iata travel check

Visa Traveler

Exploring the world one country at a time

How to Use IATA Travel Centre to Check Visa Requirements

Updated: July 11, 2024 Leave a Comment

When planning an international trip, the first thing you would need to know is the visa requirements. If you need a visa, you must start planning from there. 

These days the internet is littered with so many unofficial websites posing as authentic sources of visa information. Especially with the rise of AI, unofficial websites are popping up more rapidly than ever. 

Through this website, we provide as accurate information as possible. But I and my team haven’t been to every country in the world. So we can’t offer visa requirements and application guidelines for every country. I’m sure we will get there soon, but until then you can rely on some trustworthy sources.

IATA Travel Centre is one of those trustworthy sources. You can use this website to check visa requirements for any country. 

In this article, I will walk you through how to check visa requirements using the IATA Travel Centre. 

What is IATA Travel Centre?

IATA Travel Centre is a trusted source for the latest passport, visa and vaccination requirements of all countries. IATA Travel Centre is powered by TIMATIC, a database used by airlines to check visa requirements for its passengers during the check-in process. 

IATA (International Air Transport Association) is a global airline association. It has over 330 airlines as members which accounts for about 83% of total air traffic. 

IATA maintains relations with governments and sources the latest visa information from foreign ministries, consular offices, immigration departments, border control offices and health ministries. 

IATA Travel Centre is free to use and the visa requirements are mostly accurate. 

Should you trust IATA Travel Centre?

Yes. You can trust IATA Travel Centre. It’s powered by TIMATIC, a real-time database of visa requirements used by all major airlines. 

Even though it is powered by TIMATIC, I don’t think IATA Travel Centre data is real-time. I have run into situations where the information was outdated. But in most cases, the visa requirements were accurate and up to date. 

Even though the visa requirements are accurate, I still recommend cross-checking with official government sources to confirm. 

How to check visa requirements of a country

To check the visa requirements for a specific country, follow the below steps. 

• Go to the IATA Travel Centre homepage
• Under “Passport, Visa & Health regulations”, select the country whose visa requirements you would like to check
• Click on the “CHECK” button

01. Travel Information

Enter the following in the “Travel Information” tab. 

• Destination [ Instruction: This is auto-populated with the country that  you have selected in the previous screen]
• Departure country/territory [ Instruction: Select the country where you will start your trip from]
• Arrival date [ Instruction: Select the date on which you will arrive at the destination country]
• Depart date [ Instruction: Select the date on which you will depart from the destination country]
• Carrier code [ Instruction: No need to select anything, just leave it as “Other”]
• Countries/territories visited in last 6 days [ Instruction: No need to select this too, leave it as whatever it auto-populates]
• Duration of stay [ Instruction: Enter the number of days you will stay in the destination country (technically it should populate based on the arrival and departure dates, but it doesn’t)]
• Purpose of stay [ Instruction: Leave as “Tourism/Vacation”]
• Transit – Country/Territory [ Instruction: If you will be transiting through a third country, select it here to check the transit requirements of this third country. If it would be a direct flight, leave it as default “None”]
• Do you hold a Return/Onward ticket? [ Instruction: Leave it as default “Yes”]

Check the box for “I agree to the IATA…” and click on the “NEXT PAGE” button.

02. Personal Information

Enter the following in the “Personal Information” tab. 

• Nationality [ Instruction: Select your country of passport]
• Document held [ Instruction: Leave it as default “Passport: Normal”]
• Issue country/territory [ Instruction: This will auto-populate from what you have selected for Nationality above]
• Expiry date [ Instruction: Select the expiry date of your passport]
• Residence country/territory [ Instruction: This will also auto-populate from Nationality, but you can change it if you reside somewhere else]
• Date of Birth [ Instruction: Select your date of birth]
• Document Feature [ Instruction: Leave it as default “Biometric”. But if you do NOT hold a biometric passport, select “Machine-readable document” from the list]
• Type Code in [ Instruction: Type in the captcha]

Is your passport biometric or machine-readable?

A biometric passport has an embedded microchip containing biometric information. Biometric passports usually have a golden chip logo on the front cover. Read biometric passport and machine-readable passport articles to identify which passport you have.

Click on the “NEXT PAGE” button.

03. Results

On the “Results” tab, you will see the passport, visa and health requirements for the destination country.

Pay close attention to the “ Visa ” section.

If there is a RED CROSS, it means a visa is REQUIRED. If there are any exceptions, they will be listed below. 

If there is a GREEN CHECK, it means a visa is NOT required. You are VISA-FREE or Visa Exempted.

In the above screenshot, the destination is Japan and the passport is India. There is a RED CROSS for the visa and it says “Visa required”. This means, “Indian passport holders REQUIRE a visa to travel to Japan”. 

You can click on the “Print” link to print the visa requirements page for your records. You may need to show the visa requirements to the check-in staff to convince them of a certain visa requirement or exception. A print of visa requirements from the IATA Travel Centre will help in such cases.

How to check transit visa requirements

If you have a stopover or transit in a country, you can use the IATA Travel Centre to check transit visa requirements as well. 

You will enter all information as you would to check visa requirements for a destination country. In the “Travel Information” tab, for “Transit – Country/Territory”, you will enter the following information. 

• Transit – Arrival time & date [ Instruction: Enter your arrival date and time in the transit country]
• Transit – Departure time & date  [ Instruction: Enter your departure date and time from the transit country]
• Transit – Onward Ticket [ instruction: Leave as default “Yes”]

In the “Results” tab, along with visa requirements for your destination country, you will also see the visa requirements for your transit country.

