Visas - Keeping Things Simple

If you have never taken an extended vacation in a foreign country, you have probably never paid much attention to visa matters.

First, the good news: If you are a European or a North American many countries will grant you with a free 30-90 day stay, without having to apply for a visa. They will put an entry stamp in your passport upon arrival and away you go.

If you want to stay longer than the initial free period, and the country permits it, you will have to ask for an extension, or perhaps have to make a visa run, i.e. a short in-and-out trip to a neighboring country to get a new 30-90 day extension.

From a Free as a Bird perspective, we try to keep things as simple as possible.

First, we try to find countries where it is possible to stay for 6 months (including extensions) without a visa.

Requesting a visa can be time consuming and, without help, confusing. You have to produce photos, bank statements, and sometimes, return tickets, medical documentation and police certificates. Getting a visa in these circumstances is not free either. Be prepared to pay in the range of $100-$200. If you can get a free stamp upon arrival then you can eliminate all of this.

There is another, more technical, reason why we prefer a passport entry stamp.

Suppose you have a two-month tourist visa but a six-month return ticket. You want to stay six months in that country but the maximum tourist visa you can get is two months.

After those two months you know that you can apply for an extension at the immigration office in that country and extend your stay to cover the six months.

You should know that when you have a visa stamped or glued into your passport, the air carrier that flies you to your destination will probably look to see if your return ticket is within the time lapse allowed by your visa. This can create problems.

Your air carrier could refuse you the flight because they don't want to have problems with the foreign immigration office. They know that if you are not accepted by the immigration department they will have to fly you back.

This means that you could be compelled to buy in extremis a second (very expensive) return ticket with a return date that matches your visa.

To avoid this problem some people buy open return tickets but we try to avoid this because these tickets are expensive.

So for this reason, we prefer, if possible, to have a virgin passport before leaving home. No visas inside, no questions asked. Usually.

Tip for Buying an Emergency Return Ticket

If, before departure, you have to buy a second return ticket at the airport with a return date that matches your visa, look for the most expensive ones because they are usually fully refundable.

You will probably have to leave your shirt at the airline desk (temporarily!) but at least you will be able to recover it when you get a refund a few days later after clearing immigration.