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Visa
May 7, 2017 10:35:50 GMT 2
Post by Baz Faz on May 7, 2017 10:35:50 GMT 2
I suspect the main point of visas nowadays is to make money for the government that issues them. Who would actually check the information you fill in - you know, mother's maiden name, father's date of birth? It is a bit like those ridiculous fiches you had to fill in when you stayed at French hotels which (in theory) were collected by the police every night. I had a South African passport in those days and I used to fill in a random passport number and say I had been born in Reykjavik. I never had the police knocking at my door in the middle of the night.
I read today about applying for a Russian visa. Apparently you have to list all the countries you have visited in the past ten years with dates. And the Russians want not just a photo but fingerprints as well. And then you have to visit some visa processing centre (there are 3 in Britain - London, Manchester and Edinburgh - so that is a day wasted) with all the documentation and then come back to pick up your passport or pay to have it sent back.
Getting an Indian visa also used to be a pain. The Indians demanded a photo that was a different size from the one that photo booths give. We were living in France and fortunately there was a photo shop a mere half hour's drive away where the owner was happy to take our photos and deliver the right size prints. Last time I visited I saw his shop had closed so it would probably mean an hour's drive to Cahors now.
And yet you can travel to Thailand and stay for 30 days without a visa. You simply get a stamp at the airport and it is free. This coming winter we'll be visiting Malaysia and Indonesia and there is the same relaxed attitude.
I wonder what it is like going to North Korea?
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Visa
May 7, 2017 12:00:10 GMT 2
Post by auntieannie on May 7, 2017 12:00:10 GMT 2
For having worked in a a couple hotels many years ago, I can tell you that they DID check the "ridiculous fiches".
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Visa
May 7, 2017 15:49:06 GMT 2
Post by Voy on May 7, 2017 15:49:06 GMT 2
I'm sure it's for the money in SAmer - Argentina and Chile - wow.
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Visa
May 7, 2017 19:26:32 GMT 2
Post by lumi on May 7, 2017 19:26:32 GMT 2
I've done a 1 day trip to North Korea but don't remember what information was required. I guess if ou were to stay overnight you would need to provide much more personal info.
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Visa
May 7, 2017 19:27:47 GMT 2
Post by lumi on May 7, 2017 19:27:47 GMT 2
Ohh and I meant to add that lots of countries collect fingerprints - I've had to give mine for the UK and UAE though can't remember if that was only because I became a resident in those countries.
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Visa
May 7, 2017 20:25:41 GMT 2
Post by kuskiwi on May 7, 2017 20:25:41 GMT 2
One of the joys of travelling on an NZ passport is that there an amazing number of countries that allow either 30 or 90 days for tourists without either costs or lots of paperwork, however the situation with South Africa has just changed in a tit for tat regulation and we now have to go to the capital in person for a visa. Voy - no costs for me in South America. (Nice ) and yes some countries are now collecting fingerprints although even more now are doing Iris photos which seems a quicker way of working out if someone is on a 'borrowed' passport. My North Korea tour was a day one with a tour group and they just took our passports and returned them that night. I felt really vulnerable as I guard my passport so carefully. The Indian application is hilarious in details and even more so for a work visa. We used to send tutors to Chennai to teach aspects of roading. One of the tutors was in his late 70's and filled his parents occupations out as deceased. It came back saying that that was not an occupation and please amend. He then sent it to say they were both retired and again it came back. He was away and I altered it and sent it back with housewife and labourer and it went through.
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Visa
May 8, 2017 8:53:55 GMT 2
Post by tzarine on May 8, 2017 8:53:55 GMT 2
i hold 10 year indian & brazilian visas they were really stupid exercises in bureaucracy
the brazilian consulate in ny is a total mindfick. how many hoops can you jump through without losing your temper. people get yelled at. you have to pay by cashiers' check. use the glue sticks to attach your photo. people were escorted out for "disrespecting officials of the Brazilian government" the us does it to brazilians wanting to come here.
in hk, the chinese visa official as hilarious - can you say stereotypical dour communist paper pusher?
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Visa
May 8, 2017 10:35:38 GMT 2
Post by Baz Faz on May 8, 2017 10:35:38 GMT 2
In 1956 I was driving a lorry of medical supplies and clothes to help Hungarian refugees in Austria. My South African passport caused no end of problems. The French immigration people in Calais were really cross and kept us waiting and finally sold me a visa. Belgians were puzzled but I got a visa. At the German border the Dutch friend who came with us for his language skills simply said, "Ungarn hilfe," and I was waved through. No problem.
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Visa
May 12, 2017 16:36:54 GMT 2
Post by ninchursanga on May 12, 2017 16:36:54 GMT 2
One of my citizenships allows me to enter about 173 countries either without a visa, or get a a visa on arrival/evisa. So even though it's a hassle when I need to get one, I remind myself that in general my traveling life is pretty easy! Not sure if it is only a money making scheme. It sometimes also looks like countries getting back at each others. Russia allegedly demands the exact same paperwork for EU citizens than what Russian citizens have to submit to EU countries to get a visa. Iranians allegedly price the visas accordingly to what their citizens have to pay in the respective country.
Iran btw. also wanted fingerprints and a whole pile of documents - unless one applied for a visa on arrival, then the passport itself & health insurance was enough.
