Work Travel Volunteer

Pesky things visas. A visa is technically a stamp that allows the visitor to travel in a specific country for a specific length of time. There are generally five main types;

• Tourist
• Transit
• Business
• Student
• Working Holiday

Questions to ask yourself before you go anywhere are;

1) Do I need a visa? If you are a British citizen and you are travelling to Europe you don't. This may also apply if you have duel nationality for a country too.

2) What am I doing in the country? This will determine what type of visa you need first of all. E.g. if you want to study, you'll need a student visa.

3) How long can I stay in the county for on this visa? This varies depending on your type of visa and where you are going. Don't panic if it isn't a long as you hoped. You can often extend the visa once in the country or exit the country and get another visa when you come back in.

4) Can I get this visa on arrival? If yes, good for you. This will save a lot of hassle. If you are travelling overland, there is the possibility that you may need to obtain your visa prior to entering. Entering through an airport carries a greater chance that you can get a stamp on arrival, but as always, check your relevant embassy for specific details.

5) If not, does the visa I need begin when I enter the country or the date of issue (when I receive the visa). This can be the painful part. Some visas, such as the Australian Working Holiday Visa have to be obtained before you enter Australia but they only begin from the date of entry to Australia so you can obtain them quite far in advance before you travel.

6) If you need a visa prior to entering a country and it begins from when you receive the stamp, you'll need to find out where the country's nearest embassy is prior to you entering that country. A good example of this is, if you are travelling overland from Thailand to China for one year. You will need to obtain your visas on route e.g. in Vietnam, you should visit the Chinese embassy to get your stamp for China.

7) If you need to do this, write down the address of the relevant embassies before you set off and take some spare passport pictures. This will save any angst later on down the line.

8) Got a headache yet?