The French Embassy in New Delhi confirmed on 23 April that, with effect from 10 April 2026, Indian passport holders no longer need an Airport Transit Visa (ATV) when making airside connections at Paris-CDG, Orly, Lyon or other mainland airports. The change was published in an interior-ministry decree amending the 2010 visa code and follows President Emmanuel Macron’s February state visit to India. The waiver aligns France with Germany, which removed its ATV requirement for Indians in January. It covers stays of up to 24 hours within the international transit zone, provided travellers hold confirmed onward tickets to a non-Schengen destination.
![France scraps airport-transit visa for Indian nationals connecting through French hubs]()
Should travellers or their travel managers need help interpreting the exemption—or confirming whether other permits are still required when leaving the airside zone—VisaHQ offers end-to-end assistance. Through its dedicated France portal (https://www.visahq.com/france/), the platform provides quick eligibility checks, document reviews and courier facilitation, ensuring Indian passengers remain compliant as entry rules evolve.
Airlines have been instructed to code “FRA/ATV-EXEMPT/INDIA APR 2026” in reservation systems to avoid erroneous gate denials during the bedding-in period. For multinational corporations the move simplifies long-haul routings via Paris, particularly for India-based executives flying to North America, West Africa or South America. Travel-management companies say the exemption removes an administrative bottleneck that could add 5–10 days of processing time and €80–€100 in fees per passenger. Indian assignment holders already resident in France are unaffected (they hold residence permits rather than ATVs), but mobility teams note that family members on dependent passports will now face one less visa hurdle when accompanying transferees on home-leave trips via third-country hubs.
Should travellers or their travel managers need help interpreting the exemption—or confirming whether other permits are still required when leaving the airside zone—VisaHQ offers end-to-end assistance. Through its dedicated France portal (https://www.visahq.com/france/), the platform provides quick eligibility checks, document reviews and courier facilitation, ensuring Indian passengers remain compliant as entry rules evolve.
Airlines have been instructed to code “FRA/ATV-EXEMPT/INDIA APR 2026” in reservation systems to avoid erroneous gate denials during the bedding-in period. For multinational corporations the move simplifies long-haul routings via Paris, particularly for India-based executives flying to North America, West Africa or South America. Travel-management companies say the exemption removes an administrative bottleneck that could add 5–10 days of processing time and €80–€100 in fees per passenger. Indian assignment holders already resident in France are unaffected (they hold residence permits rather than ATVs), but mobility teams note that family members on dependent passports will now face one less visa hurdle when accompanying transferees on home-leave trips via third-country hubs.
