Missed flight but no visa to get a hotel [closed]

Let's say I am flying from country A to country C via country B.

What happens if, due to airline error, I am delayed in country A and miss my connection to country C and the next flight is the next day?

I must be allowed a hotel paid for by the airline but then I won't have a visa to exit in country B.

What happens if there is a delay of many days? Perhaps a week? It is also not inconceivable that due to the other delays I miss my return flight.

Basically, how do airlines rectify really big issues caused by delays?

This seems like something that must have been asked before but I can't find anything on here about it.

EDIT:

For the purposes of this post not being deleted for being too broad (although, is it really?), I will be travelling from the UK to Kenya, via the Netherlands. I wanted to know what might happen after Brexit.

Best Answer

I once spent a night on the airport terminal floor precisely because of this issue. The inbound flight was late and the airline was willing to pay for my hotel, but immigration authorities didn't let me in. Immigration authorities tend not to care about passenger comfort -- if you need a visa and don't have one, you can't enter, and they have zero obligations to accommodate you.

Most countries can issue a temporary entry permit on the spot to cover unforeseen circumstances. Normally they won't issue it for a simple flight delay, but in serious cases, such as urgent medical need (e.g. a heart attack), they might make an exception.

If you ever find yourself in such a situation, it's worthwhile to ask the airline and immigration officers to resolve the issue, but accept that it might not be possible.

If immigration won't let you in, you can try to ask the airline to give you free business class lounge access instead of the hotel -- those tend to be much better for sleeping than common areas, but unfortunately, some of them close late at night.