Return to Answer

Specifically, you are exempted from the airport transit visa requirement if you hold a valid visa from an EU country (that's the whole EU, not only the Schengen area so also Ireland, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Romania), Canada, Japan or the United States of America. Germany also recognizes this exemption for travelers returning from any of the above countries even if their visa is expired, but you should check with the country you're actually transiting through, because this exemption is not mentioned explicitly in the Schengen codes.

Specifically, you are exempted from the airport transit visa requirement if you hold a valid visa from an EU country (that's the whole EU, not only the Schengen area so also Ireland and Cyprus), Canada, Japan or the United States of America. Germany also recognizes this exemption for travelers returning from any of the above countries even if their visa is expired, but you should check with the country you're actually transiting through, because this exemption is not mentioned explicitly in the Schengen codes.

Where things get complicated is that the list of countries whose citizens need an airport transit visa is slightly different from one Schengen country to the other. There is a list for the whole Schengen area (list in Wikipedia, dark red/burgundy on the map) but individual Schengen member states can also add countries to the list. They have to inform the Commission, which keeps a list of all these requirements (current list as PDF, see also the same Wikipedia article).

Where things get complicated is that the list of countries whose citizens need an airport transit visa is slightly different from one Schengen country to the other. There is a list for the whole Schengen area (list in Wikipedia, dark red/burgundy on the map) but individual Schengen member states can also add countries to the list. They have to inform the Commission, which keeps a list of all these requirements (current list as PDF, see also the same Wikipedia article).

Where things get complicated is that the list of countries whose citizens need an airport transit visa is slightly different from one Schengen country to the other. There is a list for the whole Schengen area (list in Wikipedia, dark red/burgundy on the map) but individual Schengen member states can also add countries to the list. They have to inform the Commission, which keeps a list of all these requirements (current list as PDF, see also the same Wikipedia article).

Where things get complicated is that the list of countries whose citizens need an airport transit visa is slightly different from one Schengen country to the other. There is a list for the whole Schengen area (list in Wikipedia, dark red/burgundy on the map) but individual Schengen member states can also add countries to the list. They have to inform the Commission, which keeps a list of all these requirements (current list as PDF, see also the same Wikipedia article).