Transit visa checker
Getting this wrong doesn't cost a jumper — it costs the flight, because the airline checks at the counter and won't board a maybe. The same connection is visa-free through Dubai and needs a visa obtained weeks ahead through Heathrow. Enter your passport and your stops; get the answer per stop, with the fact that drove it and the official source.
The questions that actually decide the answer
Every visa site asks your nationality and the country. The answer also turns on things nobody asks: whether you stay airside (separate bookings almost never do), whether your bags are checked through (collecting them means entering the country whether you meant to or not), and — the most useful one — visas you already hold. A valid US visa or a green card removes several transit visa requirements outright, and dual nationals frequently have a free answer sitting in the other passport.
Where we're unsure, we say so in your favour. Several countries keep nationality lists that move without notice, and member states add names beyond the EU's common list. Where our copy of a list may be incomplete, a passport we can't match gets “confirm on the source” — never a clean pass we can't stand behind. A false “you're fine” is a denied boarding; a false “check this” is five minutes.
25 transit countries held, modelled as the authorities publish them — restricted-nationality lists with exemptions, never a generated country-by-country matrix. Every entry names its authority, links its source and carries the date we last reconciled it; entries resting on our research rather than a re-confirmed read say so on the card. Rules move by announcement, so they get the monthly pass, not the quarterly one. Not immigration advice — the airline's Timatic check at the counter is the answer of record.
Transit visas — common questions
Do I need a visa for a layover if I'm not leaving the airport?
Sometimes, and it depends on the passport and the airport, not on your intentions. Most of the world lets any passport connect airside — Dubai, Doha, Istanbul, Singapore, Hong Kong have no transit visa at all. The UK and the Schengen countries require an airport transit visa from specific nationality lists even for passengers who never pass immigration. And the United States has no airside transit at all: everyone clears immigration, so everyone needs a visa or an approved ESTA, including for a one-hour connection.
Can I transit the US without a visa?
No. There is no sterile transit in the United States — every passenger clears immigration, collects bags where required, and formally enters the country, even between two international flights. Visa Waiver Program passports can do this on an approved ESTA (apply online, at least 72 hours ahead); every other passport needs a C-1 transit or B visitor visa from an embassy before travelling. This single rule catches more travellers than any other in our table.
What is the difference between airside and landside transit?
Airside means staying inside the international transit zone without passing immigration — one booking, bags checked through, no terminal change that crosses the border. Landside means passing immigration for any reason: separate tickets, collecting and re-checking bags, an overnight wait in an airport that closes, or a terminal change with no airside route. The visa answer is frequently different for the two, and most people don't know which they're doing — your airline can tell you whether your bags are checked through, which usually settles it.
Do I need a transit visa for a connection in London?
It depends on your passport. The UK requires a Direct Airside Transit Visa (DATV) from a list of around forty nationalities — including India, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey — even for passengers who never pass immigration. There are real exemptions: a valid US, Canadian, Australian or New Zealand visa when travelling to or from that country, or a valid US green card or Canadian PR card. The DATV must be obtained before travel; if it applies to you, rerouting through a Gulf hub is often the cheaper fix.
Do I need a Schengen visa to change planes in Europe?
Staying airside: only if your nationality is on the airport-transit-visa list — twelve nationalities on the EU-wide list, and individual countries add more (Germany adds India, Turkey and others; France keeps one of the longest national lists). Holding a valid Schengen visa exempts you. The trap is connecting to a SECOND Schengen flight: that leg is domestic, so you clear immigration at the first airport — which is entry, not transit, and needs whatever visa entering normally needs.
Can a visa I already have exempt me from a transit visa?
Often, yes — and it's the most useful thing this tool asks that others don't. A valid US visa exempts several nationalities from the UK's DATV when flying to or from the US, and from the Schengen airport transit visa when flying to the US. A US green card or Canadian PR card exempts more broadly. The conditions matter — the exempting visa usually has to be for where you're actually going — so carry the document and check the condition, not just the visa.
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