Hi there!

I am holidng a chinese passport which is a national reqiure transit visa to UK. However I also holds a residence permit(BE)in Germany which is valid till 2010. I am going from Düsseldorf via London to Nairobi, transit time less than 5 hours. Can someone me tell me whether I am exempted from the transit visa regulation?
thanks!

Usally not(no air transit visa required!) if you hold any kind of long term residence permit in the EU(D visa!!)..but some nationalities like Srilankans need a Air transit visa, even if they possess a D visa.. Check http://www.britischebotschaft.de/en/consular/visas/ for your case..

Do not forget to carry a print out because the check in staff in Germany never understand these rules.. I was trapped in the BA counter last year for over an hour with ill treatment for traveling through London!!!

Finally, i was allowed to board the flight..

Why not choose Emirates to avoid the mad-cow rush at Heathrow..

Good Flying and be careful with the checkin baggage as BA is the worst airline w.r.t handling baggage :-)

"If you do not leave the airport, then you dont need a transit visa". This is what is stated on UK Govt. website.

BUT

I bought a BA ticket from India to Germany via Heathrow. According to the ticket, my flight had to land at Terminal 4 and I had to go to terminal 5 and board a BA flight to Germany.

British Airways told me that I needed a transit visa.

BUT

British Embassy India told me that I dont need a transit visa, depends on the airline.

Finally, I cancelled the BA ticket, since I had to apply for the visa. I hold German resident permit.

I would advice you to ask for an email confirmation from the airline whether you require a transit visa and then proceed.

thanks both for the prompt replies.

to rajeshspg: what is a D visa? from my residence permit I can see the number of the permit is 'D37XXXXXX'. is it that?

Thanks again!unfortunately there are not so many options flying to Nairobi as it is really high season at the moment.

Type C - is Tourist visa
Type D is visa issued to travel to Germany, so that u can come to Germany and apply for a long term visa.

You have a residence permit that helps you to seek visa exemption.