You will need a French Transit Visa if departing from an airport in a country outside the Schengen Area and staying in the international zone of an airport in metropolitan France, while waiting for your connection a destination outside the Schengen Area.
You are required to apply for an “A” airport transit visa (ATV) if you possess:
- A conventional, service, or special passport issued by Afghanistan, Bangladesh, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, or Sri Lanka
- An ordinary passport issued by Angola, Bolivia, the Central African Republic, Chad, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, India, Mauritania, Mali, Nepal, the Philippines (except in the case of seafarers holding a seaman’s book issued per international conventions), the Republic of Guinea, the Republic of the Congo, Russia (if you are traveling from an airport located in Armenia, Azerbaijan)
- A passport issued by the Republic of Guinea for military duty
- A travel document for Palestinian refugees
- A travel document issued to Palestinian refugees by Egyptian, Lebanese, or Syrian authorities
Diplomatic passport holders are not subject to this restriction.
You do not require an airport transit visa if you are:
- A crewmember or national of a country party to the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation (except for China)
- Have a valid residence permit issued by a member state of the European Union or the European Economic Area
- A holder of a residence permit from Monaco, the Principality of Andorra, Japan, Canada, the United States, or the Republic of San Marino, issued by one or more countries or public bodies from the Caribbean part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Sint Eustatius, Saba, and Sint Maarten)
- 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, issued by one or more countries or public entities from the Caribbean part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Sint Maarten, Saba, and Sint Eustatius)
- A close relative of a national of the European Union, the European Economic Area, or Switzerland
- Possession of a valid Schengen visa, national long-stay visa, or residence permit issued by a Schengen country
There are three different kinds of airport transit visa (ATV):
- A one-way ATV, which permits one-way passage through a Schengen country
- An ATV for the return journey, which permits airport passage across one or two Schengen countries
- A multiple ATV enables several transits through one or more Schengen states
If you have a link between two airports in the Schengen Area, or if the airport you seek to enter French territory is closed overnight for the duration of the transit, you are required to possess a valid Schengen visa for short stays; an ATV will not be valid for these purposes.
Identical rules apply to transit across metropolitan France (see above). If you desire to leave the international zone and visit the French overseas department, community, or territory in which the airport you are transiting is located, you must have a valid short-stay visa for that area.
