visas

Good, Bad, Ugly: Visas

August 11, 2011 By Jillian

Traveling overseas usually requires visas, especially if you’re not traveling within a defined geopolitical area, like the European Union or the Commonwealth. As we traveled around the world we collected visas and visa stories. Fees, processes and paperwork differed in every county, some were a breeze, others were so painful they overshadowed nearly the whole visit. Interestingly enough, our good, bad and ugly are all from Africa. I’m not going to lie, obtaining visas there sometimes felt like catching Harry Potter’s snitch leading us to write an African Visa Guide.

The Good: Mozambique

Like so many visa processes, we had read differing accounts as to whether visas were available at the South Africa/Mozambique border. Unsure we were walking down the street in Buenos Aires when we came across the Mozambique consulate. The next morning we arrived at the consulate during business hours prepared to spend our day filling out papers. To our surprise we were met by a housekeeper who showed us into what could only be described as a formal diplomatic receiving room. The two of us, dressed in our travel best we looked completely out of place in the lavishly decorated room. We heard the clatter of breakfast dishes and shortly the consul came to greet us and inquire about our business. He was clearly surprised, but incredibly gracious with us. He spent several minutes socializing with us about our travels, our background and our itinerary in Africa. Eventually he disappeared with our passports leaving us as fish out of water again in the receiving room. When he returned, we had Mozambique visas and a new friend.

The Bad: Egypt/Sudan

A tourist visa for Sudan can take months to process and you have to send your passport to Khartoum. That clearly wasn’t an option for us, so we found a legal work around- a transit visa. The transit visa allowed us 15 days in the country without a problem so long as we had a visa for our next destination – Egypt. We assumed we’d have no problem getting Egyptian visas so we went to the Egyptian Embassy with our South African friends to apply. That’s when we were hit with the catch, processing time for South Africans was less than 4 days. For Americans it was a 10 day minimum, no matter what. Frustrated we politely explained the situation to the consulate officer, who empathized and offered to talk to the consul for us. She was unsuccessful and we ended up having to stay an extra week near Addis Ababa waiting for our Egyptian visas. Not the worst situation by any means, but 10 days is a lot of extra time when our Ethiopian visas were limited to 30 days in country.

The Ugly: Ethiopia

And that brings us to the ugly. It wasn’t that the experience was so long or painful, rather that it was overtly unfair. By the time we arrived in Ethiopia we had been traveling well over a year and were used to special rules or fees for Americans and Europeans. Usually our fee was within the same range as those for other Western nations, but we were shocked when we stood in the consular office in Nairobi and heard we’d have to pay $70 instead of the $20 for everyone else, including their colonial oppressor – Italy! The consulate explained, sanctimoniously that Americans can afford to pay $70 and therefore they should. Never mind that if Americans fly into Ethiopia they only pay $20 like everyone else for a visa on arrival. We were subjected to a patronizing lecture on how we can pay therefore we should and how unbalanced our own immigration system is. While I can’t argue that our immigration system isn’t broken, I’d be lying if we didn’t point out to the officer that at least the fees are EQUAL for everyone. (And we never once complained about a country that charged us a reciprocal visa fee). We left frustrated, enraged and thought seriously about not going to Ethiopia as a matter of principle. In the end, we got our visas and left for the border. You can only imagine our rage when we showed up at the Kenya/Ethiopia border and the first sign we saw in the customs building was stamped USAID: A gift of the American people. Awesome.

If you’re interested in an interesting statistical breakdown of our trip around the world, check out our trip by the numbers!

Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

October 7, 2010 By Danny

We watched Borat for the first time four days before arriving in Kazakhstan. If you haven’t watched Borat, you should…it is funny.

The ironies of the movie, and our travel here are large. In the movie, Borat is played by a Jew while Borat’s fat producer is an Armenian. Whenever they speak in ‘Kazak’ to each other they are actually using Hebrew and Armenian respectively. We are Jewish, we watched the movie while inside Armenia, and then flew one of the only direct flights from Armenia to Kazakhstan.

Upon our arrival in the country portrayed as using horses to pull cars, we found two national airlines and one Tour de France championship team. (Alberto Contador’s Astana is named for the Kazakh capital, Astana) Sitting in the airport we have Lay’s potato chips and Dove chocolate bars to choose from…if that doesn’t seem like a big deal to you, I recommend you travel with us more often. As Borat would say….Very Niiiiiiccceeee. Did I mention this country ends with the letters S-T-A-N?

