Do I always need to go through immigration if I have a self-transfer?
I found a cheap, short-notice ticket which takes me from the Schengen area to India with a self-transfer at Doha (Qatar).
The booking process throws warnings such as (not verbatim) "You will have to collect your baggage and check it in yourself - As this involves passing immigration, you may need a transit visa".
If it makes a difference, I will not have any checked-in luggage - Only cabin luggage.
My question is - In general, do I need a transit visa for B if I have two separate tickets A->B and B->C? If not, is there a globally applicable (subject to certain exceptions) rule to determine when I would need one?
Is the first-carrier (A->B)likely to deny me boarding without a (transit) visa for B?
Extra-information: I fly Amsterdam-Istanbul-Doha on Pegasus, and Doha-Calicut on Indigo (an Indian carrier) I hold a Belgian passport, and an Indian OCI card (which serves as a life-long, multiple entry visa), but nothing for Qatar.
Best Answer
Alamar is correct with his assumption, but just to be more clear:
If you are flying A-B and B-C on two separate tickets, the airline flying A-B will often even require that you are properly admissible to the country of B and will not be satisfied with a transit visa.
The reason is simply that if
the A-B flight is delayed and you miss the B-C flight, noone but yourself is responsible for arranging a replacement for the B-C flight and that may not be possible within the conditions of a transit visa
the B-C flight is cancelled, the airline flying B-C will in most cases be responsible for arranging a replacement for you, but the conditions of the transit visa may not allow you to stay long enough to wait for the next possible replacement
Therefore the airline flying A-B is most probably either not willing to take the risk having to solve that problem, or they may in most cases even by law not be allowed to fly you to country B and hence fined if they do so.
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Answer 2
I think it is possible to check in online and use transfer desk, but I also think the first carrier will not allow you on board without being admissible to B. They will need to carry you back and pay a fine if you turn out to be inadmissible, such as by missing flight B -> C.
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