Transit Visa

Hi, my mom will be travelling to SFo from hyd via frankfurt and i am worried that whether she will need a transit visa. Is any one of your parents travelling in this sector on this day, could you pls contact me. she does have a valid US visa stamped in her passport, but does not have a transit visa, pls post if anyone went thru this after Feb 25. Thanks.

Dear Friends,


  There is a lot of confusion regarding regarding transit visa for indians. I struggled for one week to get the information . At last i got officical mail from german consulate as follows......

Indian nationals unfortunately require a transit visa for Germany, but passengers, who are holding a valid EU, US or CAN visa and who are transiting through Frankfurt airport without leaving the international transit area, will be issued a visa upon arrival by the competent Authorities there.

I hope this regulation meets your requirements and does not cause delay or further obstacles to your trip via Frankfurt airport.

Wishing you a safe journey.

Kind regards



Christian Scheibe



i hope it is helpful to all of you friends

bye
vijayanand

I too am in a similar situation where my US L1 has expired but I-94 is valid. Have sent a note German consulate at US. Will post the update tomorrow.
Meanwhile, this is a request all those who are in similar situation like me(& TransitBuggedansit who posted message before mine). Please send an email to German consulate at your location to see whether they will allow such passengers to pass through Frankfurt without transit visa.Thanks

Confusion seems to be clearing though not sure what
happens to B1/B2 or short (6 months) visa holders whose visa has expired but I-94 has not expired and
who will be travelling back to India in near future?
Would they need air transit visa?
That would be so stupid.

I sent an email to German consulate at LA and this is what I got from them:
**** **** **** **** **** **** **
An airport transit visa is necessary if your flight stops at any German airport, only US green card holders are exempt. However, in exceptional cases (for instance if you are unable to obtain a transit visa in time before your departure) the airline will allow you to board without a transit visa. In
this case, you will be able to obtain a transit visa upon arrival at the German airport. Please read the complete airport transit visa regulations (exception #4) on our website.
Sincerely,
Uwe Hahn
Vice Consul
Consulate General of the
Federal Republic of Germany
6222 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 500
Los Angeles, CA 90048
 
----- Original Message -----
From: Raghavendra Dattatray Kulkarni
To: [email protected]
Sent: Thursday, February 24, 2005 10:53 AM
Subject: Transit visa at Frankfurt


Dear Sir/Madam,
 
I am a Indian resident currently in US(CA) with a L1 visa and would be travelling to India in April 05. I would like to know whether I would need to have transit visa when my flight lands in Frankfurt for short period of 1-2 hours. I would not be going out of international transit area and also would also not be changing from flight(same flight of Air India: Los Angeles to Bombay via Frankfurt).
 
I would be very thankful if you can let me know this information.
 
Thanking you,
 
Yours sincerely,
Raghavendra

As of now, Exception 4 at http://www.germany.info/Vertretung/usa/en/04__Legal/02__Directory__Services/01__Visa/__Transit__Country__List__Visa.html says,
==================================
Exemption 4 to the list above

(Indian or turkish) airport transit travellers, who are holding a valid visa for the USA, Canada or Switzerland, are not obliged to obtain a transitvisa prior to departure. Until further notice for these travellers a "visa on arrival" will be issued by the competent authorities at the respective airport and no specific action is required from them to obtain these visa.

If you are still in doubt whether you need an airport transit visa, do not hesitate to call the German mission which serves your place of residence in the US.
==================================

RELAX!!

Seems like German authorities are being continuously bombarded with too many queries due to which they are gradually relaxing their hold on getting a Transit visa even before arriving at Germany.

Hope they remove the requirement of 'Visa on arrival' too.

Let us wait and see!!

Hi,

I just contacted Lufthansa to enquire about the requirement of transit visa for my parents (having valid B1 visitor visa for US). This is the silly long-winded response that I get from them:

Dear Mr. XYZ,

Thank you for contacting the Lufthansa Internet Service Center. As a
private corporation, Lufthansa is not directly responsible for passenger
documentation which may be required for travel, such as passports,
visas, or transit visas. We recommend contacting the embassy or consulate
representing the countries you plan to visit and transfer through for
the most updated information on these requirements. You may also wish
to contact the nearest Lufthansa Reservations center for information
regarding the consulates, where available. Please understand that
passenger airlines have no control over such regulations, which are
determined directly by national governments. Lufthansa faces steep fines for
violating these laws by boarding passengers without proper documentation,
which means you will be denied boarding if your documents are not in
order.
 
For further information regarding your travel with Lufthansa, please
contact our reservations department directly or
http://www.toronto.diplo.de/. Local contact
information for Lufthansa´s reservations department can be found on the
"Help & Contact" page of our site.

We look forward to serving you, online and in flight. Thank you for
choosing Lufthansa.
_____________________________________________

Now, I'm not sure what the Luftansa guy is trying to convey. He said that they do not board passengers without proper documentation, which means passengers will be denied boarding if their documents are not in order. BUT ALL I'M ASKING IS WHAT IS THAT REQUIRED DOCUMENTATION? DO THEY NEED THE PASSENGER TO HAVE TRANSIT GERMAN VISA OR NOT? How can they deny boarding on the basis of documentation if they don't even know what proper documentation is. Can't they anwer my question directly?

That was neat Mr.Prakash. Thanks.

A couple of days back, we were asked to see exception 1. And now it asks us to see exception 4. That explains it.

Thanks again!!

Krishnan,
Please check the following web page for "visa on arrival" info.

http://www.germany.info/Vertretung/usa/en/04__Legal/02__Directory__Services/01__Visa/__Transit__Country__List__Visa.html


Exemption 4 to the list above

Travellers who do not intend to leave the transit lounge at a German airport and who do not have


a)a residence title of a member state of the European Union or a member state of the European Economic Area (EEA, i.e. Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) or

b)a permanent residence permit of Andorra, Japn, Canada, Monaco, San Marino, Switzerland or the USA (only green cards with 10 years`validity or unlimited validity will qualify)
require a transit visa.

Until further notice a “Visa on arrival” will be issued for them by the competent authorities at the respective German airport.

If you are still in doubt whether you need an airport transit visa, do not hesitate to call the German mission which serves your place of residence in the US.

Although this information has been prepared with utmost care, the we can not accept any responsibility for inaccuracies contained herein.

Although this information has been prepared with utmost care, the we can not accept any responsibility for inaccuracies contained herein.

Raj in previous post said,
"However, when I checked today, their website (NY) has been updated with new information. That is, "Until further notice a “Visa on arrival” will be issued for them by the competent authorities at the respective German airport.""

I tried searching for the "Visa on Arrival" at http://www.germany.info/ but could not find any matching results.

My kind request to all those who are posting here, pls substantiate your research with sources.

Thanks.