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I hope someone can help me out with some info as I'm getting a lot of conflicting info.

I am landing in Terminal 1 on 3 January with United Airlines from New York and need to take a flight on Air France in Terminal 2E to South Africa. This is not a connecting flight as I have two separate tickets. I will need to collect my baggage from the carousel and then check in for an Air France flight.

I have a South African Passport, my Schengen Visa will have expired on 24 December, but I will have a valid US visa for that trip.

Will I need a visa to be in the airport to collect luggage from one airline and check in at another different airline to fly back home to South Africa?

The embassy says I don't need a Visa if I have a South AFrican Passport and am not leaving the International Zone of the airport. What is considered the "International Zone"?

TIA

Traveller
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Tee
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  • @Tee For clarity, what type of US visa, what is its expiry date and what duration of stay? – Traveller Oct 10 '18 at 13:02
  • @ArpitBajpai that thread is still not clear enough for me. French embassy says I don't need a visa if I don't leave the International Zone of the airport. My question is, if I land from a non-schengen country, collect my luggage from United Airlines, and then check-in at Air France to fly to my final destination which is also non-schengen, do I need a visa? Is that all in the international area of the airport? – Tee Oct 10 '18 at 13:23
  • @Traveller I have a B1/B2 tourist visa for US which is valid for 10 years. It is valid as of 1 September. I am going to be in the states for 2 weeks – Tee Oct 10 '18 at 13:26
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    Since you arrive at terminal 1 and depart at 2E, you will factually leave "international zone" (whatever that means) and enter french territory. Those two terminals provide no way for international passengers to connect directly. So you might need a visa, AFAIK. – kebs Oct 10 '18 at 13:29
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    @Tee To pick up the luggage and check it in again, you will have to clear the immigration. You may also refer to this question (similar situation as yours) : https://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/105538/do-i-need-to-get-out-of-international-zone-at-charles-de-gaulle-airport-when-cha – Arpit Bajpai Oct 10 '18 at 13:42
  • You will need a Schengen visa in this case. Check the page https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/transit-schengen-visa/, I believe case 3 applies to you. Please note that this site isnt the office website but is pretty accurate. – Bhushan Kale Oct 10 '18 at 14:36
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    Tee: it may be possible to have your luggage checked through, in which case you will not need a visa (as noted in a comment). So you might want to check with United to see whether they can check your luggage through. – phoog Oct 10 '18 at 15:58

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As @kebs said, since you have to pick up your luggage as well, you need to clear immigration for that: http://easycdg.com/travelling-terminal-1-terminal-2-cdg-airport/

I would say you definitely need a visa C (case 3 in the link provided by @Bhushan Kale definitely answers your question).

More info here:

https://france-visas.gouv.fr/en_US/web/france-visas/short-stay-visa

https://france-visas.gouv.fr/en_US/web/france-visas/airport-transit-visa

http://easycdg.com/passenger-information/connecting-flight-connections-paris-cdg-airport/transit-information/

http://easycdg.com/passenger-information/immigration-passport-paris-cdg-airport/

(edited based on the comment)

ar5975
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    There's actually a shuttle between terminals 1 and 2 (AC), and from there another shuttle from 2AC to 2E (several stops depending on which gates). So the reason the user needs to clear immigration and needs a visa is because they have to pick up luggage and check it back in, not the lack of an airside shuttle. – jcaron Oct 10 '18 at 15:46