UK airside transit visa for Jamaican citizen - help

Dear all,

I just returned from Negril and as always I had a lovely time.

I have a good friend who I know well out there who wants to visit me in Malta (I recently moved to Malta from London due to a job opportunity that came up within my company).

To get to Malta from JA my friend is likely to have to stop in London (of all places!) I've tried every possible country to try and avoid the UK, but without joy.

My friend need to get a UK airside transit visa which allows the change from one flight to the next as long as it's within the same airport.

I have heard that it's pretty difficult to get a visa for Jamaicans, but that's normally in the context of Jamaican citizens moving abroad to work in another country.

My friend would visit for a month. I have a good job, I work in finance and a big enough place for my friend to stay for the entire holiday and of course I wouldn't charge anything - I live in a company flat so it's free for me too.

My friend owns land in JA and one property on that land, is self-employed and a trades man. So no regular income as such and although paying property tax,I'm not sure about normal tax, a lot of it is cash in hand.

How difficult can it be to get that airside transit visa? Anyone here who have got any experience of a similar situation? Even if it's a tourist visa to the UK I'd just like to get an idea on what we are up against.

Anyone of you boardies who have gone through something similar and used an agent in JA to help out with the application and been successful?

I appreciate all comments, experience, opinions, suggestions on this.

Much love!

I believe he would be classed as a visa national basically meaning he will need a visa-I am not sure if he will need just a transit visa or a visit visa going through uk he will be subject to border control at london which is the UK main airport
In addition to needing a visa to enter the United Kingdom, nationals of Jamaica also need a visa to transit through the UK, known as Direct Airside Transit Visa (DATV).
All I can tell you is from experience is that trying to bring someone to the UK can be hard not only hard but takes effort time and money.UK rules about visas and I note in particular Jamaican visas but do not know the reason why are becoming harder to obtain -Much harder than ever before.People who try to bring their own blood relatives or children to the UK even for a holiday are having an extremely hard time of doing so right now.The situation I know of the person has a very good stable job here in the UK and they owned their own property plus money in the bank.Eventually 1 person out of the 2 applied for got through.
It was not a quick simple easy thing but I do not know exactly what you have to go through on Jamaica side.
I hear now not only do you have to proove you can keep the person but they have to proove that they have something worthwhile back in Jamaica that officials would think they would not want to leave forever.I also hear you have to now put up a bond of £1000 or something similar to that amount and you lose it if the person absconds.
This is just getting them to the UK,I have no idea how easy or hard it would be to then get them to malta you will have to check again on Maltas rules on Jamaican citizens travelling there.
Seems like your friend found a nice friend in you!own job house nice holiday place!Anytime you want a lodger let me know:D

I think it is a 6 mnth visa they get

From 3 March 2009 onwards, Jamaican nationals in transit through the UK will be required to obtain a transit visa before they travel to the United Kingdom.
Travellers will need to apply for one of two visas:

• a Visit-in-Transit Visa if seeking to enter the UK in transit with a connecting flight within 48 hours; or
• a Direct Airside Transit Visa (DATV) for anyone remaining airside to take a same-day, same-airport connecting flight to another destination.

Applications for Transit visas and DATVs are made in the same way as every other type of visa. Applications in Jamaica must be made at the WorldBridge Visa Application Centre in Kingston, Jamaica.

WHEN YOU SAY DOES ANYONE KNOW OR USE AN AGENT IN JA LOL WHAT EXACTLY DO YOU MEAN?!

LOLOLOLOLOL @ Tictoc BAP!

Didn't even realise how it sound :)

When I said agent, I was referring to travel agent or agencies that help out with visa applications.

In regards to the visa. I realise that 'bringing' people to the UK has gotten a lot tougher, but I was hoping that simply passing through wouldn't be? He would spend a couple of hours at the airport until the next flight.

The visa fee for the visa he needs is £51 which isn't too bad. Virgin flight to London about £360 and flight to JA is about 100EUR, it's well within his budget. He has got money but just not in the bank.

In my mind it's just a holiday! Why it has to be so b-clawt comlicated!

I've got a friend who just opened a reggae bar in Malta and will start serving Jamaican food in the next few months and I suggested that my friend tutor him since he's a chef as well as a tradesman. Everybody wins, but bwoy, never knew how difficult it would be.

Yeah ever since I moved to Malta I've had a constant flow of friends and family coming to visit and I'm loving every minute of it, it feels great to be able to share the experience and likewise I'm well looked after whenever I travel to JA or any other place where I have got friends or family.

Tictoc thanks again for your comments it really made me smile out loud!

:)

Sweets he will need an airside visa if he says at airport and does not pass through immigration, there are details and forms to download herehttp://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/cu...ansit-airside/ which should be on top right of screen,

Markus

sounds pretty straightforward it is just the same as going for any other visa it is either a yes or no,Bummer if you have to keep trying and you keep getting a no though dont say nothing about the cooking part LOL
they will probably ask him what he does for work if they want to scrutinise him they may ask to see bank statements which could in turn lead to them checking if hes up to date with paying taxes etc.
I guess that is easier to sort out in Ja than in UK as people often say they live off their land and if they own a house they do not need much money to live
How to apply

To apply for a visa, you must:

• complete, submit a visa application form online; and
• book an appointment to submit the application and your biometric information at the visa application centre at the British High Commission in Kingston.
• be ready to enrol your fingerprints and photograph (known as biometric information) at the visa application centre at the British High Commission.

