Airport Transit Visa
You remain in the airport’s international zone while waiting for the transfer flight to your final destination, and your final destination is located outside the Schengen area.
1/ You are travelling from an airport in a country located outside the Schengen Area and staying in the international zone of an airport located in metropolitan France while waiting for your connection to your final destination, which is also located outside the Schengen Area.
- You must apply for an "A" airport transit visa (ATV) if you hold:
- An ordinary, service or special passport issued by: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, Sri Lanka or Uzbekistan;
- An ordinary passport issued by: Angola, Bolivia, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, India, Mali, Mauritania, Nepal, the Philippines (except in the case of seafarers holding a seaman’s book issued in accordance with international conventions), the Republic of Guinea, the Republic of the Congo, Russia (if you are travelling from an airport located in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Turkey or Egypt), Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria or Turkey
- A service passport issued by the Republic of Guinea;
- A travel document for Palestinian refugees;
- A travel document for Palestinian refugees issued by the Egyptian, Lebanese or Syrian authorities.
This requirement does not apply to holders of diplomatic passports.
- You do not require an airport transit visa if you are :
- An aircraft crew member or national of a country that is party to the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation (except China);
- A holder of a valid residence permit issued by a Member State of the European Union or the European Economic Area;
- A holder of a residence permit guaranteeing the right of return and issued by Monaco, the Principality of Andorra, Japan, Canada, the United States or the Republic of San Marino, by one or more countries or public bodies from the Caribbean part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius);
- A holder of a valid visa for a Member State of the European Union or the European Economic Area, Canada, the United States or Japan, by one or more countries or public bodies from the Caribbean part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius), regardless of the airport of departure and regardless of the airport of arrival located outside the Schengen Area In the case of a return trip, the holder of a visa issued by one of the above-mentioned countries is exempt from the airport transit visa even if the visa has been used and is therefore no longer valid, provided that the return trip is made from an airport located in the country that issued the visa;
- A family member of a national of the European Union, the European Economic Area or Switzerland;
- A holder of a valid Schengen visa, a national long-stay visa, or a residence permit issued by a Schengen country.
- There are three types of airport transit visa (ATV):
- A one-way ATV, which authorizes one-way transit through a Schengen country;
- A return ATV, which authorizes return airport transit through one or two Schengen countries;
- A multiple ATV, which authorizes several transits through one or more Schengen countries.
Holders of ATVs are not authorized to enter the Schengen Area. If you have a connection between two airports in the Schengen Area, or if the airport through which you wish to enter the French territory is closed overnight for the duration of the transit, you must hold a valid short-stay Schengen visa.
2/ You are travelling from an airport in a third country and you will remain in the international zone of an airport located in a French overseas department, community or territory while waiting for your connection to your final destination, which is also located in a third country.
The same rules apply as for transit through metropolitan France (see above). If you wish to leave the international zone and enter the French overseas department, community or territory in which the airport you are transiting through is located, you must hold a valid short-stay visa for the territory concerned.