# Do airline pilots who fly int'l need visas? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 11, 2013, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-airline-pilots-who-fly-intl-need-visas/663214 "2013-07-11T09:43:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-airline-pilots-who-fly-intl-need-visas/663214/1 "2013-07-11T09:43:05Z")
When they fly from one foreign destination to another. How is this done? How about when they move around as passengers, not pilots? I suppose they’re like everyone else who follow visa requirements. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-airline-pilots-who-fly-intl-need-visas/663214/2 "2013-07-11T09:55:51Z")
> **[Schengen Visa – Comprehensive Information About Europe Visa](https://www.immihelp.com/schengen-visa/)** > > Schengen Visa – Comprehensive information about Europe Visa, including the Schengen countries, application requirements, insurance requirements, application forms, and how to apply. says Aircrew need a circulation - one yea - visa. Other countries make their own rules, it does seem redundant, but I suppose immigration staff wouldn’t know for sure they were aircrew otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-airline-pilots-who-fly-intl-need-visas/663214/3 "2013-07-11T11:15:11Z")
The US issues a special type of visa (labelled “D”) to air crew members: > [@](#): > > Generally, a citizen of a foreign country who wishes to enter the United States must first obtain a visa, either a nonimmigrant visa for temporary stay, or an immigrant visa for permanent residence. Crewmember (D) visas are nonimmigrant visas for persons working on board vessels (such as cruise liner or fishing ship) or international airlines in the United States; their employment is required for normal operation and services. You must intend to depart the United States on the same vessel or any other vessel within 29 days. If you travel to the United States to join the vessel you will work on, in addition to a crewmember (D) visa, you also need a transit (C-1) visa or a combination C-1/D visa. > > Travel purposes which require Crewmember (D) Visas - Examples: > > pilot or flight attendant on a commercial airplane > captain, engineer, or deckhand on a sea vessel > lifeguard, cook, waiter, beautician, or other service staff on a cruise ship > trainee on board a training vessel > **[404 - Page Not Found](https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/404.html)** ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-airline-pilots-who-fly-intl-need-visas/663214/4 "2013-07-11T11:46:46Z")
I can’t tell from the info in the links but my take on this is that they don’t need a visa if they just turn the plane around and fly back. Maybe they wouldn’t even need a passport. They would never have to pass through passport control. However, on trans-Atlantic flights they probably can’t do that due to rest requirements. ---
**Author:** ![StrangerThanFiction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f05b48/32.png) [@StrangerThanFiction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StrangerThanFiction)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-airline-pilots-who-fly-intl-need-visas/663214/5 "2013-07-11T11:58:57Z")
I’m not an airline guy, but for private aviation it depends on your country of arrival and your nationality. Some places require a regular visa, some places issue crew visas, some don’t require a visa for crew if they are in uniform and have a crew ID, and some places don’t require visas at all. We always need a passport, as customs officials typically come aboard our airplane when we land to check our documents. Not sure how this works in the airline world. ---
**Author:** ![Snnipe\_70E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@Snnipe\_70E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snnipe_70E)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-airline-pilots-who-fly-intl-need-visas/663214/6 "2013-07-11T14:12:45Z")
When I was shipping I had a “Z” card. When in a country other than the US that card acted as my passport and Visa. But was only good as such if I was on a ship when it came into port and as long as that ship was in port. I could go to an airport and fly back to the US using that card. So I would think that the Pilots have some card like that. ---
**Author:** ![dstarfire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dstarfire/32/5762_2.png) [@dstarfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dstarfire)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-airline-pilots-who-fly-intl-need-visas/663214/7 "2013-07-12T20:17:28Z")
Aren’t airport and shipping ports considered international territory for certain purposes (mostly related to customs and immigration)?