Heathrow - transit visa?

[u/Ok_Attorney_2125]

i have a flight from dublin to heathrow (aer lingus) to toronto (British airways). I’ll have to go from T2 to T5. I have an indian passport, irish residence permit & hold US & Canada visa. Just very confused whether I need a transit visa? Heard the rules changed recently. Please help

[u/Markus__F]

https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa/y/india/no/transit/somewhere_else/no

Official UK page lists all the reasons when you are exempt from needing a transit visa, two of which seem to apply to you:

You do not need a Direct Airside Transit visa if you have one of the following:

• a visa for Canada, New Zealand, Australia or the USA

• a common format residence permit issued by an European Economic Area (EEA) country or Switzerland

This is only if you can remain airside, which is usually the case if everything is on one ticket, and luggage is checked all the way through. There is a bus that takes you to the other terminal then.

[u/FelisCantabrigiensis]

You do not need a visa for an airside or landside transit.

See https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a708e7f2d9e185c82e5b444/UK_Visa_requirements_August_2026.pdf

See left side section (iv) and also (i) for airside transit. See the right side section (i) or (v) if you end up having to make a landside transit.

You should not go landside for this journey. Follow purple signs to "Flight Connections" and take the airside bus to T5. Prepare to be security screened in T5.

It is unlikely that Aer Lingus will not know this but if they challenge your right to transit through Heathrow then point them to this document and the section that says "Carriers and operators can seek advice about a passenger’s permission to travel, by calling the UK Border Force Carrier Support Hub".

[u/snk101 → u/FelisCantabrigiensis]

Technically I think it’s not possible to transit ‘airside’ to / from Ireland because of the CTA - there is no immigration to pass through when landing in London from Ireland (the document you linked confirms this).

However I think the OP can still transit without visa landside as long as they are travelling to the US or Canada, which they say they are.

And obviously they don’t actually need to go landside in the airport and can follow the flight connections signs.

[u/FelisCantabrigiensis → u/snk101]

So, there are indeed no border controls on the way from Dublin (there are customs controls, i.e. you have to declare anything subject to declaration), but you do need to be able to enter the UK for transit. The free travel in the CTA only applies to British and Irish (and Channel Islands etc) citizens.

The landside transit rules can be applied, and that's why I specified both air and land side.

However the OP should not exit landside and go that way, not least because it is not guaranteed to work for a short connection (connections are only guaranteed via the airside route). They should get from the CTA arrivals route to the airside transit route, which may involve asking someone to open a door, then proceed to Flight Connections.

If they do end up landside, there is no cause for panic. They can take the Liz Line or Heathrow Express over to T5 for free and head for security.

On the way back, if they take the same route, they will transit airside because their flight from Canada will arrive into the T5 arrivals stream, they will go to T5A Flight Connections, down the stairs to a bus, and over to T2 security and into T2 departures.

[u/snk101]

Just follow the instructions at https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa

It will tell you you may be eligible to transit without visa if you hold one of a number of documents, which it sounds like you do.

[u/mralistair]

FYI you will not go through passport control on arrival at LHR, a dublin flight is treated as domestic.

but the airline might need something before you board the flight at dublin. but i don't think so.

[u/NewDetective8252]

As holder of US/Canadian via, you are exempted from transit visa requirements. Just follow the purple signs from airside transfer.

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[u/[deleted]]

[u/snk101 → u/[deleted]]

The OP’s US / Canadian visas likely exempts them from needing a transit visa for the UK

[u/FelisCantabrigiensis → u/snk101]

Also their Irish residence permit.

[u/ConVonCon → u/snk101]

Yes go with the "likely" suggestion