From the third largest city of Shymkent (which comes from the word for ‘cotton’) we made a pilgrimage out to the city of Turkistan (literally, land of the turks) to see the great mosque and mausoleum of the Turkic holy man Kozha Akhmed Yasaui. If we were Muslims, this little half day excursion would be equal to 1/3rd of a trip to Mecca. The site itself, aside from being an Islamic holy place, was a beautiful and massive building with an 18 meter dome, below which sat a giant cauldron for holding holy water. On the way home, our ears were talked off by a medical student who wanted either was looking to practice his English or to tell someone about his wonderful girlfriend he was going to visit.

We had planned to spend some time in Almaty and in Northern Kazakhstan but both the Kazakh and Russian Governments seemed to think otherwise. First, our reason for spending time there was to get a Russian transit visa to allow us to take the Trans-Siberian Railroad across to Mongolia, usually a one day process. For us dirty and dangerous Americans who are clearly old cold war hacks looking to foment massive rebellion…the process took a ridiculous two weeks…the visa would have been good for 7 days.

Then as we began to realize that Russia wasn’t going to happen, we learned that the border agents had somehow messed up on our passports and we weren’t registered in the country properly. As our visa came from the US, this should have been automatic. As we had already been in the country once, this should have already been done the first time. As luck would have it however, our migration card was missing the required stamp and this meant we either needed to head for the border or spend a day getting registered. As it took over and hour to even figure that much out at the police station, we opted to head for the border. A good thing too as the next day the Chinese closed their side in observance of their autumn moon holiday.

Our final few days in Central Asia pretty much encapsulate the region for us. We left Uzbekistan because we were afraid of a registration problem and to get our Russian visas…which was also a big fail. Then we ran out of Kazakhstan early for similar registration issues as we’d been afraid of with Uzbekistan. In the end, no issues or bribes were paid….but these were the only countries we even COULD travel to on our own. Africa was difficult on our mind and body, but in the end was an experience we will treasure forever. Central Asia however, was just a giant pain in the butt.

As Borat would say… “Not verrrry nice.”

Entering Sudan

May 13, 2010 By Jillian

The time had come to leave Ethiopia so after a few days touring the monasteries and Lake Tana in Bahir Dar and the castles in Gondar, we headed towards the Sudanese border.

After our introduction to Ethiopia, we were expecting the worst at the Metemma/Gallabat border, but despite a few aggressive money changers on the Ethiopian side and a small trek to find the mud walled immigration office, all went well. As we entered Sudan we were met by the first of many military officers, who inspected our passports and visas before letting us pass through to customs and immigration. Although time consuming, the border formalities on the Sudanese side were easy, although the TV blaring E! True Hollywood Story – Scream, made for a somewhat bizarre experience.

Pulling into our last check- the “security” check, we followed the instructions and mistakenly pulled into a small concrete walled compound filled Toyota Land Cruisers, fitted with large machine guns, (Did I say large, I mean HUGE!) Their drivers were asleep in the shade underneath the vehicles and moments later an official poked his head out the window and motioned for us to go to the right area and not the scary one. Fortunately they were good humored about it and as they took down our details for the third time since crossing the border, we learned a few words in Arabic.

As we only learned a few quick words in Arabic we were still in need of some serious help in doing pretty much everything. A normally quick and easy task to buying a new SIM card for the cell phone proved a bit difficult as it took a team of locals walking Danny from the provider’s office across the street to buy some airtime, working together to understand how much to purchase and then loading it into the phone for me. The numbers here are written differently and aside from a few more words in Arabic we can almost write the numbers 1-10 in Arabic as well. The amazing thing, considering where we’ve been recently, was that everyone just wanted to help us and no one was looking for any money whatsoever. We were foreigners, their guests, and they our hosts.

On our way at last, we drove through flat pastures and grazing land on the way to Gedaref. At each check point along the way, the military officer greeted us, asked where we were from, welcomed us to Sudan and sent us on our way. Big guns and big smiles actually made us feel rather welcome and as we feasted on falafel and salad that night (for all less than one US dollar) we were thankful for the change of scenery.

Sudanese Visas

May 11, 2010 By Jillian

Sudan can be an incredibly difficult country to get into,which considering the current political situation is understandable. Traveling on American passports we figured there was no chance of us ever being able to get in. It wasn’t until an Italian couple waiting in line with us for Ethiopian visas told us that they’d heard of a “transit visa” with only a 24 hour processing period.

