Transit visa or entry visa? What you need on a layover

Schengen: the airport transit visa

The European Commission’s visa-policy page describes the airport transit visa as the visa required “even to simply transit through the international (non-Schengen) part of an EU airport”, for nationals of certain countries. The page does not name them: it points to the EU Visa Code, where the list is kept, and adds that individual Schengen countries can impose airport transit requirements on nationals of other countries. The page is dated 23 June 2025.

So staying in the transit area does not by itself remove the requirement. Check your passport against the Visa Code list and against the rules of the country where you connect.

United Kingdom: two different visas

GOV.UK separates two visas. The Direct Airside Transit visa (DATV) is for changing flights in the UK without going through UK border control. The Visitor in Transit visa is for passing through UK border control but leaving the UK within 48 hours. If you need to stay more than 48 hours, the page sends you to a Standard Visitor visa. Your airline can tell you whether you will go through border control.

You do not need a transit visa if you hold an electronic travel authorisation (ETA), an EU Settlement Scheme family permit, a Home Office travel document, a Standard Visitor visa or a Marriage Visitor visa. The DATV page lists a fee of £41.50, which it says may vary slightly depending on the country you apply from, and sends you to the “check if you need to apply for a visa” tool for your nationality.

United States: no airside shortcut

The USCIS Policy Manual states that on 2 August 2003 the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department suspended the Transit Without Visa program, and that people who transit the United States after that date need a C nonimmigrant visa. For nationals of Visa Waiver Program countries, the CBP ESTA FAQ (last modified 24 January 2025) says they need either an ESTA or a visa to transit the United States, and that a traveler who is only transiting enters “In Transit” and the final destination in the address lines of the application.

CBP’s visitor guide explains why a US layover is not an airside connection: CBP processing must be completed at the first port of entry, so many travelers complete all arrival processing and then proceed to the connecting flight. The guide is a PDF hosted on cbp.gov whose file date is 2007. The same rule is behind the bag question in our guide on bags checked through or rechecked.

China: a visa-free entry, not airside transit

China’s 240-hour visa-free transit policy is a different thing. It lets eligible travelers enter China without a visa for up to 240 hours; it is not a rule about staying airside. The National Immigration Administration’s English pages, updated on 20 August 2026, list 57 eligible countries and the conditions. Our Beijing layover guide sets them out.

How to check your own case

Start with the official page of the country where you connect, then ask your airline whether your route sends you through border control, because that decides whether you need a transit visa or an entry document. If your tickets are separate, you will probably have to pass border control anyway: Heathrow, for example, treats passengers on separate bookings as arriving and departing, who must pass immigration, collect their bags and check in again.

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