Visa on arrival

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Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 35 total)

  • Anonymous
    Guest

    Would you be more likely to visit a country if you knew you could purchase a visa on arrival?

    If, like me, you can’t stand paperwork, do you not think this makes perfect sense? I would like to visit Algeria and Angola for example. Would certain countries not attract more visitors with a VOA system?

    What do you all think?


    ImissConcorde
    Participant

    You will find that most countries which require visitors to have a visa are required to have a visa to enter the U.K.


    DavidGordon10
    Participant

    ImissConcorde 21.34 – yes, true, and there is far to much tit-for-tat behaviour over visas.

    Alexpo 20.33 – yes, I sigh when I have to go to a visa hungry country, and welcome the “visa on arrival”. That is why entry into Georgia or Armenia is such a pleasure, and into Azerbaijan is a chore, notwithstanding the pleasantness of the people once you are there. Countries that are open to visitors must surely benefit from trade and cultural exchange in due course. The outcome of the different policies in the Caucasus, or between Ukraine and Russia, will be interesting to observe.


    IanFromHKG
    Participant

    That very much depends on how efficient the visa-on-arrival system is. In some places (Thailand, for example) I understand it is relatively easy (I don’t need one, myself). However, I remember the utter chaos when Indonesia introduced it. We flew into Bali, had to queue up to get the forms, queue up to pay, queue up again to have the visa processed, and THEN join the immigration queue. It took almost three hours in all. They are a lot better now, but even so the rest of the family get visas in advance (despite them being more expensive than visas on arrival) just to avoid the hassle of joining an entire planeload of other passengers (and sometimes more than one planeload) all trying to go through a process that one can simply avoid

    Incidentally – for any travellers from participating APEC countries – I cannot recommend highly enough the APEC Business Traveller Card. I have had one of these for years (as a permanent resident of Hong Kong despite being a British passport holder) – and I have to say that being able to avoid visa requirements, plus getting expedited immigration clearance (even in the US!), is worth the paltry fee dozens of times over. http://businessmobility.org/key/abtc.html

    To answer the original question, though – I don’t think availability of a visa on arrival would make any difference to my decision as to whether to visit somewhere. If I want (or need) to go, visa requirements – however they are fulfilled – simply wouldn’t factor into the decision unless I was unable to get one!


    Tirana1
    Participant

    From recent personal experience, beware of the opportunities that “visa on arrival” processes present for local immigration to seek to extract bribes and questionable additional payments. My experience was Dar es Salam and was quite shocking where an additional payment of USD 250 was demanded on an absolutely spurious basis. I knew from previous vists that such demand for payment was not valid and in the end did not pay but there is limited scope to insist in a crowded arrivals hall at 6am after an 8 hour flight.


    pdtraveller
    Participant

    Would not influence a business trip but visa requirements certainly influence my vacation choices.

    I find that as a Brit many more countries insist on me having a visa even when other EU country citizens do not and your costs are rising. It is clearly a response to the UKs own visas requirements.


    LuganoPirate
    Participant

    There are some countries I’d love to visit but am put off by needing a visa in advance, so simply do not bother.


    IanFromHKG
    Participant

    So, LP, would availability of a visa on arrival put those countries back on your list?


    Andy/Thailand
    Participant

    Visa on arrival in Lao PDR is a pleasure, fill the form in on flight and hand over at counter, takes 3 mins, and best of all you get your own immagration lane for VOA. Last time out in 4 mins, there on Wednesday so hopefully the same again.


    IanFromHKG
    Participant

    I have not yet experienced (since it isn’t available on flights from HK) but would love to experience the service provided on some Garuda flights, where you clear Indonesian immigration in the air. It even beats the US immigration clearance at Shannon!

    Thanks for all your replies.

    The only time it was essential to apply for a visa in advance was for Brazil, but that was because I was going to live there. I remember my passport arrived in the post the day before departure!

    My experience of paying for a VOA has been excellent in Mozambique and Ethiopia.

    Wrt India, the following link may be of interest:

    http://www.immigrationindia.nic.in/visa_on_arrival2.htm

    and I believe the scheme is to be extended to include other countries.


    IanFromHKG
    Participant

    Unfortunately, alexpo1, not much use to business travellers since it is a tourist visa.

    I have been getting Indian business visas every year for – well, years. It bugs the hell out of me – why won’t they give me a five-year visa? I am a director of two Indian companies, I go there several times a year, and my passport runs out of pages before expiry precisely because half the pages are taken up with ****y visas for India!!


    craigwatson
    Participant

    While looking into something from another post, I stumbled across a cracking deal to Melbourne in December x-mas period. LGW-MEL-LGW on Vietnam airlines in Business for £1600 all in.

    I thought this was a very good deal indeed, until you see there is a 14 hour connection in SGN on the way out. it is still doable, but if there was a VoA in Vietnam it would make this so much the better as it 14 hours is all during the day, so time to go explore for the day.


    IanFromHKG
    Participant

    It’s not a completely on-arrival process, but you can make an online application and then collect the visa stamp on arrival:

    http://www.vietnameseembassy.org/vietnam+visa.html

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