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Imagine suddenly having to have a German transit visa to connect in Frankfurt. Or a Dutch visa to connect in Amsterdam. It seems ridiculous. I was really surpr

by geoka9 16y ago

Imagine suddenly having to have a German transit visa to connect in Frankfurt. Or a Dutch visa to connect in Amsterdam. It seems ridiculous. I was really surprised to learn that I'd need a transit visa to connect in the US.

jfoutz 16y ago
The situation in the article is embarrassing. On the flip side, the US is really big. 4 US states are larger than germany. Getting the visa sounds like a pain in the ass, but it's more like a visa for the EU, rather than member nations.
- darklajid 16y ago
  cough The whole US of A has only less than 4 times the population (308,745,538) of Germany (81,757,600) according to Wikipedia.. Comparing USA and EU: The EU has 501,064,211 people, according to the same source. Like - 160% of the US. And, as others pointed out in this thread: Large parts of it are part of the Schengen treaty(?) and therefor rather easy for travellers. I do think you oversimplicate things here..
  - jdminhbg 16y ago
    You're misunderstanding a little -- he's saying that the USA is like its own Schengen Area (according to wikipedia, ~400 million). So for travelers from outside the EU, you just need one visa to enter and then you can move about freely. Similarly, you just need one US visa and you can go from NY to California freely.
    - darklajid 16y ago
      I probably (wrongly) conflated the two parts (4 states are larger than.. vs. large area in which you can move rather freely). No offense intended and I see the point now. Thanks.
  - xiaoma 16y ago
    big != populous
ebiester 16y ago
Well, many tourists need a visa to connect via the UK. I avoid travel through Heathrow because of it. (No, not as a protest; I'm usually traveling with someone not covered by a reciprocal visa and it's just easier that way.)
- eande 16y ago
  Same here I avoid UK, Heathrow at any price as I had been stuck there and not only once.
- Aramgutang 16y ago
  Actually, the UK allows people of any nationality to enter the country for up to 24 hours for transit, including travel between airports, as long as you have evidence of your connecting flight and a visa for the country of your destination: http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/howtoapply/infs/inf20transit#23021433 http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/howtoapply/infs/inf20transit#23... Even though they say that entry is "at the Immigration Officer’s discretion and there is no guaranteed right of entry", I've used this concession twice (I'm a citizen of Armenia) with no problems, and have never heard of anyone being refused entry. The first time I used the concession was when I was flying NYC -> Heathrow (arriving at 2am), followed by Gatwick -> Prague (departing at 10pm). Not only did this allow me to take advantage of a cheap EasyJet fare, but I managed to fit in a full day of sightseeing in London into the 24 hour allowance.
- cperciva 16y ago
  Did you mean need a visa, or are supposed to have a visa? I connected via Heathrow yesterday (arrived from Toronto, departed to Copenhagen) and while I had to go through airport security, I never went through customs/immigration.
vilhelm_s 16y ago
Apparently, that is already the case for certain countries: > Citizens of the following countries are required to have airport transit visa when they are passing through the international transit area of airports in Germany: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Iran, Iraq, Jordan*, Lebanon, Myanmar/Burma, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria and Turkey. http://www.immihelp.com/visas/germanytransitvisa.html http://www.immihelp.com/visas/germanytransitvisa.html
- viksit 16y ago
  Thats incorrect. As of Jan 30, 2011 there was no such requirement.
galadriel 16y ago
Ah, the joys that being born in right place brings for you. Anyways, that sort of stuff happens all over to million of people travelling everyday. Let me recount my last year experience. My friend and I had to travel to Portugal for a summer intern from India. To keep transit headaches to minimum, I booked flights such that transits occur in Istanbul. No visa crap, just walk across to international transit and board the next flight. My friend on the other hand made a mistake to fly Lufthansa, and transit through Frankfurt. Now, we were given a National Schengen Visa, one that was although granted under Schengen agreement, was valid only in Portugal and no other place. However, it allowed transit through other countries only while going to Portugal, and not while returning. Thus, my friend was detained in Frankfurt on his way back, searched and interrogated for 4 hours, and put on some Schengen no-fly list. OTOH, I walked like king in Turkey and enjoyed their hospitality. So there you have it, all 1st world nations are assholes, including US, and I find it little hypocritical when somehow only US gets picked for it. I guess US is equal in discrimination of all people in transit.

