Do airlines compensate passengers if they allowed them boarding with invalid visa?

Upvote:10

No, quite the opposite.

It is always the passenger’s sole responsibility to make sure they have all the right documents (passport, visa, etc. with appropriate validities and so on).

Airlines do not check those documents before boarding for the passenger’s convenience, but because the destination country require them to do so, directly or indirectly: if the passenger is found not to be eligible for entry for lack of the appropriate paperwork, it is usually the airline’s responsibility to fly them back at their own cost, and they can also be fined as well.

The conditions of carriage of most airlines are very explicit about that, and may even say they can charge you for any fines/penalties they incurred because of you.

In the specific case of Emirates, their Conditions of Carriage state:

13.1.1 You are responsible for obtaining and holding all of the travel documents you need for any country you are visiting (even as a transit Passenger).

13.1.5 We will not be liable to you if you do not have all passports, visas, health certificates and other travel documents needed for your journey or if any of those documents are out of date or if you have not obeyed all laws, regulations, orders, and other requirements of all countries you will exit, enter, or through which you will transit during your journey.

13.2 Refusal of entry If you are refused entry to a country (including a country you transit through while en route to your destination), you must reimburse us in full on request any fine, penalty or charge assessed against us by the government concerned (including detention costs) as well as the fare for transporting you, and an escort if required, from that country. We will not refund to you the fare paid for carriage to the airport where you were refused entry.

13.3 Passenger responsible for fines, detention costs and other charges You must reimburse us in full on request the amount of any fine, penalty, detention costs, deportation or removal expenses, escorting charges (if any), cost of ticket(s) issued for you, or any other expenditure we incur because you have failed to comply with any laws, regulations, orders or other travel requirements of the country you have travelled to or because you have failed to produce the required travel documents on seeking entry to a country or you have been refused admission into the country. We may use the value of any unused carriage on your Ticket or any of your funds in our possession to pay sums due to us from you.

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