(2)
In paragraph 1(b), “valid visa” shall include an expired visa provided that the visa in question did not expire more than two clear calendar days before the date of the arrival in the United Kingdom of the transit passenger with that visa.”.
(5)
For Schedule 1 there shall be substituted the Schedule to this Order.
3.
SCHEDULENEW SCHEDULE TO BE SUBSTITUTED
“SCHEDULE 1COUNTRIES OR TERRITORIES WHOSE NATIONALSOR CITIZENS NEED TRANSIT VISAS
Afghanistan
Albania
Algeria
Angola
Bangladesh
Belarus
Burma
Burundi
Cameroon
Colombia
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Ecuador
Eritrea
Ethiopia
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
Gambia
Ghana
India
Iran
Iraq
Ivory Coast
Lebanon
Liberia
Moldova
Nepal
Nigeria
Pakistan
Palestinian Territories
People’s Republic of China
Rwanda
Senegal
Serbia and Montenegro
Sierra Leone
Somalia
Sri Lanka
Sudan
Turkey
Uganda
Vietnam
Zimbabwe”
This Order is made under section 41 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 and amends the Immigration (Passenger Transit Visa) Order 2003 (“the 2003 Order”). The 2003 Order requires, subject to certain exemptions, citizens and nationals of countries and territories specified within it, along with holders of specified travel documents, to obtain a transit visa when passing through the United Kingdom on their way to another country or territory.
This Order amends the 2003 Order in two ways. Firstly, it exempts certain categories of transit passenger from the requirement to hold a transit visa. A transit passenger will be exempt in this way if he holds, or a person of whom he is a dependant and with whom he arrives in the United Kingdom holds on his behalf, one of the documents or sets of documents set out in paragraphs (1)(a) to (h) of new article 3A.
Secondly, the Order substitutes for Schedule 1 in the 2003 Order that lists the countries and territories whose citizens or nationals need transit visas a new Schedule (article 2(5)). This new Schedule adds Angola, Bangladesh, Cameroon, India, Lebanon and Pakistan to the list of countries and territories whose citizens or nationals need transit visas and deletes Libya, the Republic of Croatia and the Slovak Republic from that list. Because of this substitution the Order also revokes the Immigration (Passenger Transit Visa) (Amendment) Order 2003 (article 3).