Heathrow immagrations!

 I am really nervous about going thru  immagration with my son at the Heathrow. My son and I were detained there for 10hrs and it was all because we did not have a return ticket and we offered to pay for a return ticket but they wouldnt accept the offer. At the end of the detainment she told me I had to go back home and apply for a visa wich we have done now. If I have child settlement visa and  fiance visa is there a chance I could still be detained since I was deported already? Stu and I been working so hard on this so we can be a family. I don't want to put my son thru detainment again and the flight is so long and it is hard on a child to be on plane for 10hrs then in detention for another 10hrs. Please let me know if anyone has had experiences like this or if you know what things I need to know when I hit immagrations. Thanks!!

I had the exact same experience.  I was "refused entry" with my two kids on 22nd August 2002.  They gave us 10 days.  We left to NY on 2nd September, went to the Consulate on Tuesday, 3rd September, got the visas on Friday, 6th September (took longer than one day because they needed to get the refusal paperwork from Gatwick).

We got on a plane home (to the UK!) on the next day, Saturday.  Arrived early in the a.m. on Sunday - about a 10 minute delay whilst the IO walked off with my passport - but everything was fine and we were let in, our Visas stamped.

You'll be fine.   

Please let me know if anyone has had experiences like this or if you know what things I need to know when I hit immagrations. Thanks!!

Entry for settlement is a completely different circumstance than entry for non-settlement.

Yep, you'll be absoultely fine!  That visa you have will speak volumes and they will likely just welcome you to your new home.  So try not to worry about it! 

Wow this is great everyone!! Thank you for responding. I was worried and I have to admit I still am but not as bad. I feel for mothers/fathers who have there children detained with them it is very hard and something I would never wish on anyone. Stu and I really like this forum it has been of great help to us..Thank you  all who are active here..

Stu/Cat/Bu

I may be wrong but I believe one you have been granted a visa at the consulate u are guarenteed to pass through immigrations at the airport since you have already been approved for entry clearance.

Not to worry anyone, but a visa is not a guaranteed entry.  If the IO at your destination has any reason to believe you obtained if fraudulently (i.e., second-guesses the people at the Consulate and their decision), you can still be refused entry.

However - I don't think we've had anyone post on this forum that this has actually happened to them!

garry,

What do you mean when saying that entry with a non-settlement visa is very different than with a settlement visa ? Is one entry more problematic than the other ? I didn't see anything about entry problems when doing the research.

My husband and I are leaving for London this coming week and he has a non-settlement visa (I am a German citizen and don't need one).  We don't have a return ticket since we are planning on settling in the UK and applying for a settlement visa or residency for my husband once we are there. He already has a job in the UK waiting for him.

2cubes, you'll need to sort out his visa before he arrives to live in the UK.  I'm pretty sure that it is not possible to apply for any settlement visa from the UK anymore. 

If he's got a job in the UK, surely his employer should be sorting out the visa for him?

Just be careful...even though you don't need a visa, he will!

Wow this thread is making me nervous. My wife and I have one-way tickets to London on Aug. 22. We both have UK work permits plus the work visas stamped in our passports.  I've never seen anything remotely even resembling a "settlement visa".  Am I missing anything? I've checked with both our employers and as far as I know, we have the only documents we need.  Also, we're entering the UK at Gatwick if that makes a difference. (got a cheap one-way flight there)

Wow this thread is making me nervous. My wife and I have one-way tickets to London on Aug. 22. We both have UK work permits plus the work visas stamped in our passports.  I've never seen anything remotely even resembling a "settlement visa".  Am I missing anything? I've checked with both our employers and as far as I know, we have the only documents we need.  Also, we're entering the UK at Gatwick if that makes a difference. (got a cheap one-way flight there)

The visa stamped in your passport is your settlement visa.  You'll be fine. 

I think work permits are different then Settlement/fiance visa. I also think you only need round trip tickets when visiting. I do wish immagrations or airports offered us more information on traveling. Maybe a book like everything else comes with when you purchase it..Thanks for all information!!

So wait, now I'm confused.  I think I'm getting confused about which type of visa different people are talking about. Has anyone else following this forum thread entered the UK with a "non-settlement" visa (which is a 6 month visa that allows you to live & work there) without a return ticket ? Somebody please say yes ?


The UK embassy told us that instead of my husband entering the UK with a work visa that ties him to the specific office he will be working in, we would be more independent if he entered on a EU spousal type visa.  So, following that advice we did some research on the UK immigration web site, etc....it seemed that we should start with the shorter "non-settlement" visa. 

We sent the embassy:
- copy of our ONE-WAY tickets to London
- copy of both our passports (my German one)
- copies of birth certificates
- US bank statements
- The employment contract his new office in London sent him
- other things like passport pictures, etc...

They mailed us his passport with the "non-settlement" visa within 4 days ! Talk about quick service.

We did not see anything on the immigration web-site about needing a return-trip ticket for this type of  "non-settlement" visa vs the "settlement" visa and when sending a copy of our flight tickets to the embassy, they didn't make any comments about it 

Did we miss something in our research   

Wishstar - do you know anything else about not being able to apply for the "settlement" visa once we are there ? We didn't see anything about this and now (even though its too late because we are leaving on the evening of the 19th) I am really worried !!!

Did we miss something in our research   

Yes, you missed something.  The OP is in the family creation category and you are in the EEA and economic category.  Two different cans of worms.  It doesn't make sense to get stressed out by reading stuff that doesn't apply to you when you are in an different category anyway.

So true !!

thanks