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I am traveling from the United States to India via a connecting flight in Munich, Germany (I am a US citizen). Will I have to re-check my luggage and go through TSA, or will it automatically be transferred onto my flight to my final destination ? I have read that if I have to recheck my luggage that I may need to obtain a transit visa.

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    US citizens do not require a visa for short stays in the Schengen Area.
    – Mark Johnson
    Jun 28, 2022 at 5:00
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    TSA does not operate airport security outside of the US.
    – phoog
    Jun 29, 2022 at 5:15

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Single Ticket: If your flights are on a single booking, your bags get will get checked through to the final destination. You just need to walk off the arriving plane and walk over to your departure gate. If this is a Lufthansa Ticket, you most likely arrive and depart both in Concourse L.

Two Tickets: If your flights are on separate bookings, you will have to clear immigration, claim your bags, exit landside, go to the check-in counter of your departing airline, drop of your bag and grab a boarding pass, go through security again (it's only called TSA in the US) and exit immigration, and then, finally, go to your gate.

I have read that if I have to recheck my luggage that I may need to obtain a transit visa.

No. US citizens don't need a Visa for Schengen entry (in most cases) and you are not entering Germany in the first place

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  • For completeness, would you clear up the visa issue? What the OP had heard does not apply to US citizens, that condition needs to be spelled out for other readers.
    – o.m.
    Jun 28, 2022 at 18:57
  • It's possible that baggage here might be transferred from the arriving to the departing flights, if the airlines are affiliated with the same alliance (e.g., Star, One World, etc.) or have an interlining agreement. The OP will have to ask the first-flight airline directly, either before departure or at check-in.
    – DavidRecallsMonica
    Jun 28, 2022 at 23:37
  • If the OP's luggage can be checked through (i.e., transferred behind the scenes from the arriving aircraft to the departing aircraft), then the OP should be able to transit without entering Germany, and, therefore, without a visa regardless of citizenship.
    – DavidRecallsMonica
    Jun 29, 2022 at 1:30
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    In some cases, not US citizens but others, a visa is needed even when not entering the country.
    – Willeke ♦
    Jun 29, 2022 at 4:05

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