by geoka9 16y ago

jfoutz 16y ago

The situation in the article is embarrassing. On the flip side, the US is really big. 4 US states are larger than germany. Getting the visa sounds like a pain in the ass, but it's more like a visa for the EU, rather than member nations.

darklajid 16y ago
cough The whole US of A has only less than 4 times the population (308,745,538) of Germany (81,757,600) according to Wikipedia.. Comparing USA and EU: The EU has 501,064,211 people, according to the same source. Like - 160% of the US. And, as others pointed out in this thread: Large parts of it are part of the Schengen treaty(?) and therefor rather easy for travellers. I do think you oversimplicate things here..
- jdminhbg 16y ago
  You're misunderstanding a little -- he's saying that the USA is like its own Schengen Area (according to wikipedia, ~400 million). So for travelers from outside the EU, you just need one visa to enter and then you can move about freely. Similarly, you just need one US visa and you can go from NY to California freely.
  - darklajid 16y ago
    I probably (wrongly) conflated the two parts (4 states are larger than.. vs. large area in which you can move rather freely). No offense intended and I see the point now. Thanks.
- xiaoma 16y ago
  big != populous

ebiester 16y ago

Well, many tourists need a visa to connect via the UK. I avoid travel through Heathrow because of it. (No, not as a protest; I'm usually traveling with someone not covered by a reciprocal visa and it's just easier that way.)

eande 16y ago
Same here I avoid UK, Heathrow at any price as I had been stuck there and not only once.
Aramgutang 16y ago
Actually, the UK allows people of any nationality to enter the country for up to 24 hours for transit, including travel between airports, as long as you have evidence of your connecting flight and a visa for the country of your destination: http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/howtoapply/infs/inf20transit#23021433 http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/howtoapply/infs/inf20transit#23... Even though they say that entry is "at the Immigration Officer’s discretion and there is no guaranteed right of entry", I've used this concession twice (I'm a citizen of Armenia) with no problems, and have never heard of anyone being refused entry. The first time I used the concession was when I was flying NYC -> Heathrow (arriving at 2am), followed by Gatwick -> Prague (departing at 10pm). Not only did this allow me to take advantage of a cheap EasyJet fare, but I managed to fit in a full day of sightseeing in London into the 24 hour allowance.
cperciva 16y ago
Did you mean need a visa, or are supposed to have a visa? I connected via Heathrow yesterday (arrived from Toronto, departed to Copenhagen) and while I had to go through airport security, I never went through customs/immigration.

vilhelm_s 16y ago

Apparently, that is already the case for certain countries: > Citizens of the following countries are required to have airport transit visa when they are passing through the international transit area of airports in Germany: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Iran, Iraq, Jordan*, Lebanon, Myanmar/Burma, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria and Turkey. http://www.immihelp.com/visas/germanytransitvisa.html http://www.immihelp.com/visas/germanytransitvisa.html

viksit 16y ago
Thats incorrect. As of Jan 30, 2011 there was no such requirement.

galadriel 16y ago

Ah, the joys that being born in right place brings for you. Anyways, that sort of stuff happens all over to million of people travelling everyday. Let me recount my last year experience. My friend and I had to travel to Portugal for a summer intern from India. To keep transit headaches to minimum, I booked flights such that transits occur in Istanbul. No visa crap, just walk across to international transit and board the next flight. My friend on the other hand made a mistake to fly Lufthansa, and transit through Frankfurt. Now, we were given a National Schengen Visa, one that was although granted under Schengen agreement, was valid only in Portugal and no other place. However, it allowed transit through other countries only while going to Portugal, and not while returning. Thus, my friend was detained in Frankfurt on his way back, searched and interrogated for 4 hours, and put on some Schengen no-fly list. OTOH, I walked like king in Turkey and enjoyed their hospitality. So there you have it, all 1st world nations are assholes, including US, and I find it little hypocritical when somehow only US gets picked for it. I guess US is equal in discrimination of all people in transit.