This week on FAQ Friday we discuss the ins and outs of transiting via the UK on a South African passport.<\/p>\n
<\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>Video Transcription<\/h2>\n<p>Welcome to another edition of FAQ Fridays with me, Nick Paul.<\/p>\n<p>Today we are going to be talking about UK transit visas. It is a rather complicated topic that we get asked about fairly often.<\/p>\n<h2>We are going to be looking at:<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>\u00a0What a transit is<\/li>\n<li>Under what circumstances you need a transit visa<\/li>\n<li>Changing airports in London<\/li>\n<li>Travel to Ireland<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Defining Transit<\/h2>\n<p>Transit is when you travel via a certain city en route to your final destination, and change planes but don\u2019t always leave the transit area of the airport. The transit area is area between the plane and the immigration desk.<\/p>\n<h2>\u00a0When will you need a transit visa for the UK?<\/h2>\n<p>The answer is almost always, especially when traveling via London. \u00a0There are a few exceptions (you need to check all of these conditions):<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>If your final destination is the USA, Canada, Australia or New Zealand<\/li>\n<li>If you hold a valid visa for your final destination and are only in the UK for the purposes of transit (no longer than 24 hours)<\/li>\n<li>If you hold a valid South Africa passport<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Changing Airports<\/h2>\n<p>Virgin Atlantic is a key culprit with this. They often have flights from South Africa into Heathrow and onwards to destinations in the Caribbean and certain parts of the USA, which depart from Gatwick. This means you collect your own luggage in Heathrow and travel through to Gatwick airport. So technically you are leaving the transit area of the airport.<\/p>\n<p>So, will you need a visa?<\/p>\n<p>Surprisingly, the answer is no. Reason being: you are in the UK for the purpose of transit, you are allowed to be there for 24 hours and you are heading straight on to your final destination. You are not stopping to spend time with friends or family, you are literally landing in London, travelling across the city and flying again.\u00a0 Therefore no transit visa is required, bearing in mind you need to meet all the requirements mentioned earlier.<\/p>\n<h2>Travel to Ireland<\/h2>\n<p>Ireland is a bit of a sticky one; it is the only visa free country for South Africans in Europe.\u00a0 You can go there without a visa, but if you are traveling there via the UK\/London you are going to need a transit visa to make that journey. Although Ireland is visa free, traveling via UK\/London is not.<\/p>\n<p>I would recommend if you are traveling to Ireland that you use flights via Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Paris, Istanbul, Dubai, or Abu Dhabi, as when transiting via those cities you do not require a visa.<\/p>\n<p>If you want more information about applying for a UK visa please click\u00a0<a title=\"UK Visa info\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gov.uk\/check-uk-visa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>If you have any questions about the topic of transit visas, or anything else travel related please ask them in the comments below. We may make a video about your question.<\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019t forget to <a title=\"travelstart youtube subscribe\" href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/travelstartchannel?sub_confirmation=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">subscribe<\/a> to our channel for more of these updates.<\/p>\n<p>*Disclaimer!<\/p>\n<p>All information on this page was correct at the time of publishing and may change at any time without prior notice. Travelstart will not be held liable for loss or inconvenience resulting from the use of information from this website.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This week on FAQ Friday we discuss the ins and outs of transiting via the UK on a South African passport. Video Transcription Welcome to another edition of FAQ Fridays with me, Nick Paul. Today we are going to be talking about UK transit visas. It is a rather complicated topic that we get asked about fairly often. We are going to be looking at: … <a title=\"UK Transit Visas – FAQ Fridays\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.travelstart.co.za\/blog\/uk-transit-visas-faq-fridays\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about UK Transit Visas – FAQ Fridays\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_destination_ratings":[],"_destination_review_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[524],"tags":[528],"class_list":["post-90490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faq-fridays","tag-faq-fridays","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>UK Transit Visas - FAQ Fridays - Travelstart Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.travelstart.co.za\/blog\/uk-transit-visas-faq-fridays\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UK Transit Visas - FAQ Fridays - Travelstart Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This week on FAQ Friday we discuss the ins and outs of transiting via the UK on a South African passport. 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