oliver2002

UA will allow you to book whatever you like, sadly the responsibility to check if you are allowed to travel is dumped on the pax.

ashwin_s

Is flying to USA via Frankfurt/Dubai/London allowed for an Indian passport holder with a non-immigrant US visa?

abhilife2001

Welcome to FT ashwin_s.
India - US has air bubble flights and officially only Air India and United are allowed, BUT check out this thread in detail and you will find people having flown on QR/EK etc.. I would be wary since there can be last minute changes on other airlines so YMMV.

PiperAtGatesofDawn

Is it allowed: Nope.

Are people still doing it: Yes with mixed results. Read through the threads here it will give you some idea of what you can expect.

Of course what you haven't mentioned is WHEN you are planning to fly. Since these rules and their enforcement keeps changing very rapidly if your flight is quite far into the future nobody will be able to give you a very definitive answer today.

CommittedLurker

So, I am coming to India from SFO, departing 4/14 at 1600 on QR arriving DEL 4/16 late night, with an onward connection to CCU on 4/16 morning.

I got my RT-PCR test done on 4/12 within the 72 hour window, and have uploaded the results and my passport to the Air Suvidha portal.

I got the Application Ref # SRxxxxxx. I also got an email with a pdf of my SDF that I filled out online (I put in my first QR flight from the US as the flight number, as it did ask for my City of Origin also. Is that wrong ? I was following the instructions of a you tube video. Yes I know... )\\\

I have a US Passport, OCI, and also hold a valid business visa.

What else do I need to do, if anything ? I know I need to make a bunch of copies of my RT-PCR and SDF.

Anything else ? I believe I can prepay for the PCR Test at Delhi upon arrival right now. Is this it ? I believe I will be able to leave the the int'l terminal for my domestic flight and not wait for the results, too ? Is this correct ?

Please let me know asap. Thanks for your help.

CommittedLurker

Edit: It seems I needed to put in my arriving flight info on the Air Suvidha portal. So I made a new application, got the acknowledgement #, and also a new pdf of the SDF. I also went ahead and booked the PCR Test in DEL.

Is there anything else now I need to do, aside from making copies of anything ?

Is there any sort of approval I will get or is this it (approval to avoid quarantine) ?

galaticos

No approvals required.. be prepared to have the forms checked quite a few times.. once you are done with your RTPCR test - i believe you are free to go ahead.. ensure to carry atleast 3 copies of each and I believe you get handed another form to fill on arrival

CommittedLurker

thank you !

oliver2002

The presidential proclamation bans non US citizens/LPRs from entering the US from Europe, so you may not be able to transit via FRA or LHR.

bubu-SNA

Hopping to transit India on way to Maldives (SFO-DEL-MLE). Any way to do this on separate tickets (UA to DEL) then a budget carrier to MLE. I tried putting it together on 1 ticket but there is only a single weekly flight on Air India to MLE out of DEL at this time. I assume I can't do separate tickets without a visa (since I would need to re-check my bags) and no way to get a transit/tourist visa at this time?

...just looking to confirm my conclusion.

xobile

Another successful trip report. Two senior US Citizen OCIs, one in a wheelchair, traveled ORD-DXB-TRV yesterday on Emirates. No immigration/bubble issues at all. Covid test on arrival and 7 day quarantine as expected. Full four seat rows available to each passenger, so they could lay down easily as sort of a budget business class.

xobile

On a side note to oliver2002 's point--I have always wondered why India, despite having higher case numbers than most countries and now surpassing Brazil to be number two overall, and with 150k plus cases a day topping daily case levels globally, was never added or seemingly considered for the Presidential Proclamations banning non-essential entry for people who have been in the country in the past 14 days. I suppose on a per person basis the level might still be lower than places in Europe, but--assuming the ban is based on case levels--it does not make sense to still have Iran and especially China on the list except for political reasons, while India has always been allowed (anyone with a B1/B2 tourist visa from India can hop a plan and be at Disney World tomorrow). Obviously very few countries have handled the virus well and I don't mean to start a political flame war, I was just curious if anyone knew why India was never on the ban list.

bubu-SNA

Is three and a half hours enough time for an international transit through DEL in the middle of the night (United to Vistra). United flight gets in at 11:55pm with Vistra flight departing 3:30am (Terminal 3). Itinerary is SFO-DEL-CMB.

Thx!

ft4lyf

As far as I know - International-to-International transit is not allowed in India currently. (even if it is all on a single ticket).

(there are a couple of exceptions for Citizens of Bhutan and Nepal who are trying to get to their home countries).

What passport and / or visa/residence status do you have?

bubu-SNA

US Passport. I just got this spat back from the IATA visa tool, no transit to 3rd country allowed.

"...Passengers are not allowed to transit through Bangalore (BLR), Chennai (MAA), Delhi (DEL), Hyderabad (HYD), Kolkata (CCU) or Mumbai (BOM) to a third country"

I guess the only way to get to Sri Lanka/Maldives is via ME3 & Turkish + whatever charter service.