Talk:Visa

Purpose
I don't see any practical utility to this article. Visas are very country-specific, and some of the info (eg. Saudi supposedly not needing transit visas) is outright incorrect. (WT-en) Jpatokal 01:37, 4 June 2008 (EDT)

I have seen online tools that allow travelers to search for the visa requirements by destination and nationality; Such as here http://www.visahq.com/travel_tools.php

Current condition

 * The banner at page-end indicates this is just an outline...but no date for that entry. Believe page has developed past that point, e.g., explains why you may need one or more, and consequences of not having such.  Don't feel authorized to remove banner.
 * Definitely agree it should receive frequent fact-checking (an error could cause considerable grief), plus ".gov" or other clean links to dependable sites indicating which nationals need/don't need visas for which types of entry in which countries, e.g., for U.S. travelers.  Regards  --(WT-en) Hennejohn 13:00, 18 July 2011 (EDT)

Visa agencies
This user has added contact information to a company that does the paperwork for travelers who need a visa to Dubai against a fee. Saqib has reverted it twice, per tour. But do we have an explicit rule forbidding addition of visa agencies? If we don't, maybe we should: Visa. ϒpsilon (talk) 12:07, 27 March 2014 (UTC)
 * We don't need a rule for every little thing. This is simple common sense.  Powers (talk) 14:13, 27 March 2014 (UTC)
 * My revertion of those edits was per Tout, not Tour. It was a typo. Plenty of travel agencies provide you with a tourist visa to the Emirates so I don't think we should allow the listings of travel agencies. They fall both under tour and Tour. --Saqib (talk) 14:27, 27 March 2014 (UTC)

Guide and FTT?
This article looks pretty good for being at usable status. So, like always: is it perhaps already a guide (possible FTT candidate) or is there still something important missing? --ϒpsilon (talk) 19:23, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

Processing times
The article says you should, for most countries, "begin the visa process at least four weeks prior to your trip (six weeks for business and employment visas)." I don't know whether Finland is exceptionally slow, but I'd guess six weeks is nowhere enough for employment visas, if there is any special circumstances and you want to be sure to get it processed in time. I asked the Finnish migration authority website to calculate an approximate handling time for "other" work, and the answer was "2–4 months". --LPfi (talk) 16:45, 11 June 2019 (UTC)
 * Yeah, I'd say anything beyond the usual duration of tourism visas should get at least months of preparation... Hobbitschuster (talk) 18:11, 11 June 2019 (UTC)

Visa requirements map
Looking up visa requirements of the destination is something every traveller will do, and is one of the top travel-related topics people look at on Wikipedia. But right now, our pages are very text heavy. I stumbled upon an online requirements website via Reddit today and it shows the power of making it interactive and finding the information quickly. Have we considered doing similar type of maps by using suitable plugins? We can utilize the large contributor base to keep it updated. I can foresee that it can be a huge draw for travellers to our site and some of them can be converted to contributors. OhanaUnitedTalk page 21:16, 5 May 2019 (UTC)
 * Wikipedia has maps in their "visa policy of x" articles. I have in the past added those pictures to get in sections. Hobbitschuster (talk) 23:29, 1 June 2019 (UTC)

Visiting friends
I am surprised to read here that you might not be allowed to visit friends and family on a tourist visa or as visa-exempt.

Does this apply to many countries? The example given is Canada, where you as visa-exempt are said to need a letter of invitation from your friend, if you are visiting them rather than being a usual tourist. I couldn't easily find that requirement in Canada.

Is the information on visiting family and friends actually missing from most articles? I'd happily go visiting friends as visa-free tourist otherwise, and I'd present a letter of invitation when booked accommodation is required to get a visa. If I read the passage here correctly, that might land me in trouble.

–LPfi (talk) 07:55, 24 May 2021 (UTC)


 * I don't think so Hobbitschuster (talk) 10:35, 24 May 2021 (UTC)


 * China has a separate visa category for "visiting family", used mainly by overseas Chinese but also sometimes by foreigners who have married Chinese. Coming on a tourist visa does not mean you cannot visit family, but it does mean you don't get the longer stay allowed on a family visa & I think you pay higher fees. Pashley (talk) 12:43, 24 May 2021 (UTC)


 * In some countries you actually need "an invite" for a visa. This can nowadays be worked around by travel agencies, but apparently it used to be that you actually had to genuinely know someone in the country to get the visa. Hobbitschuster (talk) 12:47, 24 May 2021 (UTC)
 * From my research, this is not true for Canada, so I have removed that example. Ground Zero (talk) 13:20, 24 May 2021 (UTC)
 * Visiting friend and family as a reason to get a visa, to get it cheaper or to waive some requirements makes sense, but not being allowed to visit (or lodge with) them without getting a (different) visa is what sounds absurd, or at least surprising. –LPfi (talk) 14:12, 24 May 2021 (UTC)

Carrying your university degree?
I don't understand that you shouldn't be carrying [...] a university degree when on a tourist visa. This is about tourist visas and documents related to your profession, but I think the example is odd. I understand that a CV and related documents are suspicious, but I think a single diploma would be quite innocent. Who would employ you based on a university degree diploma alone? I changed it to "such as those you would show a potential employer", do we have a better wording? Or do such diplomas cause real problems, when you carry a fresh one to show it to friends (the only reason I can think of where I'd carry one on a tourist trip). –LPfi (talk) 07:49, 16 August 2022 (UTC)


 * I think your edit puts the point across better.
 * And even if you have the intention to find employment, why would you carry the hardcopy around based on a simple potentiality, and not an electronic scan in a flash drive or instead of simply e-mailing it? Vidimian (talk) 08:21, 16 August 2022 (UTC)

Missionary visas
We say that "Religious worker/Missionary visas permits you to enter the country for the purpose of practicing, maintaining, and advancing your religious beliefs."

I think we should be more explicit about this class of visas. I assume it is the advancing of your religious beliefs that is the point – or do you need the visa for practising and maintaining your religion as in praying, reading the bible and attending a religious service? Not even for a pilgrimage I believe. I don't know those visas or what countries this is about, so I hope somebody else can clarify.

–LPfi (talk) 12:17, 15 September 2022 (UTC)

Requirement of printing out the application when applying online?
In we say:
 * "In some countries, applications are only possible online [...] [in that case] you will have to print-out the submitted application [...]. Next, you can set an appointment"

Printing out your application for yourself is more or less common sense, although worth pointing out. But "you will have to" is odd language for that. "Need" implies that you need to show the application when showing up (not only as a safeguard in case); don't the authorities have access to it? And we don't say anything about when to print out the application (save a copy before submitting, print out the page with the submitted form as delivered by the server?), or that you should take it with you to the interview and the voyage itself.

Isn't it common that the online application is enough by itself – if you have a biometric passport and are a national of the right countries?

The section is a bit confused also otherwise, with details on visiting a mission before introducing the missions. A restructuring should probably be done, with introductory paragraphs, and the different scenarios and procedures and each presented by itself.

–LPfi (talk) 07:46, 27 July 2023 (UTC)