Everything You Need To Know About Visas
What Is a Visa?
A visa is an official document that allows the bearer to legally enter a foreign country. The visa is usually stamped or glued into the bearer’s passport. There are several different types of visas, each of which afford the bearer different rights in the host country.
What Is a Travel/Tourist Visa?
Travel visas allow the bearer to enter a foreign country for touristic and leisure purposes only and stay for a predetermined amount of time. These visas do not entitle the holder to work or engage in any business activities in the host country.
What Is a Work Visa?
Work visas are required for individuals who wish to take on employment or engage in business activities in the host country. There are several types of work visas that depend on the nature of the work and length of stay. For example, working holiday visas allow individuals to temporarily take on employment while travelling through the country.
What Is a Business Visa?
A business visa allows the bearer to enter the host country and engage in business activities without joining that country’s labour market. For example, an individual may require a business visa if they are travelling to a country to do business with another company or if they are attending a business conference. The visitor typically must show that they are not receiving income from the country.
What Is a Student Visa?
A student visa is a type of nonimmigrant visa that allows the bearer to enrol at a postsecondary educational institution in the host country. High school foreign exchange students must typically obtain a visa for temporary residence.
What Is a Transit Visa?
Travellers may sometimes require transit visas in order to pass through a country that is not their destination country. Transit visas are typically required if you have a layover in a country of more than a few hours.
What Is an eVisa?
An eVisa, or electronic visa, is a digital visa that is stored in a database rather than stamped or glued into the bearer’s passport. The eVisa is linked to the individual’s passport number. Applications for eVisas are typically done over the Internet and the applicant will receive a paper document to present while travelling.
Immigrant Vs. Nonimmigrant Visas
Travel visas can be separated into two categories: immigrant and nonimmigrant. Immigrant visas allow the bearer to reside permanently in the host country, whereas nonimmigrant visas allow the bearer entry into the host country on a temporary basis.
What Does a Visa Look Like?
Traditional visas can either be stamped or glued into your passport. If your visa is glued into your passport, it is usually a small document that includes your name, passport number, place of birth, reason for travel and expiration date. Stamped visas typically have less information on them. They usually only have the destination and date from which the visa is valid and official instructions stating how many days the visa is valid for.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How long will the process take?
This depends on the country you’re visiting. Some visas will be issued the same day; others can take weeks (or even months) to process.
What is the difference between an Embassy and a Consulate?
An embassy is a permanent diplomatic mission (read: a delegation of diplomats) led by an ambassador. The term is often also used for the physical building they occupy, predominantly in the capital cities (New Delhi in India). A consulate or consulate general is generally a representative of the embassy in locales outside of the capital city. Consulates are extended offices of Embassies and the applications are taken as per the jurisdictions defined.
A consulate or consulate general is generally a representative of the embassy in locales outside of the capital city. Consulates are extended offices of Embassies and the applications are taken as per the jurisdictions defined.
2. What would be the cost for the Visa process?
The Visa fee vary from country to country. For some countries, there would be charges from the assigned Visa Facilitation centres as well. Hallmark Journeys would charge a Service Fee depending upon the type of visa processed.
