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Vatican City visa requirements

Current entry categories for 199 passport nationalities, paired with official evidence as it is reviewed.

Access data checked August 24, 202612 official sources collected
Citizenship1Visa-free93Visa required105
Passport directory

Access by passport

Open any status for its canonical passport–destination page, evidence timeline, official sources, and application route where available.

199 passports

Citizenship

1

Visa-free

93

Visa required

105
Policy history

Official evidence timeline

One group agreement or destination policy can support many passport relationships. Dates are recorded only when an official source establishes them.

  1. Current official routeCitizenship

    Vatican ordinary passport: citizenship

    A traveller presenting the current Vatican City State ordinary passport is classified as citizenship rather than as a foreign visitor-visa relationship.

    • Law CXXXI directly identifies citizens of the Vatican City State, and the State directly publishes its current ordinary VA passport. This is a narrow catalogue citizenship classification, not a claim that citizenship automatically grants public access to every controlled Vatican area.
    • Citizenship, residence and access are governed by Vatican-specific provisions. Dual nationality, residence, work, diplomatic, service, temporary-service and special-document treatment is outside this ordinary-passport baseline.
    1 passport nationalities covered

    Vatican City

    Official sourcesVatican City State: Law No. CXXXI on citizenship, residence and access, 22 February 2011Vatican City State: Vatican City State ordinary passport, first issued 18 December 2025Vatican City State: Population
  2. Current official routeVisa-free

    EU ordinary passports: visa-free visitor access via Italy

    For a short public visit, these travellers need no entry visa for the controlling Italian/Schengen access leg; this route finding does not say that a Vatican instrument imports Italian rules.

    • Vatican City is an enclave with an open border adjoining Italy. This records the necessary Italian/Schengen route, not Vatican membership of Schengen or an adoption of Italian law by Vatican City.
    • A Union citizen needs a valid identity card or passport for Italian entry; no Italian entry visa or equivalent formality applies.
    • The Lateran Treaty normally leaves St Peter's Square open to the public and reserves public-access regulation to the Holy See. No ordinary public-visitor maximum duration is established by the directly reviewed Vatican sources.
    • 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.
    27 passport nationalities covered

    Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden

    Official sourcesConsulate General of Italy in Vancouver, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation: Visas: General InformationEuropean Union, EUR-Lex: Directive 2004/38/EC: right of entry for Union citizensVatican City State / Holy See: Treaty between the Holy See and Italy (Lateran Treaty)European Commission, Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs: European Travel Information and Authorisation System: current status
  3. Current official routeVisa-free

    EEA and Swiss ordinary passports: visa-free visitor access via Italy

    For a short public visit, these EEA and Swiss travellers use the visa-free Italian/Schengen access leg; this is a route finding, not a claim that Vatican City imports Schengen law.

    • The current Schengen Borders Code directly recognises persons exercising free movement under Union law and distinguishes the EU, EEA and CH border lane. This policy records the necessary Italy/Schengen route only.
    • Vatican City is not a Schengen member. The Lateran Treaty preserves Holy See control of Vatican public access and does not itself enact Italian nationality-visa rules.
    • No ordinary public-visitor maximum duration is established by the directly reviewed Vatican sources. 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, diplomatic, service and special-document rules are outside this ordinary-passport baseline.
    4 passport nationalities covered

    Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway

    Official sourcesConsulate General of Italy in Vancouver, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation: Visas: General InformationEuropean Union, EUR-Lex: Regulation (EU) 2016/399 (Schengen Borders Code), consolidated 12 October 2025Vatican City State / Holy See: Treaty between the Holy See and Italy (Lateran Treaty)European Commission, Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs: European Travel Information and Authorisation System: current status
  4. Current official routeVisa-free

    Visa-exempt Schengen-access ordinary passports: visa-free visitor access

    With the required qualifying document, these visitors are exempt from the Italian/Schengen short-stay visa needed to reach Vatican City; this route finding does not establish a separate Vatican visitor visa.

    • The controlled Italian/Schengen short-stay allowance is up to 90 days in any 180-day period; it is not evidence of a separate Vatican visitor-stay maximum.
    • Biometric ICAO-compliant passports are required for AL, BA, GE, MK, MD, ME, UA and XK. Taiwan requires an identity-card number; HK and MO require the respective named SAR passport.
    • A valid travel document and the ordinary Italian external-entry conditions remain required. Residence-permit, family-member, refugee/stateless, diplomatic/official/service, minor and other document-specific rules are not flattened into this nationality baseline.
    • 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.
    61 passport nationalities covered

    Andorra, United Arab Emirates, Antigua and Barbuda, Albania, Argentina, Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Barbados, Brunei, Brazil, The Bahamas, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, Micronesia, Grenada, Georgia, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong (SAR China), Israel, Japan, Kiribati, St. Kitts and Nevis, South Korea, St. Lucia, Monaco, Moldova, Montenegro, Marshall Islands, North Macedonia, Macao (SAR China), Mauritius, Mexico, Malaysia, Nicaragua, New Zealand, Panama, Peru, Palau Islands, Paraguay, Solomon Islands, Seychelles, Singapore, San Marino, El Salvador, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Taiwan (Chinese Taipei), Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Venezuela, Samoa, Kosovo

    Official sourcesConsulate General of Italy in Vancouver, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation: Visas: General InformationItalian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation: Countries exempt from short-stay visasItalian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation: Passports and equivalent travel documentsEuropean Union, EUR-Lex: Regulation (EU) 2018/1806, consolidated 30 December 2025Vatican City State / Holy See: Treaty between the Holy See and Italy (Lateran Treaty)European Commission, Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs: European Travel Information and Authorisation System: current status
  5. Current official routeVisa required

    Schengen-visa-required ordinary passports: visitor access via Italy

    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.

    • 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.
    104 passport nationalities covered

    Russian Federation, Qatar, Türkiye, Belize, South Africa, Ecuador, Maldives, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Fiji, Vanuatu, Bahrain, Guyana, Jamaica, Oman, Botswana, China, Papua New Guinea, Belarus, Thailand, Bolivia, Suriname, Indonesia, Lesotho, Kazakhstan, Namibia, Dominican Republic, eSwatini, Malawi, Morocco, Kenya, Tanzania, Azerbaijan, Ghana, The Gambia, Rwanda, Armenia, Philippines, Zambia, Mongolia, Tunisia, Uganda, Cape Verde Islands, Benin, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, São Tomé and Príncipe, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Burkina Faso, Cuba, India, Madagascar, Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Togo, Tajikistan, Equatorial Guinea, Niger, Guinea, Mauritania, Vietnam, Chad, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Algeria, Cameroon, Comoro Islands, Congo (Rep.), Angola, Liberia, Cambodia, Central African Republic, Jordan, Bhutan, Burundi, Haiti, Laos, Egypt, Djibouti, Nigeria, Turkmenistan, Congo (Dem. Rep.), Lebanon, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Sudan, Libya, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Bangladesh, Palestinian Territory, Nepal, Somalia, Pakistan, Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan

    Official sourcesConsulate General of Italy in Vancouver, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation: Visas: General InformationItalian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation: Countries whose citizens need a visa to cross the borderItalian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation: Passports and equivalent travel documentsEuropean Union, EUR-Lex: Regulation (EU) 2018/1806, consolidated 30 December 2025Vatican City State / Holy See: Treaty between the Holy See and Italy (Lateran Treaty)European Commission, Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs: European Travel Information and Authorisation System: current status