{"schemaVersion":1,"source":"live","checkedAt":"2026-10-08T03:06:05.901Z","passport":{"code":"BW","name":"Botswana","slug":"botswana"},"destination":{"code":"VA","name":"Vatican City"},"status":"visa_required","evidenceLevel":"exact","supportsCurrentStatus":true,"reviewedAt":"2026-08-21","allowedStays":[],"policies":[{"id":"vatican-schengen-visa-required-ordinary-passports","title":"Schengen-visa-required ordinary passports: visitor access via Italy","summary":"These ordinary passports need the advance Italian/Schengen visa required for the access route through Italy; the route finding neither calls it a Vatican visa nor says Vatican law imports Italian rules.","status":"visa_required","conditions":["This is the advance Italian/Schengen visa for the access route through Italy, not a Vatican visa. Vatican public access remains subject to Holy See controls.","For the Italian access leg, the ordinary travel document must normally remain valid three months after planned Schengen departure, have been issued within ten years and have two free pages.","The Schengen short-stay limit is up to 90 days in any 180-day period. It does not establish a Vatican local visitor-stay maximum; no such ordinary visitor duration was found in the reviewed direct Vatican material.","No separate Vatican eVisa, ETA or visa-on-arrival route was established by the reviewed sources. ETIAS is not operating for the Italy/Schengen access leg on the research date. Residence, family-member, minor, diplomatic/official/service, refugee/stateless and other special-document exceptions remain outside this ordinary-passport nationality baseline."],"sourceIds":["italy-mfa-vancouver-microstate-travel-guidance","italy-mfa-current-short-stay-visa-required-list","italy-mfa-passport-documents","eu-schengen-visa-regulation-current","vatican-lateran-treaty","eu-etias-current-operation-status"]}],"conditional":[],"sources":[{"id":"italy-mfa-vancouver-microstate-travel-guidance","title":"Visas: General Information","url":"https://consvancouver.esteri.it/it/servizi-consolari-e-visti/servizi-per-il-cittadino-straniero/visti/","publisher":"Consulate General of Italy in Vancouver, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation","jurisdiction":"Italy / Schengen external border","kind":"government-guidance","language":"English","reviewedAt":"2026-08-21"},{"id":"italy-mfa-current-short-stay-visa-required-list","title":"Countries whose citizens need a visa to cross the border","url":"https://www.esteri.it/it/servizi-opportunita/ingressosoggiornoinitalia/visto_ingresso/paesi_soggetti_visto/","publisher":"Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation","jurisdiction":"Italy / Schengen external border","kind":"government-guidance","language":"Italian","reviewedAt":"2026-08-21"},{"id":"italy-mfa-passport-documents","title":"Passports and equivalent travel documents","url":"https://www.esteri.it/en/servizi-opportunita/ingressosoggiornoinitalia/passaporti_documenti/","publisher":"Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation","jurisdiction":"Italy / Schengen external border","kind":"government-guidance","language":"English","reviewedAt":"2026-08-21"},{"id":"eu-schengen-visa-regulation-current","title":"Regulation (EU) 2018/1806, consolidated 30 December 2025","url":"https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX%3A02018R1806-20251230","publisher":"European Union, EUR-Lex","jurisdiction":"European Union / Schengen external borders","kind":"law","language":"English","reviewedAt":"2026-08-21"},{"id":"vatican-lateran-treaty","title":"Treaty between the Holy See and Italy (Lateran Treaty)","url":"https://www.vaticanstate.va/phocadownload/laws-decrees/LateranTreaty.pdf","publisher":"Vatican City State / Holy See","jurisdiction":"Vatican City and Italy","kind":"law","language":"English","reviewedAt":"2026-08-21"},{"id":"eu-etias-current-operation-status","title":"European Travel Information and Authorisation System: current status","url":"https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies/schengen/smart-borders_en","publisher":"European Commission, Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs","jurisdiction":"European Union / Schengen external borders","kind":"government-guidance","language":"English","reviewedAt":"2026-08-21"}]}