Transit Visa

[Wouldrow 0]

I filed I-129F in May and we are waiting for further instruction. My fiancée is a Kenyan citizen and passport holder. We have been monitoring the time frames for interviews in Kenya, and are assuming it's going to be a while  A thought we have is to meet in one of the "visa free" places a Kenyan citizen can travel. There are several islands in the Caribbean that we are considering. Here's the sticky part, and if anyone has first had experience your input is much appreciated. Some of the flights to and from Kenya require a stop in Miami. Not to leave the airport, just a short layover. I am unable to get a clear answer from the embassy website as to whether or not she would need a transit visa. It appears that takes time and is a long application process. And perhaps the embassy would not entertain 2 visas being applied for simultaneously? Thanks for any answers!

[JeanneAdil 6,491]

Is there a direct flight from Kenya to Barbados?

 

 

The most popular airlines for this route are JetBlue Airways, Qatar Airways, British Airways, Kenya Airways, and Caribbean Airlines. Nairobi and Bridgetown have 334 direct flights per week.

[powerpuff 6,697]

Yes, she would need a transit visa. Transit visa has the same requirements as a tourist visa - paying $185, filling out DS-160, waiting for an interview and convincing the CO that she doesn’t have an immigrant intent. Too much hassle if there are other flights available that do not transit through the US, even if they’re more expensive.

[nastra30 2,284]

2 hours ago, Wouldrow said:

I am unable to get a clear answer from the embassy website as to whether or not she would need a transit visa.

She will need a transit C visa. Same cost as B visa. Every international passenger goes through immigration upon arrival in the US, and will to have re-check in for connecting flights.

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/other-visa-categories/transit.html

[devusr 41]

Hi. My wife is from Sri Lanka and we met in Bahamas. She went from CMB (Colombo, Sri Lanka) to DXB (Dubai) to GRU (Brazil) to PTY (Panama) to NAS (Nassau) to FPO (Grand Bahama, Bahamas). On the return trip back, she went from FPO (Grand Bahama, Bahamas) to NAS (Nassau) to PTY (Panama) to IST (Turkey) to MLE (Maldives) to CMB (Colombo, Sri Lanka).

 

The reason for the very long trip across many countries was that she probably wouldn't be able to get a VISA or Transit Visa and I wasn't able to fly to Sri Lanka. So we choose route that allowed Transit without Visa (had many limitations) to get married in a another country.

 

I used https://www.flightconnections.com to find flight routes.

I used https://www.emirates.com/us/english/before-you-fly/visa-passport-information/ to find the passport/visa information/transit without visa information.

I used https://www.passportindex.org/ to check the visa free destinations for Kenya citizens.

 

 

I did a quick check of the potential routes from flightconnections for Kenya to the Caribbean and I didn't see a possible route with "Transit without Visa". There are 2 potential ones to BGI and PAP but it requires more than the transit without visa time limit (PTY has a limit of 12 hours where you must leave the country if you're using transit without visa). PTY is a main flight hub for South America and Carribean.

 

 

 

 

Edited July 15 by devusr

[emmawatkins 0]

Layover in US will require a transit visa.