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A visa (short for the Latin carta visa, lit. "the document has
been seen") is a document issued by a country giving a certain individual permission
to enter the country for a given period of time. Many countries require possession of a valid visa as a condition of entry. Visas
can be granted on arrival, usually only to citizens of countries enjoying good relations with the issuing country, or by prior
application at the country's embassy or consulate. A fee may be charged for issuing a visa; these are typically reciprocal, so if country A charges country B's citizens 50 USD for a visa,
country B will often also charge the same amount for country A's visitors. Expedited processing of the visa application will also
incur additional charges. Visas are typically stamped or attached into the recipient's passport.
Common types of visas are:
- transit visa, usually valid for 3 days or less, for passing through the country to a third destination
- tourist visa, for a limited period of leisure travel, no business activities allowed. Typically the only visa
granted for free. Some countries (eg. Saudi Arabia and Kuwait) do not issue tourist visas, although Saudi Arabia does issue pilgrimage visas for Hajj pilgrims.
- business visa, for engaging in commerce in the country, usually valid longer and more easily renewable than a
tourist visa
- student visa, which allows its holder to study at an institution of higher learning in the issuer's country
- diplomatic visa, which confers diplomatic status on its holder and is
normally only available to bearers of diplomatic passports
- journalist visa, which some countries require people in that occupation to obtain. Countries which insist on this
include Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, the US (I-visa) and Zimbabwe. In each case failure to obtain the correct
document is likely to result in the refusal of entry, or interrogation and deportation.
Some countries, such as the Soviet Union, required that their citizens
obtain an exit visa in order to be allowed to leave the country.
Visas can also be single-entry, which means the visa is cancelled as soon as the holder leaves the country, or
multiple-entry, permitting multiple entries into the country with the same visa. Countries may also issue re-entry permits that allow
temporarily leaving the country without invalidating the visa. Even a business visa will normally not allow the holder to
work in the host country without an additional work permit.
Once issued, a visa will typically have to be used within a certain period of time, and the period of validity starts only on
entry into the country. A notable exception to this is India, where the visa validity
period starts immediately when the visa is issued. Once in the country, the validity period of a visa can often be extended for a
fee. Overstaying a visa's validity
period is considered illegal immigration and the offender may
be fined, deported and even blacklisted from entering the country again.
external links
http://www.projectvisa.com A site
dedicated to visa information
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