All applications and payments must be made online.
all you can do is apply and wait and see.Please let us know how he gets on

Tic as he will only be in UK as tranist the reason why he's going to Malta isn't of interest to UK, I can't see any problems in getting him an airside visa, i take it he would be flying via gatwick??

I thought anyone who passes through London needing a visa is of high interest?If he is not of interest at london then he will be at malta at some point he is going to be investigated.Most likely from Jamaica side then?I think all of the prooving has to be done in country of residence-once you have the document you need you're good to go.I think its the prooving that is the hard part.The situation I know personally of they wanted to know the ins and out of EVERYTHING.

if hes got to pass through our border of course his journey is of interest but i guess once hes got his paper no need to worry about any questions that may pop up on the journey as he's already sorted

I spent some time the last couple of days and read the same info you posted in the thread and yes it seems straight forward although the app form seem so long just for someone passing through a country and only staying a couple of hours for their connecting flight. They actually do know where he is going and why and he has to provide a bag of supporting documents for a lot of different things.

One issue will be to show bank statements since he does not really keep money in the bank as I mentioned before and a lot of what he gets paid is cash in hand. This is why I posted this thread, to find someone that may have gone through the same process or someone that has got a friend that has, just to get an idea of how difficult it is and things to think about when filling out the forms. I'd consider myself superlucky if someone on here had a friend who were a tradesman and applied for a similar visa or even a tourist visa in the UK just to understand what they went through.

I would hate for him to pay for the flights and the visa app fee only to get turned down.

Thank you guys a million for your comments and links and yes he would be flying via Gatwick. i have been looking at other countries too like flying via Dubai, but then he would still have to stop in London :( Real pain in the backside if you ask me since the dude aint looking to migrate just to go on a holiday. It's in times like these I really feel thankful for my European passport

Tic in eyes of UK border agency he's not really entering UK, and i don't know why he needs this airside visa, but they know best apparently, he only becomes of interest really if he passes through passport control, some times i wonder about my bosses

* correction - they do not know where he is going and why - but on the application form that's what they want to know

For some reason Im not too worried about getting a tourist visa in Malta - it's the UK I'm worried about cus Tic like you said they want so much information and we will not lie, we will be honest on the application but I don't know how it'll go mainly in regards to the bank statements, proving that he has enough in Jamaica to want to go back and tax. He has got his family there and he has got no family in the UK or Malta and he has got a small piece of land and his own house. Not sure if that's enough?

Sweets reason i asked about gatwick, was if it was Heathrow and i was on shift i would gone to say hi, on the paid in cash front could he gets a letter signed by some local offical saying he gets paid in cash etc

I'll look into it. I actually did try to find flights from JA to Heathrow, but all flights I found was to Gatwick.

I didn't know that you work at an UK airport - if you come across this topic at work, kindly drop me a few lines with any new helpful information. It's strange that you haven't really heard about the airside transit visa, but then again I guess it depends on where in the airport you work. I wish it was as simple as him being able to just fly in and get on the plane to Malta without the transit visa, but I dare not take the risk to advise him that. We'll just play it by the rules, be honest and hopefully they'll approve his app.

Many thanks again

Sweets all the best flights from JA go via gatwick, yes i can tell you all about what is allowed in your carry on and how to spot a bang bang and even how to defuse bang bang but when it comes to visas and passports i know nothings

markus

hey sweets definately do not tell him to try it without the visa LOL you said you lived in London you know how tight and strict the border control is there.No visa=no entry and straight back on to the plane or held until next plane available(do not think he would be actually allowed onto the plane).The only problem I see with what you have said is the fact he works cash in hand.
In UK that would NOT be acceptable but in Jamaica things work differently and it is in Jamaica that the assesment will take place.
The fact he has land and a house looks good on him as long as there is no mix up with paperwork and titles and names on things and such.You need to find out about if cash in hand work is legal in Jamaica or not and if it is what are the tax laws.If he is self employed that is good-property owner /land owner-own business but if he is saying he earns NOTHING from his business legally/legit and he has paid no tax they will just assume he has no money,Either that or he gets money via other means or possibly his family take care of him but then they would need good jobs too.All they want to determine is if the person applying for the visa is trying to get a better life away from the island and if there is a chance they will not come back.the house and land is a good thing.Get him to start paying some cash into his bank is my advice!
UK is getting real tough on people just flying in or through these days even those well known famous reggae singers asking for visas are sometimes getting denied.Think it all started a few years back and there was a massive operation on clamping down on drugs mules.Drugs were getting in and heavily distributed especially in parts of London.After that we had change of government and even tighter control on who is getting through and who is not.Shame they do not check the vans lorries and other ways in as tightly!So the genuine people often get turned away.
Have you checked if you have to put up security for your friend?I am not sure if you have to pay it when just passing through but if holidaying in the UK you do check that
Does he not need a visa for malta?

Thanks Markus - much appreciated.

Tic - No I don't think I have to put up security, when it comes to money I think it's all on him to be fair - I believe the only thing I might be able to do on my end is to write an invitation letter stating that he will stay with me, but that's about it - I think.

My biggest concern is that he gets turned down and loses the money paid for the flights and the flights needs to be booked and travel confirmation needs to be included in the visa application, so it just feels a bit risky.

Yes, he needs a visa to visit Malta, but I don't think the visit in Malta will be an issue, it seems a lot more straightforward

OK Just double check on the security bond sweets one of my family had to put up a bond for FAMILY not even a friend.

All I can say about the flights is possibly book as far in advance as you can and get transferrable ones-ones you can re-schedule swap or sell if need be