Sao Paulo 19 hour transit for Chadian citizens

Question

I am a Chadian citizen, and I am going to book ticket to Managua, Nicaragua. The itinerary is Addis Ababa - Sao Paulo- Bogota - Guatemala - Salvador - Managua. am I allowed to transit in Sao Paulo for 19 hours if I am going to stay at the international area (airside) ?

Answer 1

Your itinerary seems extremely complex to me, but let's see...

You can check visa requirements on the IATA Travel Centre or on TravelDoc.

There is also a simplified interface to Timatic (one of the databases used by airlines to know what documents you need to have before they will let you board, and which what the IATA Travel Centre uses) on the Emirates website, which has the advantage of being simpler (but it does not handle all cases).

That one tells us:

Brazil

Visa

Visa required.

TWOV (Transit Without Visa):

Passengers with a connecting flight booked on the same ticket in transit. Exception: This TWOV facility does not apply at Curitiba (CWB), Florianopolis (FLN), Porto Alegre (POA), Porto Seguro (BPS) or Salvador (SSA).

So you don't qualify for transit without visa because you are on two different tickets. You need a visa.

Likewise, for your other stops:

Colombia

Visa

Visa required.

TWOV (Transit Without Visa):

Passengers with a confirmed onward ticket for a flight to a third country within 24 hours. The connecting flight must be booked on the same ticket. They must stay in the international transit area of the airport and have documents required for the next destination.

This one may work without a visa.

Guatemala

Visa

Visa required.

Visa Exemptions:

Nationals of Chad with a valid visa issued by Canada, Mexico, USA or a Schengen Member State for a maximum stay of 90 days.

TWOV (Transit Without Visa):

There are no transit facilities, passengers must comply with all entry regulations for Guatemala.

You need a visa for Guatemala as well.

El Salvador

Visa

Visa required.

Visa Exemptions:

Nationals of Chad with a valid visa issued by Canada, the USA or a Schengen Member State .

Passengers with a passport stating El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras or Nicaragua as place of birth.

TWOV (Transit Without Visa):

Passengers with a confirmed onward ticket for a flight to a third country within 8 hours. They must stay in the international transit area of the airport and have documents required for the next destination.

WARNING: Airlines carrying nationals of Chad will be charged USD 1000.00 fee per passenger. Airlines must notify the Billing, Collection and Payment Section of the AIES-SOARD daily, with a list passengers. The list must have the passengers’ names, nationality, arriving and departing flights.

This one may work (if transit is less than 8 hours), but the USD 1000 fee per passenger for the airline probably means no.

You added more possible transit countries in comments:

Costa Rica

Visa

Visa required.

Visa Exemptions:

Passengers with a multiple-entry visa issued by Canada or USA for a maximum stay of 30 days. Exception: This does not apply to passengers with a multiple-entry "C" visa issued by the USA.

Passengers with a D visa issued by a Schengen Member State for a maximum stay of 30 days.

Passengers with a multiple-entry C visa issued by a Schengen Member State for a maximum stay of 30 days.

TWOV (Transit Without Visa):

Passengers with a confirmed onward ticket for a flight to a third country within 12 hours. They must stay in the international transit area of the airport and have documents required for the next destination.

Works only if transit is less than 12 hours, and most likely only if both flights are on the same ticket (see below).

Dominican Republic

Visa

Visa required.

Visa Exemptions:

Passengers with a visa issued by Canada, Cyprus, Ireland (Rep.), USA, United Kingdom or a Schengen Member State traveling as tourists for a maximum stay of 90 days.

TWOV (Transit Without Visa):

Passengers transiting through Santo Domingo (SDQ) with a confirmed onward ticket for a flight to a third country within 7 hours. They must stay in the international transit area of the airport and have documents required for the next destination.

Ditto, but 7 hours max.

Ecuador

Passport

Warning: Passports must be machine-readable to enter and transit.

Visa

Visa required.

TWOV (Transit Without Visa):

Passengers with a confirmed onward ticket for a flight to a third country within 24 hours. They must stay in the international transit area of the airport and have documents required for the next destination.

Ditto but 24 hours.

Note that when two "connecting" flights are on separate tickets (a "self-transfer"):

• If you have any hold luggage you will need to go through passport control/enter the country (you can't stay in the "international area of the airport")
• If you can't get your boarding pass online/on your mobile (and that is quite frequent if you have a citizenship which requires a visa) you may have to go to a check-in desk and go through passport control/enter the country as well.
• The first airline will often consider that your final destination is your connecting airport and refuse boarding if you don't have a visa for that country (or some other exemption). They will usually refuse to consider flights on other tickets/airlines.