The Immigration (Passenger Transit Visa) (Amendment No. 2) Order 2003

Statutory Instruments

2003 No. 2628

IMMIGRATION

The Immigration (Passenger Transit Visa) (Amendment No. 2) Order 2003

Made

14th October 2003

Laid before Parliament

15th October 2003

Coming into force

16th October 2003

In exercise of the powers conferred upon him by section 41 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999(1), the Secretary of State hereby makes the following Order:

1.  This Order may be cited as the Immigration (Passenger Transit Visa) (Amendment No. 2) Order 2003 and shall come into force on 16th October 2003.

2.—(1) The Immigration (Passenger Transit Visa) Order 2003(2) shall be amended as follows.

(2) In article 2(5), for “paragraph 4”, there shall be substituted “this Order”.

(3) In article 3, for “A”, there shall be substituted “Subject to article 3A, a”.

(4) After article 3, there shall be inserted:

“Exemption from the requirement for a transit passenger to hold a transit visa

3A.— (1) A transit passenger is not required to hold a transit visa if he holds or a person with whom he arrives in the United Kingdom holds on his behalf:

(a) a valid visa for entry to Canada or the United States of America and a valid airline ticket for travel via the United Kingdom from another country or territory to the country in respect of which the visa is held;

(b) a valid visa for entry to Canada or the United States of America and a valid airline ticket for travel via the United Kingdom from the country in respect of which the visa was held to another country or territory;

(c) a valid USA I-551 Permanent Resident Card issued on or after 21st April 1998;

(d) a valid Canadian Permanent Resident Card issued on or after 28th June 2002;

(e) a valid common format Category D visa for entry to an EEA State;

(f) a valid common format residence permit issued by an EEA State pursuant to Council Regulation (EC) No. 1030/2002;

(g) a diplomatic or service passport issued by the People’s Republic of China; or

(h) a diplomatic or official passport issued by India.

(2) In paragraph 1(b), “valid visa” shall include an expired visa provided that the visa in question did not expire more than two clear calendar days before the date of the arrival in the United Kingdom of the transit passenger with that visa.”.

(5) For Schedule 1 there shall be substituted the Schedule to this Order.

3.  The Immigration (Passenger Transit Visa) (Amendment) Order 2003(3) is hereby revoked.

Beverley Hughes

Minister of State, Home Office

14th October 2003

Article 2(5)

SCHEDULE NEW SCHEDULE TO BE SUBSTITUTED

Article 2

“SCHEDULE 1 COUNTRIES OR TERRITORIES WHOSE NATIONALSOR CITIZENS NEED TRANSIT VISAS

• Afghanistan

• Albania

• Algeria

• Angola

• Bangladesh

• Belarus

• Burma

• Burundi

• Cameroon

• Colombia

• Democratic Republic of the Congo

• Ecuador

• Eritrea

• Ethiopia

• Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

• Gambia

• Ghana

• India

• Iran

• Iraq

• Ivory Coast

• Lebanon

• Liberia

• Moldova

• Nepal

• Nigeria

• Pakistan

• Palestinian Territories

• People’s Republic of China

• Rwanda

• Senegal

• Serbia and Montenegro

• Sierra Leone

• Somalia

• Sri Lanka

• Sudan

• Turkey

• Uganda

• Vietnam

• Zimbabwe”

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order is made under section 41 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 and amends the Immigration (Passenger Transit Visa) Order 2003 (“the 2003 Order”). The 2003 Order requires, subject to certain exemptions, citizens and nationals of countries and territories specified within it, along with holders of specified travel documents, to obtain a transit visa when passing through the United Kingdom on their way to another country or territory.

This Order amends the 2003 Order in two ways. Firstly, it exempts certain categories of transit passenger from the requirement to hold a transit visa. A transit passenger will be exempt in this way if he holds, or a person of whom he is a dependant and with whom he arrives in the United Kingdom holds on his behalf, one of the documents or sets of documents set out in paragraphs (1)(a) to (h) of new article 3A.

Secondly, the Order substitutes for Schedule 1 in the 2003 Order that lists the countries and territories whose citizens or nationals need transit visas a new Schedule (article 2(5)). This new Schedule adds Angola, Bangladesh, Cameroon, India, Lebanon and Pakistan to the list of countries and territories whose citizens or nationals need transit visas and deletes Libya, the Republic of Croatia and the Slovak Republic from that list. Because of this substitution the Order also revokes the Immigration (Passenger Transit Visa) (Amendment) Order 2003 (article 3).

(1)

1999 c. 33.

(2)

S.I. 2003/1185, amended by S.I. 2003/1598.

(3)

S.I. 2003/1598.