Transit visa requirements: changing planes without getting stuck
A layover can need a visa even when your destination does not. It depends on your passport, the country you connect in, and whether you pass through passport control.
- Airside
- You stay in the international transit area and go straight to your next flight, without passing passport control.
- Landside
- You pass through passport control: to collect bags, change airports or terminals that are not connected, leave the airport, or re-check in on a separate ticket. Legally, that is entering the country.
Airside transit visa needed, by passport
Only from the published lists below: the UK's Schedule 1 and the EU's common list. National lists added by single Schengen countries, and countries whose rules do not name passports, are not included.
| Passport | Needs a visa even to stay airside in |
|---|---|
| Nigeria | United Kingdom, Schengen area airports |
| Ghana | United Kingdom, Schengen area airports |
| India | United Kingdom |
| Pakistan | United Kingdom, Schengen area airports |
| Bangladesh | United Kingdom, Schengen area airports |
| Kenya | United Kingdom |
| South Africa | United Kingdom |
| China | United Kingdom |
| Philippines | Neither list |
| Egypt | United Kingdom |
| Türkiye | United Kingdom |
| Jamaica | United Kingdom |
United Kingdom
Airside: Direct Airside Transit visa
Nationals of the 70 countries and territories in Schedule 1 of the Immigration (Passenger Transit Visa) Order 2014 need a Direct Airside Transit visa, unless they hold an exempting document. legislation.gov.uk · read
Fee: £41.50 gov.uk · read
The 70 passports on the list
- Afghanistan
- Albania
- Algeria
- Angola
- Bangladesh
- Belarus
- Botswana
- Burundi
- Cameroon
- China
- Colombia
- Côte d’Ivoire
- Dominica
- DR Congo
- Egypt
- El Salvador
- Eritrea
- Eswatini
- Ethiopia
- Gambia
- Georgia
- Ghana
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Honduras
- India
- Iran
- Iraq
- Jamaica
- Jordan
- Kenya
- Kosovo
- Lebanon
- Lesotho
- Liberia
- Libya
- Malawi
- Moldova
- Mongolia
- Myanmar
- Namibia
- Nauru
- Nepal
- Nicaragua
- Nigeria
- North Macedonia
- Pakistan
- Palestine
- Republic of the Congo
- Russia
- Rwanda
- Saint Lucia
- Senegal
- Serbia
- Sierra Leone
- Somalia
- South Africa
- South Sudan
- Sri Lanka
- Sudan
- Syria
- Tanzania
- Timor-Leste
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Türkiye
- Uganda
- Vanuatu
- Vietnam
- Yemen
- Zimbabwe
A valid visa for Australia, Canada, New Zealand or the USA exempts you from the airside transit visa, even if you are not going there. assets.publishing.service.gov.uk · read
Landside: Visitor in Transit visa
Visa nationals who go through UK border control and leave within 48 hours need a Visitor in Transit visa, unless they hold an ETA, a Standard Visitor or Marriage Visitor visa, an EU Settlement Scheme family permit or a Home Office travel document. gov.uk · read
Fee: £74.50 gov.uk · read
Nationalities that need a UK ETA need one to go landside, but not to stay airside. See UK ETA. gov.uk · read
Official page: gov.uk
Schengen area airports
Airside: Airport transit visa (type A)
Nationals of the 12 countries in Annex IV of the EU Visa Code need an airport transit visa to pass through the international transit area of any Schengen airport. eur-lex.europa.eu · read
The 12 passports on the list
Holders of a valid Schengen visa, national long-stay visa or residence permit are exempt. The Visa Code lists further exemptions, including some visas and residence permits for Canada, Japan and the USA. eur-lex.europa.eu · read
Individual Schengen countries can require an airport transit visa from further nationalities. Those national lists are not included here. eur-lex.europa.eu · read
Landside
Leaving the international transit area, including to change between two Schengen airports, is entering the Schengen area. You need whatever a visitor of your nationality needs.
Official page: home-affairs.ec.europa.eu
United States
The official source does not distinguish airside from landside. The official pages we read speak only of transit "through the United States" and do not separate airside from landside. There is no sterile transit area for international connections, so plan on needing a visa or ESTA.
Airside: C-1 transit visa
Travellers in immediate and continuous transit need a C-1 transit visa, unless they already hold a valid visitor (B) visa or can travel under the Visa Waiver Program with an ESTA. it.usembassy.gov · read
A valid B visa, or the Visa Waiver Program for citizens of participating countries, may be used to transit. it.usembassy.gov · read
Official page: it.usembassy.gov
Canada
The official source does not distinguish airside from landside. Canada's transit page does not separate airside from landside: the rule applies to any connection between two international flights at a Canadian airport.
Airside: Transit visa
Visa-required nationals connecting between two international flights in Canada within 48 hours need a transit visa, unless they hold a valid visitor visa. eTA-required nationals need an eTA. canada.ca · read
Some passport holders of China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Taiwan may transit without a visa if they meet Canada's conditions. canada.ca · read
Official page: canada.ca
United Arab Emirates
The official source does not distinguish airside from landside. The UAE ties its transit visa to stepping out of the airport, but no official page we read says in terms that staying airside needs no visa.
Landside: Transit visa (48 or 96 hours)
If you cannot get a visa on arrival or enter visa free and want to leave the airport, you need a transit visa arranged in advance. It lasts 48 or 96 hours and cannot be extended. u.ae · read
Fee: AED 50, plus the airline's service fee (Dubai) gdrfad.gov.ae · read
Through the UAE-based airline you are flying, a travel agency or an airport hotel. u.ae · read
Official page: u.ae
Qatar
The official source does not distinguish airside from landside. The Ministry of Interior page we read names a 96-hour transit visa issued through Qatar Airways, but does not say who needs it or whether staying airside needs a visa.
Landside: Transit visa (96 hours)
A 96-hour transit visa is issued through Qatar Airways. Who needs it is not stated on the Ministry of Interior page. portal.moi.gov.qa · read
Official page: portal.moi.gov.qa
Türkiye
Airside
No transit visa is needed if you do not leave the airport transit lounge. mfa.gov.tr · read
Landside
If you leave the transit lounge, you need the visa a visitor of your nationality needs. mfa.gov.tr · read
Official page: mfa.gov.tr
Separate tickets mean landside
If your two flights are on separate bookings, you usually have to collect your bags and check in again, which means passing passport control. An airside transit visa is then not enough. Ask your airline whether your bags go through and whether you stay airside.
Exemptions, worked examples and the self-transfer trap are in our guide, do you need a visa for a layover?
Newest read 4 October 2026. These lists change; check every figure against the government page before you book.