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I'm trying to travel to Nassau, Bahamas from Colombo, Sri Lanka with 1 connection in London Heathrow.

I am concerned about the "onward" ticket requirement in the DATV transit visa requirement. I think they will not grant it if I am on 2 separate tickets.

I can't seem to get it all on one itinerary. I can see there are flights in February on flightconnections.com but when I searched google flights and ITA, I can't find that route on a single itinerary. I would rather not use a travel agent.

Is this a concern? Is it important to book as a single itinerary?

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  • it might be better to ask if two separate tickets satisfy the "onward" ticket requirement. It is my experience with other countries that nobody asked if it was one ticket or not.
    – Kate Gregory
    Jan 24, 2021 at 15:59
  • I think it’s a bit more nuanced than that assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/…
    – Traveller
    Jan 24, 2021 at 16:18
  • Yes, does 2 separate tickets satisfy the onward ticket requirement?
    – zwdev2
    Jan 24, 2021 at 17:01
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    @Traveller I read all six pages in there related to DATV and there was nothing at all about separate tickets vs single itinerary. The rules were more like "is that a sensible routing" and "do you think they actually intend to leave the airport instead of continuing their trip".
    – Kate Gregory
    Jan 24, 2021 at 17:17
  • @Kate Gregory Yes, that’s what I meant to point out to the OP.
    – Traveller
    Jan 24, 2021 at 17:23

1 Answer 1

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The issue won't be the UK embassy, but the airline. With separate tickets, check-in companies usually won't consider you an airside transit passenger, the main reason being you're not "insured" if anything goes wrong with the connection, leaving you stuck in the transit area. As such, they'll most likely deny boarding on the flight to the UK.

While the relevant UK government guidance says DATV holders may be allowed to cross the border in case of disruptions, this is internal guidance for UK officers and hardly for airlines, who instead tend to follow the blanket policy that transit on separate tickets isn't transit.

In your place, I'd get a Visitor in Transit visa, which lets you cross the UK border and stay for max 48 hours. With this, you should have no problems boarding your flight.

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  • I feel that the DATV has more chance of approval than a Visitor in Transit. The problem is the 2 passengers are unemployed, single, and 30+.
    – zwdev2
    Jan 24, 2021 at 17:56
  • @zwdev2 The difference isn't huge, but if you want, contact the handling agent for the relevant airline at Colombo airport (perhaps visiting the airport would be easiest), and ask if they'd let you board with a UK DATV if having separate tickets. No point in getting a visa if you're not getting on the plane.
    – Crazydre
    Jan 24, 2021 at 17:59

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