Transit in Great Britain

Hi everybody !

My spouse is chinese and hold a french visa Type D (with ''mult'' entries in Schengen area).

To arrive in France, she will transit via London, staying 3 hours at the same airport.

I visited some officials english websites and read the information that she will be exempted to have an english transit visa (DATV).

the website : http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/howtoapply/infs/inf20transit
Read "Guidance - Transit (INF 20)"

Chapter : Am I exempt from the DATV requirement ?

You will be exempt from the DATV requirement and may be able to transit without visa if you hold one of the following.

The point : A valid common format category D visa for entry to an EEA state – see our 'EEA and Swiss nationals' leaflet for a list of EEA states.

At the same time, in one another page, it is indicated that chinese citizen need such a visa, except if they have an exemption !!

It seems she doesn't need a DATV for a transit in GB but the VFS (office which prepares every visa fields/requests, working for the ambassy) tells me she needs it BECAUSE she is chinese !

Met someone the same case ? How did it run ?

Thanks for you help and informations.

Here we are, my wife found testimonies on a Chinese forum of persons which, in the same case as her (having the visa Type D to come in France), passed in transit by London without problem at all in spite of (or grace) of a customs control of their passport.

Conclusion, the VFS tried to swell us and yes, it is a trading company, it is necessary to make money !