Post
by alan and oscar » Fri Aug 17, 2007 11:50 pm
Are you travelling with the same airline throughout? eg Iberia London/Madrid and Madrid/Mexico. If so, I suggest you ring the airline for clarification.
My partner, Oscar, had a similar issue a few months ago. He is colombian and I (British) am his civil partner. He went to Colombia via Madrid (travelling alone), using Iberia for both flights. If you are faced with this position, I would ALWAYS recommend using the same airline for both flights, even if it is more expensive. (or use a direct flight, if there is one) I was panicking a bit before he went, because, although he has had schengen visas, he did not have one at the time. At the last minute, I checked if he needed one and read inconsistent information on various websites, some saying he needed a transit visa and some that didn't. I think you will find the same inconsistent information for your position. I THINK the position is that if he had had ILR in the UK, there would have been no question of a problem, but he only had a 2 yr limited leave to remain. However, I also found info which said he didn't need a transit visa, which I printed out for Oscar to carry with him (tho he didn't need it).
The problem may be if you are using different airlines for the flights and they operate from different terminals at Madrid. The rationale for the transit visa is that somebody might purchase a ticket for south america as a way of getting into the EU, and not travel the rest of the journey. If you have to change terminals, there is nothing to stop somebody leaving the terminal and staying in spain illegally. (I know you would not be doing this, I am just saying why the terminals are important).
As I say, Oscar had no problem because the arrival for London and the departure to Bogota was in the same terminal and he never went through immigration. His bags were also checked through to Bogota from London directly.
By all means, post a bit more info on your flight details but the best bet is to ring the airline for confirmation (if there is only one airline involved).
I would not apply for a transit visa without checking with the airline first as this could be unnecessarily time-consuming and costly. Obviously, if you want to be extra safe, then apply for one, but I would check first (and preferably get something in writing) as Oscar did not (for his journey) need one. Please don't take this as advice to travel without a transit visa. You will need to check as this is a situation where you might find the rules being operated differently depending on what side of the bed somebody got out of! I am only sharing our experience because there are similarities. It is very unfortunate that it is impossible to travel to some countries in South/Central America without going via Madrid/Paris so there may be others on this board who have had similar experiences.
Good luck!