Fast forward two weeks to Addis Ababa where we were told by the Sudanese embassy that the transit visa is $200 for Americans,and yes, 24 hours to process, but we’d need our Egyptian visas first. Applications in process for Egypt, we went on our way touring the country, only to return to Addis 10 days later to process our Sudanese. Filling out the form we noticed a fill in the blank that we’ve never come across before on a visa application- religion.

To say Sudan and Israel don’t get a long is an understatement. Sudan doesn’t recognize Israel and in fact until two years ago Sudanese passports stated that it was not valid in Israel. If you have an Israeli stamp in your passport Sudan immediately denies your visa application. So what, we wondered would they say if we wrote Jewish? Asking at the Egyptian embassy, the receptionist told us just to lie- you’re from America, just say you’re Christian. An Israeli in the waiting room agreed- why create problems…you’re American so maybe you can just write Capitalist!

Sure it would have been easier, but neither of us were comfortable denying who we are. After much debate, we asked the Consular Officer at the Sudanese Embassy on the day we applied for the visa (but before we handed over the money!) if our being Jewish was a problem. His answer: “No problem.”

Thankfully it was no problem, and 24 hours later we had our Sudanese transit visas in hand. We are nervous heading into a country who’s president is wanted by the International Criminal Court for his role in the worst humanitarian crisis (Darfur) in the world while the recent (corruption laden) elections threaten civil war…but we are cautiously optimistic that this is the right decision…to see a country as it is rather than as CNN portrays it.

African Visa Guide

April 21, 2010 By Jillian

Although we needed only two visas for all of Latin America, we’ve needed a visa for almost every country we’ve gone to in Africa. Some countries are straight forward, but others make the process a virtual nightmare and seem to change their requirements every other day. In an effort to help other traveling souls out there, here’s our guide to African Visas. All requirements are for American passports unless otherwise noted and were as of our travels December 2009- April 2010.

South Africa – 90 day multiple-entry tourist visa upon arrival at all land borders and airports. 1/2 page sticker with a barcode. Free!

Swaziland, Lesotho and Namibia– No visa required, free entry.

Mozambique– Crap shoot, no seriously. Everyone we’ve met seems to have paid a different fee for a 30 day single entry visas, with no consistency among borders, passports, etc…We paid $60 for Mozambique 30 day single entry visas in Argentina. Traveled with people who bought them at the land border near Maputo for $25. Single entry visa at the Mozambique embassy in Harare was $130, although we picked our second ones up at the Zim/Mozambique border for $30. The process was long and we were harassed upon exit in the north for not getting it before hand. If you’re coming via land from south africa you’re fine to get it at the border, other land borders may be a crap shoot. Can pay in Rand, USD or Meticais.

Zimbabwe– $45 single entry visa upon arrival at land border. No problem obtaining the visa, process was straightforward. Can pay in Rand or USD only.

Malawi– Free tourist visa upon arrival. Straightforward and easy.

Tanzania– Can obtain at some land borders- check in advance. Recently increased the price for American passports to $100 6 month multiple entry. Some Americans receive a one year multiple entry for $100 at the Tanzania/Kenya border crossings. We had to get ours in advance in Zimbabwe (only waited 2 hours) as they were not available at the Tanzania/Malawi border when we crossed. As far as we know for all other nationalities, the tourist visa is $50. Pay in USD, but must have post 2006 bills. Tanzanian Government offices will put up a huge fight if you have pre-2006 bills and you might not get through. Full page sticker or stamp.

Kenya– Obtain at all land borders. $25 visa that says single entry- but actually is good for multiple entry as long as you don’t go outside of Uganda, Tanzania or Kenya. Full page sticker.

Uganda– $50 for all nationalities, two month single entry available at the border. Again post 2006 bills only. No $20 student visa is available to non- East Africans.

Ethiopia– Obtain at Addis Ababa airport for $20 all nationalities. Not available at ANY land borders, must arrange in advance. $20 in advance for all nationalities except Americans- $70 in advance. 24 hour processing.

Sudan– It’s very difficult to get a tourist visa for Sudan. Most travelers get a transit visa in either Cairo or Addis Ababa. This is processed within 24 hours and gives the bearer 2 weeks to transit Sudan. It’s 100USD for everyone, except Americans, who pay 200USD. Before you apply you’ll need to have a valid Egyptian or Ethiopian visa.

Egypt– Many nationalities can obtain a visa for $15 at the Airport. We purchased ours in advance in Addis Ababa in order to get our Sudanese Visas. 10 processing days in Addis. Visas were available on the ferry from Wadi-Halfa to Aswan.