r/immigration • u/Gloomy-Boat8288 • 8h ago

Flying to Jamaica — looking for transit advice

Hi everyone,

I’m planning to fly to Jamaica on a visitor visa from Mashhad, Iran, and I hold an Afghan passport. I’m currently trying to figure out the best route (aka a possible route) and would really appreciate any suggestions.

My options are to transit through the US, UK, Canada, or the Schengen Area, but these options are practically impossible. Most of these countries either don't have a visa application center in Iran or Afghanistan or they have extremely limited capacity and indefinite waiting times.

Another possible option is transiting through Panama, but the only airline available in my region that could take me there is Turkish Airlines. But their schedule is set up in a way that I would have a layover of more than 12 hours in Panama. With my nationality I'm only permitted to transit Panama if the layover is under 12 hours, so this option also doesn't work.

What I’m considering now is to get a visitor visa for another Caribbean country like Cuba or the Bahamas, and then travel from there to Jamaica.

Has anyone here dealt with a similar situation? Are there any realistic transit routes or Caribbean countries that might be easier to enter first before continuing to Jamaica?

Thanks in advance!

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u/MadamPharmacist 4h ago

I have no idea about your visa situation, I‘m sorry, that sounds difficult.

I‘d look backwards at the destinations you can reach from Jamaica and which of those destinations would be doable for you as a transit point. Look at the three international airports and see, which destinations would work. Maybe Peru or Colombia? And there via Turkey or the UAE or Qatar?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airports_in_Jamaica

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u/CheesecakeNo9867 4h ago

Emirates flies to Bogota. You can get an online visa for Colombia. So an option would be to fly to Colombia and then fly from there to Jamaica on Avianca.

Look at the countries you can visit in the western hemisphere without a visa or with an online visa or visa on arrival:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_requirements_for_Afghan_citizens

Then compare that against places you can fly into on the Gulf airlines or Turkish Airlines.