Tokyo transit for Indian passport holders

Before you book a connection through Tokyo

1. 1Check that both flights use the same Tokyo airport; a Narita–Haneda transfer needs a Japanese visa.
2. 2Ask the airline to confirm in Timatic whether your airside connection needs any document.
3. 3Get the visa for your final destination first, since the Japanese transit visa checklist asks for a copy.
4. 4If you need to enter Japan, ask VFS whether the transit visa is still offered or whether a tourist visa or eVISA is the route.
5. 5Allow at least five working days for VFS processing.

Japan’s transit visa through VFS Global

The VFS Global page for Japan in New Delhi lists a transit visa and says: “This visa allows people to transit through Japan.” For Indian nationals the fee is INR 50 for single or double entry, effective 1 April 2025, plus a VFS service charge of INR 800. Processing takes a minimum of five working days.

The checklist asks for the passport, form and photo, a “Confirmed Travel Booking (Travel itinerary including flight and hotel information)” and a “Copy of visa of the main destination country”. In other words, Japan expects you to hold the visa for where you are going before it grants a transit visa.

Is the transit category still available?

A Business Today report says Japan abolished the separate transit visa category from 1 July 2026, when it revised visa fees worldwide. The VFS page, with fees effective from April 2025, still listed the transit visa when it was checked. Which is current could not be confirmed.

Indians kept the concessional tourist visa fee of INR 500 after the July 2026 revision, according to the same reporting, and eligible applicants can receive an eVISA. If the transit category has gone, a short-term visa is the likely route for a traveller who needs to enter Japan between flights. Ask VFS before you apply.

Airside connections and shore passes

Japan’s rules for passengers who stay airside could not be read, because the foreign ministry and embassy websites refused automated access when this guide was checked. Japan also has a shore pass, a special landing permission requested by the airline on arrival for transit passengers, but whether Indians can use it, and for how long, was not confirmed.

For a same-airport connection on one booking, ask JAL, ANA or your airline what Timatic shows for an Indian passport. Do not assume a stop outside the airport is possible without a visa.

Tokyo on the way to North America

Japan Airlines flies from Delhi to Haneda daily and to Narita, and from Bengaluru to Narita. ANA flies from Delhi to Haneda daily and from Mumbai to Narita. Many Indians use these flights to reach the US or Canadian West Coast, and for that journey the destination visa is the bigger question: you need a US or Canadian visa whatever happens in Tokyo.

Check which Tokyo airport each flight uses. A Delhi to Haneda flight connecting to a departure from Narita is a change of airport, which means entering Japan.

A Tokyo connection on a flight reservation

A flight reservation is an airline booking held without payment. For a US or Canadian visa application routed through Tokyo, show both flights on one JAL or ANA booking, using the same Tokyo airport and a realistic connection.

The Japanese transit visa checklist asks for a confirmed travel booking, while the tourist visa checklist asks only for a document showing the flight schedule. Ask VFS whether a held reservation meets the transit wording before you rely on one. Each airline decides how long it holds a reservation, so it varies. Order it for the day you submit.

Tokyo Narita (NRT) and Haneda questions, answered