Travelling to India through Frankfurt Airport(Germany) with an expired US VISA Stamp

[PB10]

Indian Passport Holder
Passport Expiry Date: July-2018
H-1B VISA Stamp on Passport Expired in: Aug-2016
I-797 approved till July-2019

I am going for VISA Stamping in India, but read a lot or posts on Internet which say that I need to arrange an Airport Transit VISA for the LAYOVER at Frankfurt(Germany).

I have tried calling the Lufthansa umpteen times and every time I was told to contact the German Consulate.

Please refer to the following document on the Germany Consulate website:

http://www.germany.info/contentblob/4874040/Daten/7545420/Airport_Transit_Country_List.pdf

Although, India is listed as a country that requires an Airport Transit VISA, but it is worth reading Point #2 under exceptions.

Exceptions: Nationals of the above named countries Do NOT require an airport transit visa if

1. they hold a valid visa for the United States of America, or

2. they hold a used valid or expired visa issued by the USA and return from the USA and travel to a non-Schengen Member State
{This is exactly my situation, I have a used(because I travelled to US) expired VISA issued by USA and I am returning from USA to India(which is a non-Schengen state)}

Is India considered as a non-Schengen State?

Am I required to obtain an Airport Transit VISA?

[PB10]

I was able to travel to India through Frankfurt, on an expired US H-1B VISA stamp, without any issue whatsoever.

Please refer to the attached screenshot of Lufthansa website while performing online check-in >>> Pay close attention to the underlined parts.

[[email protected]]

As of the new rules published on April-2019, people CAN NOT travel with Expired H1B even you have valid I-797