4 ms·

You do. The US does not do "sterile transit". That was a major hazzle for (former) colleagues from South Africa.

• ashtonkem 6y ago
  That is really bizarre. From an outsiders view, sterile transit seems extremely intuitive; forcing people to buy a visa if their plane gets fuel in the US just seems annoying.
  • gowld 6y ago
    The insiders make the rules. They might fear you will break sterility, or they might hate your ethnicity or religion.
    • ashtonkem 6y ago
      Or, they want to collect $160 visa fees for nothing, and avoid having to expensively add sterile transit areas to existing airports.
  • ciceryadam 6y ago
    You also have to recheck your luggage at the first point of entry in USA/Canada - at least if you continue in a domestic flight. This is also time wasted, as you have to get through imigration, wait for your luggage, get your luggage, get through customs, check in your luggage (again), and go through security (again). OTOH if you are flying back to EU/Schengen Area, you'll get your passport checked at EU/Schengen Area point of entry, get through the sterile transit, and only pick up your luggage at your destination.