Complementing the immediate visit-visa requirement, the government has also amended the Immigration (Passenger Transit Visa) Order 2014 to add Nauru to the list of nationalities that need a Direct Airside Transit Visa (DATV) when merely connecting through a British airport. The change took legal effect at 00:01 BST on 10 December 2025 and applies nationwide.
The decision follows Whitehall risk analysis of Nauru’s new Citizenship-by-Investment programme, which, ministers say, is vulnerable to abuse by organised crime networks seeking a low-due-diligence passport before travelling onwards to the UK, Europe or the United States. Direct-transit passengers had previously been able to route via Heathrow or Gatwick with an inexpensive Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA).
![UK Tightens Transit Controls: Nauru Added to Passenger Transit Visa List From 10 December]()
Travel administrators scrambling to adjust should note that specialised visa service providers can take some of the friction out of this process. VisaHQ, via its dedicated UK platform (https://www.visahq.com/united-kingdom/), offers end-to-end assistance with Direct Airside Transit Visa applications, from form preparation to securing biometric appointments and real-time status tracking, helping businesses keep itineraries on schedule and avoid costly airline fines.
For travel-management companies the DATV switch matters: a paper visa must now be obtained in advance, appointments are currently only available in Sydney and Suva, and processing is predicted to take 15 days because biometric enrolment is required. Airlines will be fined £10,000 per inadmissible passenger if they uplift a Nauruan traveller without the new documents.
Corporate risk teams should therefore reroute any Nauru-related itineraries via Singapore, Seoul or Dubai until visa operations stabilise. The Home Office has granted a short six-week grace period for passengers who held an ETA and ticket purchased before 9 December, but after 20 January 2026 no exemptions will apply.
The decision follows Whitehall risk analysis of Nauru’s new Citizenship-by-Investment programme, which, ministers say, is vulnerable to abuse by organised crime networks seeking a low-due-diligence passport before travelling onwards to the UK, Europe or the United States. Direct-transit passengers had previously been able to route via Heathrow or Gatwick with an inexpensive Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA).
Travel administrators scrambling to adjust should note that specialised visa service providers can take some of the friction out of this process. VisaHQ, via its dedicated UK platform (https://www.visahq.com/united-kingdom/), offers end-to-end assistance with Direct Airside Transit Visa applications, from form preparation to securing biometric appointments and real-time status tracking, helping businesses keep itineraries on schedule and avoid costly airline fines.
For travel-management companies the DATV switch matters: a paper visa must now be obtained in advance, appointments are currently only available in Sydney and Suva, and processing is predicted to take 15 days because biometric enrolment is required. Airlines will be fined £10,000 per inadmissible passenger if they uplift a Nauruan traveller without the new documents.
Corporate risk teams should therefore reroute any Nauru-related itineraries via Singapore, Seoul or Dubai until visa operations stabilise. The Home Office has granted a short six-week grace period for passengers who held an ETA and ticket purchased before 9 December, but after 20 January 2026 no exemptions will apply.
