Which countries accept dummy tickets? What each checklist asks for

If you are asking which countries accept dummy tickets, the honest answer is that none of them uses that phrase. What each destination publishes is a document checklist, and on flights it does one of three things. It names a flight reservation or itinerary, as the Schengen states, Japan and China do. It leaves flights off the list, or tells you not to book until the visa is granted, as the UK, USA, Australia and Ireland do. Or it asks for a ticket, sometimes one that is "confirmed", "refundable" or "pre-purchased", which a held reservation may not satisfy.

The tables below give the official wording for about 60 destinations, the 29 Schengen states among them, checked on 27 September 2026, with a link to our fuller guide where one exists. Checklists change without notice, so open the official page again before an appointment.

Which countries accept dummy tickets? None, in those words

None of them, if "accept" means an official endorsement: no embassy, consulate or immigration department names any reservation service, ours included. What the rules do say is more useful. For Schengen, the EU's handbook for consular staff says "A paid return ticket should not be required upon lodging", and the EU document list for applicants in India asks for a "Flight reservation of return or round ticket". The UK, US and Australian governments tell applicants not to book or buy travel until the visa is granted. At the strict end, South Korea's checklist asks for a refundable e-ticket.

A reservation from Dummy Tickets Visa is a booking held in the airline's system without paying the fare, with a PNR you can look up on the airline's website. It fits a checklist that asks for a reservation or an itinerary. It is not a ticket, and no document can guarantee a visa. Our article on what embassy checklists actually say goes through the wording in more detail.

Schengen states: the EU list asks for a flight reservation

Every Schengen state works under the same EU visa rules, and for applicants in India the common document list asks for a flight reservation, not a paid ticket. A few consulates add their own sentence on top, and those are the rows below. The adult visa fee is €90 in every Schengen state as of September 2026.

The other Schengen states are Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Romania, Slovenia and Sweden. For all 29 side by side, see our Schengen flight reservation rules compared.

UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland

None of these six governments asks for a paid flight ticket with a visitor visa application, and a flight booking is optional for the UK, USA, Canada and Australia. Five of them warn against booking travel before a decision (New Zealand's warning is about non-refundable travel). People who still include a reservation usually do so to keep the dates on the form, the cover letter and the insurance the same.

Asia, the Gulf and Africa

This is where the wording varies most, from Japan's "flight/cruise schedule" to South Korea's refundable e-ticket, and several Gulf rows are marked not confirmed because no official checklist could be read. Where a row quotes an airline rather than a government, it says so.

Visa-free and visa-on-arrival destinations

At these destinations the check happens at airline check-in or at the arrival desk, not at a consulate weeks earlier, and most of them publish a return-or-onward-ticket condition. Several use the word "confirmed" (Malaysia, Sri Lanka, the Maldives) or "pre-purchased" (Costa Rica) and do not define it further, so the airline agent and the border officer decide what they accept.

Our proof of onward travel page covers what happens at the airport, and the article on where a return ticket is checked on arrival goes destination by destination for Indian passports.

Schengen visa guides by country

These guides cover the ten Schengen states that have their own page, plus the shared Schengen visa guide for the other nineteen. Each one names the visa centre that takes applications in India, the fee and the consulate's wording on flights where it publishes any.

• 🇪🇺Schengen visa
• 🇫🇷France visa
• 🇩🇪Germany visa
• 🇮🇹Italy visa
• 🇪🇸Spain visa
• 🇨🇭Switzerland visa
• 🇳🇱Netherlands visa
• 🇬🇷Greece visa
• 🇵🇹Portugal visa
• 🇦🇹Austria visa
• 🇵🇱Poland visa

Visa guides for other destinations

Outside Schengen, each government words the flight question differently, from Japan's schedule of flights to the UK's instruction not to book before a decision. These guides take one destination at a time: the checklist wording, where Indian applicants apply and whether a reservation is worth including at all.

• 🇬🇧UK visa
• 🇺🇸USA visa
• 🇨🇦Canada visa
• 🇦🇺Australia visa
• 🇳🇿New Zealand visa
• 🇮🇪Ireland visa
• 🇯🇵Japan visa
• 🇰🇷South Korea visa
• 🇨🇳China visa
• 🇸🇬Singapore visa
• 🇦🇪Dubai and UAE visa
• 🇸🇦Saudi Arabia visa
• 🇹🇷Turkey visa
• 🇻🇳Vietnam visa

Proof of onward travel by destination

These destinations are entered visa-free, with an e-visa or ETA, or on arrival, so the question comes up at check-in or at the immigration desk. Each guide quotes the entry condition and says plainly where it asks for a confirmed ticket.

• 🇹🇭Thailand
• 🇮🇩Bali and Indonesia
• 🇲🇾Malaysia
• 🇵🇭Philippines
• 🇲🇻Maldives
• 🇱🇰Sri Lanka

How to check a destination that is not on this page

1. Open the government page, not a seller's page

   Find the country's immigration department, embassy or official visa application centre, and read its own document list rather than a travel agent's summary of it.

2. Write down the exact words

   "Flight reservation", "itinerary", "return ticket", "confirmed ticket" and "e-ticket" are not interchangeable. Note the phrase before you decide what to order.

3. Look for "paid", "refundable" or "pre-purchased"

   A rule that asks for a ticket that is bought, or for an e-ticket, is not met by a held reservation. Buy a refundable fare for that trip. A rule that asks for a reservation or an itinerary is met by one.

4. Compare, or ask us first

   Match what you found to the closest row above. If it is still unclear, send us the country and visa type on WhatsApp before you order.

Whatever your checklist says, what we issue stays the same: a reservation held in the airline's system without paying the fare, sent as a PDF, with a PNR you can check before you submit your file. It costs ₹699 per passenger, one-way or return, and the price page lists hotel and multi-city prices. How it works walks through the order form field by field.

Frequently asked questions