What is a visa?

What is a visa?

visas passportBefore leaving for a world tour, a business trip or spending your holidays on a paradise island, you must complete a number of administrative formalities. Obtaining a visa is often one of the conditions to be met before leaving on a trip.

The different kinds of visas

The visa is a document that authorizes a person to enter a foreign country, for a specific period and for a well-defined reason. It is therefore possible to apply for a visa to study in a foreign nation, work there, do tourism, do business there or even as part of a PVT program. This explains the fact that visas are classified according to the type of stay to be made by the applicant. This article will deal more specifically with the tourist visa.

The cost of a tourist visa varies depending on the country of destination. Thus, if you plan to discover Australia by van, you can obtain a free eVisitor visa or an Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) if the duration of your stay does not exceed 3 months. But if you plan to visit this country for more than one term, you must apply for a "Visitor visa". Its cost varies between $130 AUD to $335 AUD depending on whether the length of stay is 3, 6 or 12 months.

There are destinations that do not require a French visa for tourism. This is the case of the Philippines for a stay not exceeding 30 days, or of Senegal, Brazil, Tunisia, Panama for a trip of less than 90 days. Among the most expensive tourist visas, we must mention China which asks for between 35 and 100 € depending on the type of visa or Cameroon with a visa at 115 €. It should also be noted that visas can be single-entry or multiple-entry. In the first case, it allows you to enter the country and leave it at the end of your stay, it loses its validity as soon as you cross the borders. Regarding the multiple entry visa, it allows you to enter and leave the country you are visiting as much as you want, within the limits of its validity. This solution is therefore more interesting if you want to discover the neighboring regions and return to take your return flight to the country of original destination.

To obtain your visa, there are several ways to proceed which essentially depend on each country of destination. For example, you can apply for your 2016 visa before your departure, online, at the embassy or consulate of the country you wish to visit. For some countries like Madagascar or Egypt, you can even apply for your visa once you land at the airport.

In case you plan to stay in different countries, you can apply for a visa at the border of the new territory you want to explore. To avoid any disappointment and risk that your vacation falls through, it is better to inquire well before departure.

It should be noted that French nationals do not need a visa when traveling to a country in the European Economic Area (EEA). These include Austria, Germany, Bulgaria, Belgium, Denmark, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Spain, Finland, Greece , Hungary, Holland, Italy, Ireland, Iceland, Lithuania, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Portugal, Poland, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Switzerland and Sweden. This is also the case in some African countries such as South Africa, Botswana, Tunisia, Senegal, Mauritius, Morocco, Malawi, Maldives, Lesotho, Namibia, and Swaziland. You will also not need a visa to stay as a tourist in certain Middle Eastern countries such as Israel, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and the Palestinian Territories. Likewise, this document is generally unnecessary for most countries in North America, Central America, South America and the Caribbean, with the exception of Jamaica, Haiti and Colombia. In Asia, only Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Thailand, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Kuwait and Mongolia can be visited without a visa.

To help you find your way around, here is a map showing the terms of visas worldwide with a French passport: