Who Needs a Spain Airport Transit Visa?
You may need a Spain Airport Transit Visa if you need to stop in Spain in order to take another flight to your non-Schengen destination. Nationality is the defining factor in this regard.
As a member country of the Schengen Area, Spain applies the Airport Transit Visa regime to all countries listed under the Schengen Airport visa regime. These countries are as follows:
- Afghanistan
- Bangladesh
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Eritrea
- Ethiopia
- Ghana
- Iran
- Iraq
- Nigeria
- Pakistan
- Somalia
- Sri Lanka
In addition, Spain has added some other countries to this regime, the nationals of which need a visa to transit through its airports. These countries are as follows:
- Cameroon
- Côte D’Ivoire
- Cuba
- Djibouti
- Gambia
- Guinea
- Guinea Bissau
- Jordan
- Liberia
- Mali
- Sierra Leona
- Syria
- Togo
Holder of diplomatic passports, residence permits issued by Schengen member countries and a few other categories may be exempt from this requirement, despite being a national of one of the countries listed above.
Who Needs a Spain Short-Stay Visa?
A Spain short-stay visa, also known as a Schengen Visa, permits you to stay in Spain for a maximum of 90 days, within 180 days. You will be exempt from this requirement only if you are a national of the 62 countries under the Schengen visa-free regime.
Note that if you have previously been rejected from entering the Schengen territory visa-free, despite being a national of one of these countries, you will need to obtain a Schengen visa in order to be eligible to enter to Spain.
Who Needs a Spain Long-Stay Visa?
All world citizens that need to work, study for more than 90 days, or want to move to Spain, will need to obtain a Spanish long-stay visa.
Only the nationals of the following are exempt from such a requirement:
- European Union member countries
- Norway
- Iceland
- Liechtenstein
- Switzerland