Indians no longer need transit visa for air travel via France from April 10

Indian citizens travelling through France by air will no longer require a transit visa starting April 10, 2026. This decision, announced by the Ministry of External Affairs, reflects a commitment to strengthening India-France ties and easing trave...

By ET Online | Apr 24, 2026, 10.26 AM IST

Indians travelling through France by air will no longer need a transit visa from April 10, 2026, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Thursday. The French government has put into effect an earlier agreement to remove the requirement for Indian nationals who are only transiting through French airports.

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal announced the decision during a weekly media briefing and said India welcomes the move. The MEA later issued a statement confirming that visa-free transit for Indian nationals through the European territory of France has now been operational.

The ministry said the decision reflects the commitment of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron to strengthen ties between the two countries. It added that the move is part of efforts to improve cooperation and ease travel between India and France.

Jaiswal said the development shows the continued partnership between the two countries, which was raised to a “Special Global Strategic Partnership” during President Macron’s recent visit to India. He said the step will support smoother movement of people and strengthen people-to-people connections.

“The government of France has now operationalised this agreement, and Indian nationals transiting through mainland France exclusively by air will no longer need a transit visa, with effect from 10th April, 2026,” Jaiswal said.

“We welcome the announcement on the operationalisation of visa-free transit for Indian nationals transiting through French airports. As you may recall, the removal of the requirement of transit visas for Indian passport holders was agreed between the prime minister and President Macron during their meeting in Mumbai in February this year,” he added.

Responding to another question, Jaiswal said, “We have ten Indian ships which have exited Strait of Hormuz safely in the last few weeks. We have 14 Indian ships which are still in the Persian Gulf.”

On reports of vessels being fired upon, he said the two ships involved were “foreign owned”. “There are some Indian nationals on them, on board these ships. They are safe. As far as our ships are concerned in the Persian Gulf, we continue to remain in close conversation with Iranian authorities so that they can safely exit Persian Gulf and reach India,” he added.

On a separate query related to the designation of the TRF outfit, Jaiswal said discussions are ongoing at the United Nations. “In regard to TRF, I can say that the monitoring team is considering this, and we continue to push hard because we want to strengthen global fight against terrorism and in that regard it's important that UN member states are on board with how we take, how we approach fighting terrorism globally speaking,” he said.

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