Are visas fair?
By maximax8
@maximax8 (31053)
United Kingdom
December 13, 2010 1:51pm CST
In order to travel overseas a person must have a passport. I have got a British passport and it is valid for ten years. My children have each got a passport and theres lasts for five years. I can go to many different countries without needing a visa. However some countries make the people of a particular nationality get a visa. I have had a work visa for Finland, a visitors visa for Hungary, a working holiday visa for Australia and a tourist visa for Jordan. In those days I lived close to London and I could easily pop up there to get visas. Now I live further away from London it isn't easy or cheap to get there.
Do you think visas are fair?
Have you ever applied for a visa?
Would you like to go a particular country? If so which one and is a visa needed?
5 responses
@marguicha (215993)
• Chile
14 Dec 10
At different times I have needed a visa to travel. In these days there are fewer coutries that ask for visas. The only one that I know for sure that will ask me for a visa to go there is the United States. The United States has put many limitations for people to go to their country, I think because they are afraid that the people who enter their country will want to stay there to live and work.
As I said, I need a visa to go there. For me it is easy to get one because I can prove I have economic means in my country. Some people are not so lucky and it´s not as easy to travel there. Besides that, the US has set a eavy tax for visitors. This has led to an absurd law from many of the other countries involved: here my country taxes only americans when they come. The same thing is done in many countries in South America so that if an american wants to travel to sevral countries in South America, hew will need to put away an amount of money to pay back for what his country does with South Americans.
I don´t think it´s fair. A passport should be more than enough. Ilegal people enter other countries anyway and visas will not stop them. We have a reasonable good economy here so that we have had immigrations from many countries of people who are seeking a better life. Many don´t come with a working permit but they can get one after getting a job.
I am lazy about getting visas and my visa date for the US expired so I don´t see myself going to the US in the near future.
@maximax8 (31053)
• United Kingdom
14 Dec 10
When I arrived in America the first time they worried that I has entered on a one way ticket. They were relieved when I showed them the rest of my around the world ticket. They asked several times if I was I going to work. No, I had said because I had a working holiday visa for Australia. I entered the country the visa waiver scheme. I managed to get into America two more times using that handy visa waiver scheme. Yes, America is very afraid of illegal workers. It is a shame that there are so many people trying to cross illegally into the USA.
When I was 18 years old working as a children's nanny in Finland I fancied going to Russia but the difficulty in getting a visa and the expensive accommodation put me off. Then at age 34 years I traveled to the Baltic Countries and I looked into the possibility of going to St Petersburg but again needing a Russian visa was the reason I didn't go there. As soon a Brits can enter without needing a visa I will be off to Russia for a trip.
It is lovely to hear that your home country has had some immigrations for other countries. It is flexible that a person can arrive and later obtain a work visa.
@maximax8 (31053)
• United Kingdom
15 Dec 10
It will be very interesting to hear about immigration problems in America. It is fascinating to hear that people from Peru work in Chile. I guess the people from Chile like the more comfortable jobs and the people over from Peru will do almost any job.
@marguicha (215993)
• Chile
15 Dec 10
I would like to know the immigration problems in the US in percentages of the population. Maybe the immigration problem they have is not so big, considering that it is such a big country.
I also wonder if american citizens are willing to work in the same way the immigrants do. We have that problem in my country: some chileans prefer not to work the way peruvians work here. And it is not slave work; they just will not work in some jobs.
@strawberrychocodahi (4818)
• Philippines
14 Dec 10
Good for you, you are British and you still get at least favor in some countries that you don't need a visa for coming. But if your Asian, for sure, every country not unless a near neighboring country, you will be required to get a visa.
Not only that, there are certain countries that barred you from entering their country like India. If you visited India as a tourist, then you need at least two months before you re-enter India and visit here again. This is their new policy to avoid terrorist attack and I can't blame them if they got so strict with that policy.
@maximax8 (31053)
• United Kingdom
14 Dec 10
I can imagine that it would be very irritating to live in an Asian country and need to visa to enter every neighboring country. When I visited a place in Indonesia just four hours away from Singapore none of the people had ever been there to that lovely city. It is so mean that people need a visa because each has a passport and that cost enough money to buy. No country likes terrorists and maybe India feels nervous that some might enter their country. In Singapore I met an lady from Israel and with that passport she was barred from visiting many countries. She flew to Thailand because she wasn't allowed into Malaysia.
@dawnald (85135)
• Shingle Springs, California
15 Dec 10
I have never gone to a country where a visa was required. Not yet...
@lakerfanster (2577)
•
14 Dec 10
I think that most people would rather be able to go to a particular country without having to get a visa but I don't think that getting one is a problem for most people and the good thing is that once you have one you can usually come and go from that country without having to go through the process everytime. That's for holidays of course. I'd like to go to USA and have looked into what I would need to do so when the time comes I will be able to get the right type of visa.
@maximax8 (31053)
• United Kingdom
14 Dec 10
For example to a particular country Americans have to pay $100, Canadians have to pay $70, Mexicans have to pay $15, Germans have to pay $10 and Malaysian people can enter the country free. It seems that there are all different amounts for visas and it doesn't seem fair. Let us imagine an American family want to go to that particular country for their vacation. Mom $100, dad $100, son $100 and daughter $100 visa charge. They live in Florida and the embassy is in Washington DC. It is expensive for them to go all the way there and the visas take five days to be issued. An agent can do the visa collecting for a charge of $70. That is a total of $470 just for all the bother of getting the necessary visas.
Thanks for your superb response.
@kodukodu84 (1569)
• Malaysia
14 Dec 10
I have not ever had to apply for a visitor visa all this time because every country that I ever visited only required me to have a passport. Even when I'm visiting UK, I can stay up there for 6 months only with my passport. I have applied for a work permit though for Singapore in the past. I would not 100% think that the visas a fair but probably it is for safety even though we have no bad intention to enter certain countries. I just hope that the system will become easier than usual in the future especially for those who want or needs to relocate to another country. Thanks for sharing and have a nice day
@maximax8 (31053)
• United Kingdom
14 Dec 10
One of my Australian friends came over to Europe and with that passport she would have needed lots of visas. It was lucky she also had a German passport. France wanted Australian passport holders to get a visa. Many Australians worked in London and felt France was very nearby for their standards and wanted to go there. It is lovely that you hope the system of visas will be easier for the future. There is n harm in giving working holiday visa for young people because they do jobs the local people don't want to do like fruit picking.