You hold an Indian passport, traveling to Japan with a 4-hour transit in Singapore. You want to know whether you would need a visa to transit in Singapore. 

Select Singapore as your transit and enter the date and time of your transit as shown in the above screenshot. Continue with the rest of the steps.

In the results tab, along with visa requirements for Japan, you will also see the transit visa requirement for Singapore as shown in the below screenshot. 

In the above screenshot, notice the GREEN CHECK. It also says that Indians do not need a transit visa for Singapore if they remain in the international transit area. And this does not apply to budget airlines such as AirAsia. In that case, you would need a transit visa. 

How to check visa requirements for special cases and exceptions

Not all visa requirements are straightforward. There are some special cases and exceptions. To check such special cases and/or exceptions, you must query IATA Travel Centre slightly differently. I have provided a few examples below.  

Mexico: 180-day VISA-FREE entry for certain visa holders

This one is straightforward. You will simply query IATA Travel Centre with Mexico as your destination. 

If you require a visa for Mexico, the result will say so. But below that you will see an exception that you are visa-exempt with if you hold a substitute visa such as the US, UK, Canada, Schengen and Japan. 

South Korea: 30-day VISA-FREE entry for transit passengers holding certain visas

This one is a bit tricky. Even though this is a transit visa requirement, you will query IATA Travel Centre with South Korea as your destination country.

If you require a visa for South Korea, the result will say so but will also show the special case where you can get a visa exemption with a substitute visa. 

Singapore VFTF: 96-hour VISA-FREE entry for transit passengers of certain countries holding certain visas

Singapore VFTF is a transit visa requirement using which you can leave the airport for up to 96 hours while transiting through Singapore. 

To check whether you are eligible for VFTF, you must query IATA Travel Centre with Singapore as your transit country. The transit time must be at least 48 hours . Otherwise, the system will assume you will remain airside and not leave the airport. 

UK TWOV: 24-hour VISA-FREE entry for transit passengers holding certain visas

Passengers transiting through the UK holding a visa from the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand can leave the airport for up to 24 hours. 

To check whether you are eligible for 24-hour entry, you must query IATA Travel Centre with the UK as your transit country.  

If eligible, the result will say that you can make a “landside” transit (meaning, you can leave the airport) provided you have a connecting flight before 11.59 pm the next day.

WRITTEN BY THIRUMAL MOTATI

Thirumal Motati is an expert in tourist visa matters. He has been traveling the world on tourist visas for more than a decade. With his expertise, he has obtained several tourist visas, including the most strenuous ones such as the US, UK, Canada, and Schengen, some of which were granted multiple times. He has also set foot inside US consulates on numerous occasions. Mr. Motati has uncovered the secrets to successful visa applications. His guidance has enabled countless individuals to obtain their visas and fulfill their travel dreams. His statements have been mentioned in publications like Yahoo, BBC, The Hindu, and Travel Zoo.

PLAN YOUR TRAVEL WITH VISA TRAVELER

I highly recommend using these websites to plan your trip. I use these websites myself to apply for my visas, book my flights and hotels and purchase my travel insurance.

01. Apply for your visa

Get a verifiable flight itinerary for your visa application from DummyTicket247 . DummyTicket247 is a flight search engine to search and book flight itineraries for visas instantly. These flight itineraries are guaranteed to be valid for 2 weeks and work for all visa applications.

02. Book your fight

Find the cheapest flight tickets using Skyscanner . Skyscanner includes all budget airlines and you are guaranteed to find the cheapest flight to your destination.

03. Book your hotel

Book your hotel from Booking.com . Booking.com has pretty much every hotel, hostel and guesthouse from every destination.

04. Get your onward ticket

If traveling on a one-way ticket, use BestOnwardTicket to get proof of onward ticket for just $12, valid for 48 hours.

05. Purchase your insurance

Purchase travel medical insurance for your trip from HeyMondo . HeyMondo offers a 5% discount to Visa Traveler readers (use the link above), and covers all medical and travel emergencies during your trip.

Need more? Check out my travel resources page  for the best websites to plan your trip.

LEGAL DISCLAIMER We are not affiliated with immigration, embassies or governments of any country. The content in this article is for educational and general informational purposes only, and shall not be understood or construed as, visa, immigration or legal advice. Your use of information provided in this article is solely at your own risk and you expressly agree not to rely upon any information contained in this article as a substitute for professional visa or immigration advice. Under no circumstance shall be held liable or responsible for any errors or omissions in this article or for any damage you may suffer in respect to any actions taken or not taken based on any or all of the information in this article. Please refer to our full disclaimer for further information.

AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE This post may contain affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link. Please refer to our full disclosure for further information.

RELATED POSTS

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

READ BEFORE LEAVING A COMMENT: (1) Use the Search Form to see if your questions have already been answered in an existing article. (2) Ask your questions on Visa Traveler Facebook Group for quick response from us and other experienced visa travelers. (3) We cannot respond to questions on student visas, work visas or immigration. Our advice is purely for travelers needing tourist visas. (4) Due to overwhelming amount of questions, comments and messages we receive, please allow us 24-48 hours to respond to your query.

• Cookie Policy
• Copyright Notice
• Privacy Policy
• Terms of Use
• Flight Itinerary
• Hotel Reservation
• Travel Insurance
• Onward Ticket
• Testimonials

Search this site