Are you making a stopover at a Dutch airport? Then you might have a special airport transit visa necessary. You can read more about that here.
What is an Airport Transit Visa?
The airport transit visa allows you to transfer at a Dutch airport to a destination outside the Schengen area. The visa (also known as A visa) does not grant access to the Netherlands or another Schengen country. You are therefore not allowed to leave the airport, as well as the international zone of the airport.
Transferring within the Schengen area: Short stay visa
Are you traveling via the Netherlands, for example via Schiphol Airport, to another country within the Schengen area? Then an airport transit visa is of no use to you. Then you need one Apply for a Short Stay Visa type C (also called Schengen visa).
Do I need an airport transit visa?
Whether you need an airport transit visa depends, among other things, on your nationality.
Airport Transit Visa Exemptions
In some situations you do not need an airport transit visa. For example if you:
- have a visa or residence permit for a Schengen country, EU country or EEA country;
- have a visa for Canada, Japan or the United States;
- have a residence permit that guarantees unlimited return for Andorra, San Marino, Canada, Japan, United States;
- are related to a national from the EU, EEA or Switzerland;
- have a diplomatic passport;
- have a service or official passport. Please note: this only applies to a number of nationalities;
- are flight crew and you have the nationality of a country that is a member of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) (in English);
- From February 2, 2020, you do not need an airport transit visa if you have a visa or residence permit for Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius or Saba.
Whether or not you need a transit visa, the airline ultimately decides whether you will be allowed on your flight. Even if you do have the right documents for your trip.
Apply for an airport transit visa
Do you want to apply for a visa? How and where you do this differs per country.
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