Travel visa
Visa evidence most commonly takes the form of a sticker endorsed in the applicant's passport or other travel document but may also exist electronically.
Today, travellers wishing to enter another country must often apply in advance for what is also called a visa, sometimes in person at a consular office, by post, or over the Internet.
The modern visa may be a sticker or a stamp in the passport, an electronic record of the authorization, or a separate document which the applicant can print before entering and produce on entry to the visited polity.
[3][4] The history of passports dates back several centuries, originating from early travel documents used to ensure safe passage across regions.
One of the earliest known references to a passport-like document comes from 445 BC in Persia, where officials were provided letters by the king for safe travel.
The 19th century saw an increase in international travel due to the Industrial Revolution, which led to the widespread adoption of passports, particularly for managing the movement of migrant workers.
The relatively high speed and large movements of people travelling by train would have caused bottlenecks if regular passport controls had been used.
Private visa and passport services collect an additional fee for verifying customer applications, supporting documents, and submitting them to the appropriate authority.
For example, Cuban citizens and international exchange students require such a test approved by a medical authority to enter Chilean territory.
[12][13] According to Professor Eric Neumayer of the London School of Economics: The poorer, the less democratic, and the more exposed to armed political conflict the target country is, the more likely that visa restrictions are in place against its passport holders.
Imposing a systematic requirement for exit permission may be seen to violate the right to freedom of movement, which is found in the UDHR and forms part of customary international law.
[54][55][56][57] Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates all have an exit visa requirement for alien foreign workers.
[59] Nepal requires its citizens emigrating to the United States on an H-1B visa to present an exit permit issued by the Nepali Ministry of Labour.
[64] Singapore operates an Exit Permit scheme in order to enforce the national service obligations of its male citizens and permanent residents.
In some cases, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can issue a return-Home certificate that is valid for ten days from the embassy of the visitor's native country, thus eliminating the need for an exit visa.
In March 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the United Kingdom required everyone leaving England to fill out an exit form detailing their address, passport number, destination, and reason to travel.
Since 1 October 2007, however, the U.S. government requires all foreign and U.S. nationals departing the United States by air to hold a valid passport (or certain specific passport-replacing documents).
[77] Australia, citing COVID-19 concerns, in 2020 banned outward travel by both Australian citizens and permanent residents, unless they requested and were granted an exemption.
[78][79] On 1 November 2021, after 20 months, the exit permit system was scrapped and New South Wales and Victoria officially re-opened their borders in addition to ending quarantine requirements on arrival for fully vaccinated individuals.
[96] These rankings were subsequently followed by the Belgian, Danish, New Zealand, Norwegian, Swiss, and British passports, each offering visa-free or visa-on-arrival travel to 190 countries and territories.
[97] While the 2024 Henley Passport Index shows a worldwide improvement in access to visa-free travel, the gap between the top and the bottom ranked countries has widened.
Many African countries, including Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo, South Sudan, Uganda, and Zambia, require all incoming passengers older than nine months to one year[104] to have a current International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis, as does the South American territory of French Guiana.
[105] Some other countries require vaccination only if the passenger is coming from an infected area or has visited one recently or has transited for 12 hours in those countries: Algeria, Botswana, Cabo Verde, Chad, Djibouti, Egypt, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Lesotho, Libya, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tunisia, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
In the absence of specific bilateral agreements, countries requiring passports to be valid for at least 6 more months on arrival include Afghanistan, Algeria, Anguilla, Bahrain,[113] Bhutan, Botswana, British Virgin Islands, Brunei, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Curaçao, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Fiji, Gabon, Guinea Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel,[114] Jordan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Laos, Madagascar, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Mongolia, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Oman, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Peru,[115] Philippines,[116] Qatar, Rwanda, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tokelau, Tonga, Turkey, Tuvalu, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Vanuatu, Venezuela, and Vietnam.
Countries requiring passports with a validity of at least 3 months beyond the date of intended departure include Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Honduras, Montenegro, Nauru, Moldova and New Zealand.
Countries that require a passport validity of at least one month beyond the date of intended departure include Eritrea, Hong Kong, Lebanon, Macau, the Maldives[118] and South Africa.
[120] Some countries, including Australia, Canada, Fiji, New Zealand and the United States,[121] routinely deny entry to non-citizens who have a criminal record, while others impose restrictions depending on the type of conviction and the length of the sentence.
[127] Fingerprinting countries/regions include Afghanistan,[128][129] Argentina,[130] Brunei, Cambodia,[131] China,[132] Ethiopia,[133] Ghana, Guinea,[134] India, Japan,[135][136] Kenya (both fingerprints and a photo are taken),[137] Malaysia upon entry and departure,[138] Mongolia, Saudi Arabia,[139] Singapore, South Korea,[140] Taiwan, Thailand,[141] Uganda,[142] the United Arab Emirates and the United States.
[148][149] The United States Department of Homeland Security has announced plans to greatly increase the biometric data it collects at US borders.
2 Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Russia and the partially recognised republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia each span the conventional boundary between Europe and Asia.
