If you will be making a short stop at a Dutch airport you may need an airport transit visa.

You have a stopover at an airport in the Netherlands, during a journey from or to a destination outside of the Schengen Area. In some cases, you will need an airport transit visa (type A visa).

A transit visa only allows you to change planes to a destination outside of the Schengen Area. You are not allowed to leave the international transit area of the airport. Not even to collect your luggage. You therefore do not have access to the Schengen Area.

If you are travelling to another Schengen country via the Netherlands, you will need a short-stay Schengen visa. Airport transit visas are not valid for this purpose.

Changing planes two times within the Schengen Area for onward travel outside Schengen: short-stay visa

If you are transiting through two different Schengen airports for onward travel to a country outside Schengen and the first transit airport is in the Netherlands, you need to apply for a short-stay Schengen visa. Airport transit visas are not valid for this purpose.

Netherlands transit visas are divided into:

Netherlands Airport Transit Visa

Netherlands Schengen Visa for Seafarers

The nationals from the following countries need a Netherlands airport transit visa if they have to pass through a Dutch airport.

Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Congo (Democratic Republic), Cuba Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana ,Guinea, Guinea Bissau ,Iran ,Iraq, Nigeria, Nepal, Pakistan ,Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Syria.

Exemptions for an airport transit visa:

You are a holder of a visa or residence permit for a country in the EU, the EEA, or the Schengen Area

You hold a visa for Japan, Canada, or the United States

You hold a diplomatic passport

You are a family member of an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen

You have a residence permit which gives you unlimited return for Canada, Japan, the US, Andorra, and San Marino

If you are part of an on-duty aircrew as well as a citizen of a member country of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)