Transit visa - Frankfurt - Sep 2006

[hisathish]

Hello all,

I read through your earlier posts re: this; my case appears to be a bit different in the sense that I haven't got my H1 stamped even once. Just wanted to know what your recent experiences have been re: this issue.

My wife and I are going to India via Frankfurt and wonder if we'll need to get a transit visa during our onward journey. (While coming back, we hope to have our H visas stamped.)

I'm employed on H1 and my wife is on H4; neither of us have our visas stamped on our passports yet. (We progressed through F1/F2 visas, to OPT (myself), to H1/H4 within the last 2 years. Our F visas were stamped on the passports, obviously.)

According to the German Consulate's website , citizens of India travelling via Frankfurt are exempt from obtaining a transit visa if they have maintained a legal stay in the USA, and are returning to India.

Have any of you invoked this and NOT obtained a transit visa, while in Frankfurt? Thanks for sharing.

To be safe, does Germany issue Transit visas at the airport, on arrival?

Rangan

[josekutty]

No you don't need to get a Airport Transit Visa.

No you don't need to get a Airport Transit Visa. I confirmed yesterday from German Consulate in Boston.

[varsham]

transit visa -frankfurt

hey guys,
i am planning to travel to india via frankfurt in jan07. my stamping is expired and i am going for stamping . so while coming i will have my visa stamp.Can somebody plz tell me that do i need advanced parole or a transit visa in this case??
varsha

[leifbooger]

yes, even the german consulate in Atlanta says the same thing that transit visas are not essential for expired H1b visas. However, please do your part in asking the german consulate in your town and let us know.

[knightrider]

Transit visa not required

Hi,

I also had this problem of transiting through Franfurt (germany). I didnt get any clear response from anyone. German consolate didnt give me any clear answers.
I finally got this information from an Lufthansa agent. Any indian national without valid visa (expired Visa) and with approved approval notice and going for stamping
can travel through germany without transit visa.

My case:
I am in L1B and my visa got expired. I applied for extension and got the approval. I travelled through Frankfurt with my approval notice. You can travel with expired visa
but you should carry your approval notice (I-797,etc) with you when travelling. When you are coming back from India, Visa should be stamped.
I travelled recently on December 2010 without any problems.
Happy Journey

[deswaran]

Transit Visa Frankfurt

This post is only for Indian nationals travelling on AP via Frankfurt. It may or may not apply for other scenarios. I am not sure.

1. An Indian national travelling on AP will need a transit visa, or to be more specific, an ATV - airport transit visa. The official web site (just google) germany.info lists all the fineprint and more details.

2. To get the transit visa you need to apply in person at the appropriate consulate. Appointment needs to be booked online. The official required documents list says to bring "a valid visa". Your AP is the "valid visa". This means you will need your AP before applying for the transit visa. If you are in a situation where your AP has not come through before your appointment date at the german consulate, please email the consulate people (email to the right consulate: Chicago or NY or ...) explaining your situation. They sometimes make an exception provided you email/fax the valid AP subsequently before the issuance of the transit visa. In this special case make sure you take (to your appointment) your old expired AP (if any) and print out of any email communication you had with the consulate.

3. Generally speaking you get a much better response emailing the german consulate people than calling them. This has been true of the Chicago consulate.

4. Before booking the tickets through germany, it is strongly recommended to make sure if you have the energy to go through the process of applying for the transit visa. Unless no other ticket is available, it is hard to see how transiting through frankfurt (or any other airport requiring transit visa) makes sense. Also applying for and getting a transit visa takes about a week.

5. It is really hard to know out of all the people who check your passport at US/Frankfurt/India, if anyone is specifically looking for the transit visa. There are many posts proving either scenario. Going to India, with an AP and a $$$ plane ticket and a thousand well coordinated planning activities (vacation, kids school etc) is quite stressful. You don't want to add to your stress by not having a transit visa.

[Chaelyn]

Layover in Frankfurt for 7 hours, Do i need to apply for a Transit Visa???

Hi, Just want to ask you guys about my situation. I kept on calling the Luftansa Airlines and German Embassy but I couldnt get an exact answer.
I am holiding a Philippine Passport and a Permanent Resident of Canada. I booked my returned ticket from toronto to UAE and I have a layover in Frankfurt Terminal 1 for 7 hours. I am so bothered if I need to apply for a transit visa even I will just stay inside the Airport.

PLease need your advice.

Thanks a lot =)

Chaelyn

[cafeconleche]

Have you checked the website of the German embassy in any country? It clearly indicates Filipinos don't need a transit visa.

[Chaelyn]

Have you checked the website of the German embassy in any country? It clearly indicates Filipinos don't need a transit visa.

@ Cafeconleche, i call the german embassy this morning here in Canada and they told me to call the Airlines and when I called to Luftansa Airlines they told me to call the German Embassy. I am so bothered because I could get an accurate answer =(

[cafeconleche]

I cannot post links here, so I will send you the link via private message. Print it out and take it with you to the airport. Forget airline employees. They are useless. Even embassy staff can lack some tidbits of knowledge sometimes.

[Chaelyn]

I cannot post links here, so I will send you the link via private message. Print it out and take it with you to the airport. Forget airline employees. They are useless. Even embassy staff can lack some tidbits of knowledge sometimes.

@ cafeconleche, Got the message, Thanks a lot for the information you provided. It helps a lot. God bless =)

[bgrk]

My Parents will be coming to US soon, and I am planning to book tickets for them. As per US law, they need to enter US before their visitor visa expires. they don't need to leave US before their visa expires. their length of stay is determined by I-94. Now, my parents visa will expire a few weeks after coming to US.On their return journey back to India, they won't have a valid US visa. Will they be able to transit through Frankfurt without applying for transit visa?

Has anyone transited through Frankfurt on an expired US visitor/business visa without having transit visa?