This
is a special announcement that much of the EU HAS BEGUN REQUIRING
TRANSIT VISAS FOR INDIVIDUALS FROM CERTAIN COUNTRIES!
For people from one of the specified countries, this transit visa
is required even of people who are not leaving the airport, but
who are merely changing planes within the international flights
area of the same airport. If
you are changing airports (e.g. Arriving at Heathrow and Leaving
from Gatwick on your way to your final destination) then you will
need a different kind of visa.
The basic list of countries for whom this new requirement applies
includes: Afghanistan, Albania, Angola, Bangladesh, Rep.of
Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Haïti, India, Iraq, Iran,
Liberia, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, and Palestine.
However, the list is not consistent across the European Union. For
example, travelers passing through the United Kingdom who are Indian
DO NOT need a transit visa, but if they are traveling through France
THEY WILL NEED a visa. On
the other hand, if someone from the People's Republic of China
is passing through the U.K. THEY WILL NEED a transit visa, but
if they travel through France they DO NOT need a visa.
IT IS ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL IF YOU ARE FLYING THROUGH EUROPE ON
YOUR WAY TO YOUR HOME COUNTRY THAT YOU CHECK TO SEE IF YOU ARE
REQUIRED TO HAVE THIS NEW TRANSIT VISA BEFORE YOU PURCHASE YOUR
TICKETS. IF YOU ARE REQUIRED
TO HAVE A TRANSIT VISA AND CANNOT PRESENT IT AT THE TIME OF CHECK-IN,
YOU MAY BE REFUSED BOARDING ONTO THE AIRPLANE!
As this is a new requirement, the information is still coming to
us and is subject to change and revision. We
will update the community as information becomes available. Below
we have provided links to visa information on the internet for
several of the largest European transit points that International
Students, Scholars, Staff and friends might be using for their
travels. This requirement
just came to our attention Monday and so we felt it was important
to give the community as much information as we have available
now so people can make their plans accordingly for summer travels.
France (Air France)
http://www.consulfrance-washington.org/visas
Germany
(Lufthansa)
http://www.germany-info.org/relaunch/info
Italy
(Alitalia)
http://www.italyemb.org/Visti.htm
Netherlands
(KLM)
http://www.ncla.org/foreign_nationals/visa
United Kingdom (British
Airways)
http://www.britainusa.com/visas/yestransit.asp
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