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My parents are Indian Citizens. They hold a valid B2 Tourist Visa to USA. I'm planning to book a flight with Hyderabad (India) - Abu Dhabi (UAE) - Dublin (Ireland) - USA. The leg from Hyderabad to Dublin is operated by Etihad and I know there is no problem hopping at Abu Dhabi. The leg from Dublin to US is operated by Aer Lingus. I called Aer Lingus customer care agent told me a transit visa is required to land in Dublin. She did not care to ask for the citizenship of traveller or about the USA visa. I went through Irish immigration website - (http://www.inis.gov.ie/en/INIS/Pages/Transit%20Visas), India is not in list of countries that require transit visa. I'm now confused. Can some one confirm if they traveled with the same itinerary recently

Update: I called Aer Lingus again. Another agent told as long as I don't exit the airport, a transit visa is not required. I think these people don't really understand trouble we go through when boarding is denied. I put this question because I read a person was denied boarding earlier - Do I need a UK or Ireland transit visa when flying from the US to a Schengen country?. His case mentions about denied because of different day. But I see his transit time is 12 hours only.

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Dublin Airport is one of the rare European airports without an airside international transit area (with a minor exception that doesn't apply here). Everyone arriving at the airport from another country must clear Irish immigration before continuing onward. For this reason, anyone passing through here must either have a transit or short-stay visa or be exempt.

Regardless of where in the airport you arrive, you will need to make your way to Terminal 2 and the 400 series gates, where the US preclearance facility is located. This official map shows the (slightly confusing) method by which you will transfer from the Terminal 2 arrivals hall to departures. Once you have passed (the apparently pointless) passport control you will be in the departures shopping area and can proceed to US preclearance.

As far as I can tell from the official information, Indian citizens do not need a visa to transit Ireland, provided you do not leave the airport. Timatic also says: "TWOV (Transit Without Visa): Visa required, except for Holders of onward tickets for a max. transit time of 24 hours." So the airline should not deny boarding.

If you pass through the airport via this method you will not really have the opportunity to leave the airport anyway, so you should have little difficulty at passport control.

Michael Hampton
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