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Two week's back I was travelling back from India to USA,my flight was via Rome and Paris, so as par rule I was required a transit visa. And I did apply for the transit visa in Kolkata's Italian Consulate. I had done all the paper works for my visa application and also buy insurace, but at my interviw, I was told through VFS that since I have an USA F1 visa (Indian Passport) and I am not coming outside of the airport, I don't need a visa. In fact they have sent me an official email to support their words. enter image description here

However when i reached the airport, the airlines (alitalia airlines) didn't allow me to get on the flight. Although I showed them my official email, but they didn't accept it. And thus I was forced to buy a new ticket.

So now is there any way I can take any legal action against either the airlines or the consulate to get my money back. If so, what could be my procedure. Since I am a student, that money matters a lot. And I did everything from my part but I was given wrong informations.

2 Answers2

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You can't take any legal action against the airline because you were correctly denied boarding.

Your itinerary crossed though two airports in the Schengen area, so you would have needed a regular Type C short-stay Schengen visa to go through immigration in Rome, and exit immigration in Paris. Even a transit visa would not be enough.

If your itinerary had been only through one airport in the Schengen area, you would not have needed to pass through immigration and you would not have needed a visa.

You might be able to make a complaint to the consulate, as it is clear that they gave you incorrect information. They should have known that you would need a visa for the itinerary you described in your email.

Michael Hampton
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The first thing I will suggest is to reach out to customer service and explain very politely the situation, they can give you a refund of your money for one ticket. Play up the student angle.

https://www.alitalia.com/en_us/special-pages/my-experience.html

Additionally you can contact them on Twitter with a very concise post. They’re sensitive to Twitter because it’s public.

https://mobile.twitter.com/alitalia/status/765847690391482368?lang=en

Augustine of Hippo
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