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I am travelling form Delhi (DEL) to San Francisco (SFO), I have to make a connection flight in Vienna that would take me to Frankfurt (FRA). My flight to SFO is from FRA, I have one ticket for entire journey and the flights are operated by Lufthansa or its subsidiaries.

Do I need a transit visa? My flight arrives at Vienna international airport and leaves from the same, and for second leg it arrives at Frankfurt international airport.

I asked this question as an addendum to my previous post but was advised to make a new post.

I hold Indian passport and valid US visa.

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  • Related question: travel.stackexchange.com/questions/12762/…
    – Karlson
    May 15, 2013 at 18:51
  • 3
    I beg to differ, he holds a Schengen visa, while I don't.
    – rg.us
    May 15, 2013 at 18:55
  • 5
    That's why it's related and not duplicate.
    – Karlson
    May 15, 2013 at 19:03
  • Plus you mentioned yourself that you will be connecting in Vienna so you will likely have to have a visa anyway
    – Karlson
    May 15, 2013 at 19:10
  • The answer by Karlson is incorrect or at least very confusing. Please consider accepting the answer by Peter Green.
    – phoog
    Nov 1, 2021 at 12:55

2 Answers 2

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The answer to your question is yes you will need a transit visa but in Vienna rather than in Germany.

According to Germany missions page you don't need a visa since you're a holder of the US Visa:

Exceptions: Nationals from the above list are entitled to transit through the international transit zones without an airport transit visa:

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

According to the Austrian foreign ministry you as an Indian citizen would not have required a visa if you were staying within the international transit zone of an airport. This however doesn't apply in your case since your connecting flight is "domestic" so to speak, so a transit visa will be necessary for Vienna airport rather then Frankfurt.

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  • Thanks a lot for the answer,much appreciated. I found this which clearly states that I need a transit visa.
    – rg.us
    May 15, 2013 at 19:48
  • @rg.us Any time.
    – Karlson
    May 15, 2013 at 19:49
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    Since the flight from Vienna to Frankfurt is intra-schengen, he does not only require a transit visa, but a regular Schengen visa. Aug 2, 2014 at 8:35
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Flights between two airports in the schengen area are treated as domestic flights.

The same terminal and even the same physical gate may be used for both domestic (within schengen) and international (outside schengen) flights but the gate numbers will be different and the passengers will be kept in seperate areas (for example by using different floors). To move between the domestis and international areas you will have to go through immigration control.

Unfortunately this means that you will have to enter the Schengen area in vienna to catch your vienna to frankfurt flight. You will then leave the schengen area in frankfurt.

An airside transit visa (type A) will not be sufficient for this. There used to be a landside transit visa (type B) but it was scrapped in 2010. So you will need a regular visitor visa (type C).

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    When applying for a C visa, you can state Transit as the reason for entering
    – Crazydre
    Aug 4, 2016 at 1:04

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