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Inspect your passport carefully - International travel tip
Before you start planning your next dream vacation, make sure your passport is up to snuff. Check the expiration date carefully. Many countries do not allow you to visit with a passport that expires within six months of your trip. For example, Brazil requires your passport to be valid for six months after your tip. For Switzerland, it's three months.
Plus each country has its own rules for whether they calculate that expiration date from the day you enter the country or from the day you leave, so double check with the local embassy or consulate for the current requirements.
[Photo: Flickr | hjl]
Filed under: Gear
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
maddy Aug 19th 2010 12:40AM
Nepal Trekking, trekking in Nepal
forelisevn Apr 20th 2011 9:18PM
I made it to Saigon, uh… I mean Ho Chi Minh City. The flight attendant repeatedly caught herself calling the city we had just arrived in by the “wrong” name. When one refers to the city as Saigon, it insinuates something negative. I don’t know what, something to do with communism. I will leave that part to the historians. Apparently it took half the flight crew to wake me on approach. Literally, I woke up and there were three flight attendants standing in front of me looking quite shocked. I mumbled something about San Francisco and put my seat upright. I fell back asleep on our taxi. I attribute my sober stupor to two days of flying to get here, but also to Cathay Pacific’s lie flat Business Class seats. At first glance they look small and cramped but there is plenty of space, privacy and comfort. More on those seats to come.
I was allowed to enter the country too, which was good thing. Not sure what the Visa policy is/was, all I knew is that I needed one. I used a service called http://www.luckyvietnamvisa.com/ . At the visa desk I was greeted by unorganized chaos where I turned over the documents I had received from Lucky Vietnam Visa. I was given another form to fill out then had to wait, sweat (because it was hot) and wait some more. I have no idea if using the visa service helped or not but I am here.
I return to the US via Tokyo/Narita Airport and JFK.
I am going to check out Saigon now.
Chris Dollmont Sep 25th 2011 9:40PM
I am a Canadian living and working in Viet Nam. I have had a number of Canadian friends visit. We used to follow the tedious process outlined here, but now we simply go to: http://www.funvietnamvisa.com/
And do the "visa on arrival" thing. It's cheaper and significantly less hassle.
I realize this answer is probably out-of-date, but I wanted to get it in here for posterity's sake.
Zhoumin Mar 22nd 2012 3:23AM
At the beginning of the year 2012 I have a trip to Vietnam. Unfortunately,
when I go to the airport and suddenly find out I have no visa in hand and the
airlines staff won't let me board my flight?
I am so anxious and start to find the help from my friends. They suggest to
visit
www.vietnamvisabooking.com, one of the leading reliable Vietnam visa
agency. I Immediately, I was instructed to send an email to
vietnamvisabooking@gmail.com or call +84 912685141 to settle the
issue the Approval letter for Vietnam visa on arrival. With this kind of visa,
the most important thing you should be able to be online as they will send you
the Approval letter right away to enable you to board the flight into Vietnam.
Vietnam rush visa can be arranged in 8 hours, 4 hours or even 2
hours, in business day or weekend.
Cost will vary on the level of emergency/ weekend period of time (Saturday
morning/afternoon, Sunday morning/afternoon) but it is somewhere from US$150 to
US$170 per person. The urgent visa on working days costs about US$40 - US$75,
depend on time processing (8 hours, 4 hours or 2 hours).
For the normal visa on arrival, Vietnam visa booking charges less than $10 -
$15/visa only, it would be the cheapest cost for visa on arrival in
Vietnam now.
I normally do not want you to spend so much money to this. I would suggest you
to delay your flight then you will have time to do normal visa into Vietnam. In
the case where you are in business and/or cannot delay the arrival then
Vietnam visa on arrival by Vietnam visa booking agency will be the best
choice.
Basically, you must have a valid Vietnam visa except you are the citizenship of
visa exempted countries.
The most convenient and, we can say, easiest way is to do Vietnam visa on
arrival (more about
Vietnam visa) ie we send you Approval Letter, you hold
it to board your incoming flight and you pay visa stamp fee locally to the
Immigration - the stamp fee will depend on what type of visa you would like to
have.
This will save your time sending request to Embassies and wait probably long
time while the price is certainly more expensive.
After this trip, I have very useful experience that: you must check for visa
requirements before you go.
Alex Mar 22nd 2012 3:28AM
Vietnam visa on arrival can be applied online easy, express at very cheap price. Our Vietnam visa services: visa on arrival, urgent visa/ rush visa guaranteed to send you within 2 working days or less. Just download, take the copy of Visa approval letter and get your visa at the airport. Get your Vietnam visa from reliable visa agency.
vietnamvisabooking Apr 2nd 2012 1:17AM
You had better to check your visa requirements carefully before entry Vietnam. Vietnam visa can be applied online easily via: http://www.vietnamvisabooking.com