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Visa
May 12, 2017 19:23:04 GMT 2
via mobile
Post by wikki on May 12, 2017 19:23:04 GMT 2
I have a list with countries and when I visited covering the last 10 years..... I needed so many visas/ workpermits. I think most if the countries ask for the same stuff.
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Visa
May 15, 2017 13:31:54 GMT 2
Post by rikita on May 15, 2017 13:31:54 GMT 2
don't remember anymore where it was, i think in peru, where someone i knew while i was there told me how she had been trying to get a visa for the US (was invited for a conference or something like that), and how that meant she had to travel very far to the capital (if i remember right and this was a friend in peru, that'd have been a 24 hour bus ride), pay something like 100 dollars (so something like a month's wage) for the embassy appointment and then be rejected because she didn't have some paper she had never been told she needed ...
as for myself, getting the visa for india was some hassle, because we wanted a one year visa to work as volunteers, in the end we gave up and got a six month tourist visa instead. else, i think the only other visas i got was for my exchange to the US (standing in line for several hours along with all the other future exchange students, but no problems) and for moldova (our professor collected our passports a few weeks before the excursion, sent them in somewhere, and returned them to us with the visa inside ...
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Visa
May 15, 2017 14:27:51 GMT 2
Post by Voy on May 15, 2017 14:27:51 GMT 2
There was a strange time - in the early 80s - when I had TWO passports. Because of how long it took to get a Russian one. While my passport was away getting the Russian one I had to go to England on business, and then , given the timing , would go to Russia via Denmark. Anyway, thank god I worked at American Express Bank, and the company knew how to do it. So off I went to England on the new one , and then to Denmark ditto -- panic setting in ! - but the one with the Russian visa got to me in Copenhagen the day before I had to go to Moscow... whew.
At that point I really did feel like an amazing traveler, as not only did I have two passports, but the original one had one of those accordion foldout extensions to hold all the visas. Very impressive when you flopped it out at immigration.
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Visa
May 16, 2017 10:47:22 GMT 2
Post by shrjeff on May 16, 2017 10:47:22 GMT 2
israel and china have signed a special agreement so we're eligible for 10 year multiple entry visas - limited to the expiration date of the passport.
so this fall we'll get new 10 year passports and then get our china visas...
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Visa
May 18, 2017 21:00:56 GMT 2
Post by Netsuke on May 18, 2017 21:00:56 GMT 2
you can travel to Thailand and stay for 30 days without a visa. You simply get a stamp at the airport and it is free. This coming winter we'll be visiting Malaysia and Indonesia and there is the same relaxed attitude. I wonder what it is like going to North Korea? Shoot first, ask questions later.
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Visa
May 19, 2017 12:36:34 GMT 2
wikki likes this
Post by ninchursanga on May 19, 2017 12:36:34 GMT 2
don't remember anymore where it was, i think in peru, where someone i knew while i was there told me how she had been trying to get a visa for the US ... Oh dear, getting a visa for the U.S. is a major pain! It cost me an arm and a leg cause I had fly back to Germany and apply from there cause it was advised to apply at an embassy in the country of origin. The visa could only be processed in either Frankfurt or Berlin, both cities being far away from my parents place. That meant either a full-day train trip or internal flight + hotel. It is impossible to do it in one day.' And indeed, if you forget just one document or something is wrong they have no mercy and you can leave right away and make a new appointment. Which makes me remember that just calling the US embassy and getting an appointment cost ten or twenty bucks cause the first thing they ask for is your credit card number. Not all documents needed ready? The operator will just hang up on you if it takes a minute too long and you can call again, paying another 10/20 bucks. Man, I really hated those guys from the beginning on.
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Visa
Jun 2, 2017 6:16:22 GMT 2
Post by tzarine on Jun 2, 2017 6:16:22 GMT 2
tzarevich's brasil visa is in his expired passport, while he will need along w his current one
yes, a us visa is difficult to get these days,ninchursanga
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Post by Baz Faz on Jun 2, 2017 8:47:53 GMT 2
One of the joys of travelling in the Schengen area of Europe is the lack of visas once you are inside. Indeed the lack of any noticeable border. Driving on a minor road from Germany into Alsace yesterday we simple passed a sign saying France. There was no other sign of a border - no fence, no gate, no abandoned hut. We'll be entering Switzerland this afternoon so we'll see what there is there.
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Visa
Jun 13, 2017 6:09:37 GMT 2
Post by tzarine on Jun 13, 2017 6:09:37 GMT 2
most of asia has been pretty easy
though i was concerned about a china visa since i had written critical articles about beijing but i've been back twice post tiananmen
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Visa
Jun 24, 2017 10:14:11 GMT 2
Post by Netsuke on Jun 24, 2017 10:14:11 GMT 2
most of asia has been pretty easy though i was concerned about a china visa since i had written critical articles about beijing but i've been back twice post tiananmen Once in China, one must keep one's big gob shut and one's opinions to oneself. At least until one has left the country.
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Visa
Jun 26, 2017 7:09:19 GMT 2
Post by tzarine on Jun 26, 2017 7:09:19 GMT 2
absolutely, netsuke
the visa @ the cambodian was weird bc the man didnt ask me for a photo then the guy @ the window started demanding them from the people in his line
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