Flight to Baghdad from Heathrow

Question

I posted a question earlier about a problem I had when I travelled to Jordan few months ago.

I had a flight to Jordan from Gatwick to stay few days in Jordan, so at the time my final destination was Jordan. My departure was fine from Gatwick, however when I reached Jordan there were some slight problems that affected my entrance. The problem was is that I used to live in Jordan for 2 years and I left it 2004, when I left it at the borders they told us we wouldn't be allowed to enter Jordan for another 4 years (it's a rule they used to have for people who stay in Jordan and then leave it). When I had my flight few months ago to Jordan at the passport control in Amman airport the issue about the 4 years rule popped up and they seemed to have misspelled my mother's name when I left Jordan in 2004. It took them some time to allow us to enter Jordan. I don't know if the issue still exists.

I've got a flight from Heathrow to Baghdad with Royal Jordanian in few days, this flight has a layover of 10 hours in Jordan. I was just wondering at Heathrow when I check in with the airline do they care if I have any issues in entering Jordan that could affect my boarding? Or do they not look for such issues with passengers? Can they actually see on their computers if I had any issues with a country I'm travelling to when they scan my passport? Same question goes for the passport control at the gates in the airport.

I was thinking I wouldn't have any issues at Heathrow because my final destination is Baghdad anyway and not Jordan, but just wanted to ask you to make sure.

Answer 1

The airline check-in counter is not going to bother with the Jordanian leg of the flight since you'll fall under Transit Without Visa (TWOV) for that part SEE EDIT. What they will check though is your visa for Iraq, and if needed, they'll seek pre-authorisation from UK Border Agency and note down your visa details. Also, since the airline has no access to Jordanian passport control's database, they'll simply consider you as any other passenger transiting in Jordan.

Edit: According to Timaticweb, you do need a visa for Iraq. Furthermore, Jordan's TWOV rules only allow for a maximum transit time of six hours, and in case of transit times between six to 24 hours, you need to leave your passport at the passport control desk. Since you're only transiting, this may or may not be a problem in case their system flags you as a person who's not allowed into Jordan.

Jordan

Visa required, except for Holders of onward tickets for a max. transit time of 6 hours.

Visa required, except for Holders of onward tickets transiting for longer than 6 hours, but less than 24 hours must leave the airport. Passports must be left at the immigration desk. The airlines can arrange this.

I would suggest calling up the Jordanian Embassy in UK.