Thursday, July 29, 2010

A Quick Word on Visas

Visas are a lot like car insurance. Lots of money, lots of hassle, very low perceived value. Ok they get you in the country of your choice and all that, but still, come on, nobody really likes insurance or Visas (apologies to the Visa and insurance sales forces).

Allow me to explain. We are visiting 12 different countries (counting the EU as one for this exercise). 7 of these countries require a Visa (Australia, Indonesia, India, Nepal, Turkey, Egypt, and the EU).  Only one of these countries allow you to get a Visa 90 days in advance (Australia) and the rest its only 60 days! That means I'll need to be applying for Visas while on the road, which seems just crazy town to me. Besides the fact that each Visa appears to cost around $100 or more, which adds up after a while. Thank you thank you thank you to Thailand, Israel, Morocco for not requiring this process, much appreciated.

If anyone has had experiences with this and can offer some advice, that would be much appreciated.

3 comments:

  1. you should check out which ones allow you to purchase on arrival. For us, we can do that in Argentina, Nepal, Indonesia, and Australia.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Interesting... Did you have any trouble getting the visa when you arrived in Argentina? Do you know if there is a cost difference in doing it that way? Thanks for the great advice, I didn't realize this was an option.

    ReplyDelete
  3. nope, its just another step upon getting to the country - pay for visa, immigration, customs. Planning on the same for Nepal and Indonesia.

    No cost different either. However, there are some countries where you have to get a visa before, like brazil and china. We are getting our China visa in Hong Kong where supposedly its easy.

    ReplyDelete