Visas - Do You Need One?
If you're planning a trip abroad, there are probably a ton of things on your list: how to get there, where to stay, what to see, what to eat, what to pack, how much money you need, etc. The list could be a mile long by the time you've booked your flights and reserved your hotels. But one very important thing to know before you get to your destination is whether you need a visa to visit. Let me give you some advice from my travels on knowing when and where you need a visa.
Visa-Free
If you're an American like me, you will find that there are a lot of countries you can visit without having to worry about obtaining a visa. The common theme you will see is that you can visit up to 90 days as a tourist without any official visa. European Union countries, the Caribbean, Canada, and many others will fall under the 90 day rule. However, there are restrictions even with that. You will see that many of these same countries that do not require a visa, will require that your passport be valid for 3-6 months after your departure date. Essentially, they want to make sure that if you overstay the "visa free" time period, your passport will not expire.
Electronic Visa vs. Physical Visa
If you find that you're going to a country that does require a visa, the next question is whether you need a physical visa or whether you can get an electronic visa. There are certain countries that will require you to have a physical visa which will be placed directly into your passport. Countries like China, Tanzania, and Egypt are just a few which require an actual, physical visa. These visas are a sticker that will be stuck right on to a blank page in your passport. For other countries like Cambodia and New Zealand, you can apply for a visa electronically through an app and then when you land at the airport in that country, you present the proof on your mobile device to the customs agent. Having the ability to obtain a visa electronically is such a time saver!
Process of Obtaining a Visa
As stated above, if the country you are traveling to that requires a visa has an electronic option, you're lucky. For other countries, the process can be a bit more daunting. Take for example, Tanzania. When I traveled to Tanzania in 2010, the visa process made me so anxious. You had to print out the application, fill in all the paper work, take a passport sized photo of yourself, print that out, and then place everything in an envelope and mail it to the Tanzanian Embassy in Washington, DC. Oh and when I say place "everything" I mean everything, INCLUDING YOUR PASSPORT! Yes, we had to mail our actual passports to the embassy and then wait several weeks until they mailed them back with our visas stuck in on a blank page. When I tell you I was anxious, that is an understatement. We had already booked our flights, booked hotels, and wired our money for our safari (yes, many countries still require wire payments!) and now we were letting our passports out of our possession! Luckily, we got our passports back a few weeks later and all was right.
Another example of a very tedious visa application is China. I've been to China twice. The first time I went in 2012, the visa issued was for a 90 day period, so by the time I went to China again in 2015 I needed a new visa. By 2015, China had updated their tourist visas to a validity period of 10 years. Let me tell you, with all that it required to get the Chinese visa the second time around, I'm glad I only have to do that every 10 years. I had to print all of the paperwork out, which was a lot - - application, flight documentation, photo copy of passport picture page, and passport photo. And they are very particular on how you fill in the application. They instruct you to type the answer in capital English letters in the space provided and will make you start all over if it's not accurate. Oh and you can't just mail it in either, you have to take the application to the Visa Office of Chinese Embassy/ Consulate General based on your State of residence. Then, after getting there and waiting for what could be hours, you have to come back 4 business days later to pick up your visa. On top of all that, make note that your passport must be valid for a minimum of 12 months from your date of travel.
For several other countries that do not require a pre-arrival visa or that do not have an electronic visa, you can just purchase one at the airport. When I visited Egypt in 2010, we went through customs at the Cairo airport, we paid a small fee and then the visa was signed and placed into our passports. It was quite an easy process and the customs agents were obviously very used to doing it since the process took mere seconds. While electronic is always easier, it is still nice not having to worry about a visa before your travels. (Note: Egypt now offers an electronic visa as well.)
Cost
Depending on where you are traveling, tourist visas can range in price from as little as $15.00 (Australia) to as much as $180.00 (Nigeria). When you're planning out your trip make sure to keep this in mind when coming up with your trip budget. You don't want to plan your daily spend out and budget your flights, hotels, and food only to forget about the fee for your visa!
How To Find What You Need
Alright, so you've got your destination in mind and now you need to know whether you need a visa. Obviously with all things in life, a quick Google search will answer your question. However, if you're not exactly sure where you want to go, or you just want to start researching visa requirements, there is a great website that makes it super easy! Passport Index is a super convenient and interactive website in which you click on your country's passport and then it will tell you every visa requirement for countries for which your passport allows entry. Simply click here and then click on your country's passport. You will get a pop up that looks like this:
If you click on the "Mobility Score" that will take you to the list of all countries and their visa requirements. Passport Index makes it easy by color coding based on whether the country is visa-free, visa on arrival, or visa required ahead of time. Just scroll through the list, find the country (or countries) you plan on visiting, and you will find what you need.
While obtaining visas can be a pain in the butt, it is just part of the travel experience and something you have to do if you want to see the world. Happy planning!
Bon voayge!
