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For my upcoming trip, I will make a self-connecting transfer at Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport from Terminal 3 to Terminal 2E.

If I do not plan to stay at the airport for more than 24 hours, what is the visa I need? The airport transit visa or a short-stay visa?

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    What visa you need depends A LOT on your citizenship. What is it ?
    – Hilmar
    Commented Dec 4, 2023 at 2:29

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Airport transit visas are valid only if you stay airside, which is not possible in this case: there are no airside connections to or from Terminal 3.

So you need a full Schengen visa, as you will have to go through passport control and enter French territory.

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    For self-connecting transfers you usually need a visa that allows entry into and a stay in the connection country, even when you do not plan to leave the airport, certainly in the Schengen countries.
    – Willeke ♦
    Commented Dec 3, 2023 at 21:42
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Note that "I do not plan to stay more than x hours at the airport" doesn't mean anything to Immigration officers. It's like being pregnant: you are in country, or not.

While the UK has, I believe, airside and landside transit visas, Schengen doesn't. If you need to enter France to transfer, and if you're transferring between T3 and T2 you have no choice but use the CDGVAL, landside, you're going to need a short-stay Schengen visa. enter image description here

Note that if this is a round-trip, you'll need another for the return flights (or a two-entry visa, if that's available).

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If you are from one of the countries eligible for the visa-exempt 90/180 Schengen access, then you don't need a visa, and the day of your transfer counts as one of your ninety days.

But if you are no from such a country, then go by the other answers.

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