Kacey

Hello to all... Some of you may recall my post last week regarding the problems we
have run into with the ticket that we purchased for Basri.

Brief recap - Basri is a Turkish citizen residing in Germany. He has K-1 interview
TOMORROW! (woohoo). We purchased a ticket that has a layover at London Heathrow.
Only to find out after it was too late, that he was required to have a transit visa.
Due to lack of information given by travel company when booking the flight, and
timing, I have been trying for the past week to get that original flight canceled so
we could purchase a different ticket that would not require a layover in a 3rd
country. No luck.

British Airways is now telling me that Basri simply needs to get on his flight from
Stuttgart to Heathrow. When he gets to Heathrow, they will issue him some sort of
voucher, which he then takes to a Transit visa counter, to get the transit visa
issued. They are claiming this is no problem, is standard policy, and that it will
only take a few minutes. However, they can not provide ANYTHING to me in writing that
has this "policy" stated on it. I'm VERY concerned that something will go terribly
wrong and he'll end up being detained in London and sent back to Germany or something
horrible like that.

Has anyone here had experience with obtaining a transit visa at the airport in
Heathrow at the time of arrival there?

Too much has gone "wrong" for us lately, I really want to avoid any unnecesary
problems on the day of his flight!

Thanks for any help you may be able to offer! Kristen

Johnpunkinbutt

Sorry to hear that you've been having problems. I am british, and whenever I fly
somewhere and need to transit via another country, I usually get issued a card to
fill in and hand into officals at the airport in order for me to stay at the airport
for my other plane. I wouldn't imagine them sending Barsi back to his country over
this. He should be able to fill in a card on the flight to London or in the airport.

Probably not much help... although good luck with the interview

Mrtravel@Sbcglo

kacey wrote:
    >
    > Hello to all... Some of you may recall my post last week regarding the problems we
    > have run into with the ticket that we purchased for Basri.
    >
    > Brief recap - Basri is a Turkish citizen residing in Germany. He has K-1 interview
    > TOMORROW! (woohoo). We purchased a ticket that has a layover at London Heathrow.
    > Only to find out after it was too late, that he was required to have a transit
    > visa. Due to lack of information given by travel company when booking the flight

I agree, the travel agent should have indicated this or at least warned him to check.
However, the end responsibility was his.

    >
    > British Airways is now telling me that Basri simply needs to get on his flight from
    > Stuttgart to Heathrow. When he gets to Heathrow, they will issue him some sort of
    > voucher, which he then takes to a Transit visa counter, to get the transit visa
    > issued. They are claiming this is no problem, is standard policy, and that it will
    > only take a few minutes.

I would trust BA at their word on this. After all, they would be penalized for him
showing up without proper paperwork. I would check with BA in London or Frankfurt. If
anything, you can see if the answer matches.

Alvena Ferreira

kacey wrote:
    > Brief recap - Basri is a Turkish citizen residing in Germany. He has K-1 interview
    > TOMORROW! (woohoo). We purchased a ticket that has a layover at London Heathrow.
    > Only to find out after it was too late, that he was required to have a transit
    > visa. Due to lack of information given by travel company when booking the flight,
    > and timing, I have been trying for the past week to get that original flight
    > canceled so we could purchase a different ticket that would not require a layover
    > in a 3rd country. No luck. British Airways is now telling me that Basri simply
    > needs to get on his flight from Stuttgart to Heathrow. When he gets to Heathrow,
    > they will issue him some sort of voucher, which he then takes to a Transit visa
    > counter, to get the transit visa issued. They are claiming this is no problem, is
    > standard policy, and that it will only take a few minutes. However, they can not
    > provide ANYTHING to me in writing that has this "policy" stated on it. I'm VERY
    > concerned that something will go terribly wrong and he'll end up being detained in
    > London and sent back to Germany or something horrible like that. Has anyone here
    > had experience with obtaining a transit visa at the airport in Heathrow at the time
    > of arrival there?
    >
You might get some comfort from reading this URL:
http://www.gitatravels.com/traveltips/ba_info.html Alvena

Doc Steen Site: http://www.mindspring.com/~docsteen/...o/visainfo.htm
=========================================
I am not a lawyer and this is not immigration advice. This is my personal opinion,
gleaned from the previous postings of others, and posted for the purpose of
discussion only. If your case is complicated, then you may need an immigration
attorney. Locate an immigration attorney in your area at: http://www.aila.org
=========================================

Kacey

Alvena:

Thank you SOOOOO much for that link! It DEFINATELY makes me feel better! Still have
had no luck getting ahold of Heathrow, or British Airways in London to get more
specific answers. Was beginning to panic again until I read the info you posted.

Thank you thank you thank you. I think he'll be just fine.

    > >
    > You might get some comfort from reading this URL:
    > http://www.gitatravels.com/traveltips/ba_info.html Alvena

Just Me

Cyprus is very much Europe. It will be one of the next countries (if not the next) to
join the EU.

"mrtravel" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > It is more difficult lately to reach BA. They cut back thousands of people. I am
    > still waiting on a reply to emails sent last week regarding advance seat
    > assignements from Heathrow to Cyprus next Saturday. All of the documentation for my
    > One World status indicates I should get seats assignements even when they are not
    > normally given in economy class. I am flying San Jose, Ca to JFK to London to
    > Larnaca. I have 2 1/4 hours in London and by the time I change terminals I don't
    > want to be stuck with a middle seat for the 2000 miles to Larnaca. Oh well, at
    > least my AA flights from San Jose to NYC to London are in business class.
    >
    > So, in a week, I will probably not be online for 3 weeks. Although I took my laptop
    > to Europe last year, I don't plan on lugging it around this year to Cyprus and
    > BENELUX. Oddly enough, I thought I was going to Europe. I didn't realize Cyprus was
    > actually over the line and in Asia. That's great, my wife is from Asia. I know, she
    > doesn't look Asian, but she was born east of the Ural Mountains and that is the
    > boundary.
    >
    > Relax on the visa.

Andy Platt

"just me" <[email protected]> wrote ...

    > Cyprus is very much Europe. It will be one of the next countries (if not
the
    > next) to join the EU.

When Turkey joins, they'll be one giant country which is mostly in Asia in the EU!

Andy.

--
I'm not really here - it's just your warped imagination.

Mrtravel

just me wrote:
    >
    > Cyprus is very much Europe. It will be one of the next countries (if not the next)
    > to join the EU.

Many souces say it is in Asia, including World Book. It is listed also as being on
the border of Asia, Africa, and Europe.

In any case, it will be a warm weekend on the dryest island in the Med.