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I am planning a holiday trip to EU before heading home for my vacation in India.

I am an Indian Citizen and am currently on an F1 visa. I am using my tax money to travel to Germany to meet my friend during August-September.

I have booked British Airways, where I fly from San Diego to London with 2.40-hour halt in Heathrow and London to Munich, Germany. I will be in Germany little less than 2 weeks before I head to India. My flight back is, Munich, Germany to London with 4 hours connecting in Heathrow and London to Chennai, India. My last leg of the flight is from Chennai, India to San Diego, USA via Heathrow (3-hour halt).

Leg 1: SAN-LHR-MUC: Won't need a visa as I am traveling from the USA.

Leg 2: MUC-LHR-MAA: Do I need to DATV for my transit in London. I will not be leaving the airside.

Leg 3: MAA-LHR-SAN: I don't need a transit visa as I am traveling to UK to the USA with a valid visa.

I have my Schengen visa for the trip Do I need to get DATV for Leg 2 of my flight? I called up British Airways and they said, I don't have more than 24 hours of transit, so I don't need a visa but the UK visa and immigration page says something different.

Any help would be appreciated… I don't want to miss my connection or pay more money if I can get a hassle-free vacation with just additional $68 for the DATV.

P.S The whole trip is done in a single booking.

UPDATE: BRITISH AIRWAYS, as usual, wasn't very helpful nor was the email from the British embassy. I applied for the DAT visa and awaiting the decision, Will update the post when I get the visa. I shall also update this post with the DAT visa process.

UPDATE: 29th July: DAT VISA approved and got a multileg entry for 6 months.

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I think your interpretation is correct. At least the MUC-LHR-MAA journey, if booked separately, does not seem to fall under any of the exemptions listed on the official website.

If in doubt, the government website is obviously more authoritative than the airline but on the other hand the airline has to check people's documentation before letting them board a flight and would have experience with the fine points of the rules. In any case, if the time and money involved are no objections, applying for a visa cannot hurt.


EDIT: The document you found offers an example that does suggest you could do the whole trip without transit visa, provided it's all part of the same booking:

The passengers are usually returning to their place of residence from a visit to one of the four countries listed above. They do not need to be travelling in direct transit to their final destination and side visits may be made (for example: Los Angeles – London Heathrow –Madrid – London Heathrow –Mumbai provided the passenger is assured of entry to the country being visited on the side trip - in this example Spain). Entry must be assured - a Category “C” Schengen visit visa would be sufficient. The entire journey must be part of a single journey to the passenger‟s final destination. Breaks are however allowed in the journey provided all the travel is part of the same booking.

Your US visa must also still be valid.

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  • Thank you! I checked the Carrier liaison section under section 2.5, I guess i fall into the category listed under section 2.6 a)..gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/…
    – htnakum
    Jun 27, 2014 at 23:22
  • It would be 2.6 (ab) I think.
    – Relaxed
    Jun 28, 2014 at 8:10
  • Thanks a lot for you help! Relaxed...What do you mean by booked all at once? It is all booked in one booking and have one PNR and same booking reference...Does that mean its ok? Yes, I do have a valid US visa
    – htnakum
    Jun 28, 2014 at 8:16
  • @htnakum I would think so but I am just paraphrasing the document here (“part of the same booking”). I don't need a visa to enter the UK and I am not a lawyer so I don't have any direct experience with this.
    – Relaxed
    Jun 28, 2014 at 8:17
  • @relaxed..Cool! thanks..I understand but I shall keep this post updated with the response from US embassy and British airways Germany sector.
    – htnakum
    Jun 28, 2014 at 8:20

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