Sep 10 2008
The Problem With Visas
I’m in Chang Mai at the moment and since discovering that it’s not possible to fly to Myanmar from here, I was going to mix my plans up a bit and float down the Mekong to Laos first and then head into Myanmar after. Unfortunately for my new master plan, the Myanmar visa people have only given me until September 20th to get into their country so back to Bangkok I go to catch a flight in a few days.
Visas are something I’ve never really thought too much about during other trips. Most countries I’ve gone to in the past either didn’t need visas, issued them on arrival, or I had already sorted out a working holiday visa well in advance. This time around though it’s something I’ve had to give a lot of thought to.
In the Philippines I had to organise an extension which meant a detour into a town that I wouldn’t have otherwise gone to. Getting my Bangladesh visa involved multiple screw ups by their office and resulted in my having to hang around Manila for a week. My Chinese visa needed two renewals and an unplanned trip to Hong Kong which isn’t exactly close to Beijing. Now my Myanmar visa means I need to backtrack to Bangkok which I would have preferred not to do. Plus I’ll need to sort out a longer tourist visa for Thailand in Laos and I’ll need to figure out how to get a six month tourist visa for Australia at some point as well.
I suppose visas are a part of travelling, but I didn’t expect them to be such a big hassle! So I guess the point of this post is to give more thought than I have to the visas you might need, the places you’ll need to go to get them and how long they’ll take. Hopefully it will minimise the impact they’ll have on your trip and not mean you’ll have to backtrack and change plans like I have.
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I've been travelling since January 2008 living off earnings from the web. Follow me as I bum around Asia and beyond, getting up to mischief and working online as I go. 
Your Oz visa can be done onlne google immigration electronic visa - make sure its all sorted before you get on a plane here though they are paranoid about visas in Oz. Also if Vietnam is on your todo list you need to get a visa before arrival as well no visa on the border
You get the Australia visa online at http://www.eta.immi.gov.au
Quick and painless.
I feel your pain!!
As a South African I need to get Visas just about everywhere I want to go and it isn’t a given that you’ll get one.
US, Aus and European citizens are lucky that they can travel so freely.
I need a six month visa and as far as I can see the ETA thing is only good for three monthers.
Francois I know what you mean. I’ve got it easy compared to the Saffas. I used to know a few when I lived in London and a simple trip to mainland Europe would be a huge hassle for them. I knew lots that had to cancel trips because visas didn’t come through. I suppose I shouldn’t complain as I’m very lucky to have a UK and Canadian passport.
Each time I would complain and pull my hair out about the visa bureaucracy in Central Asia, a local would remind me how it was almost impossible for him/her to get a visa to my country (United States). Visas have become a lesson in creative planning and patience for us on our RTW journey.
I wish you discussed this before hand! I could have told you that and saved you the hassle!
me = knowledgeable on SEA travel
see ya sunday
I try to keep it in perspective in regards to how hard it is for most of the world to get a visa to the U.S., but most of the time I still run pretty short on patience with the whole process. It makes traveling on a whim much more difficult!
Alright, for 6 months in Australia you need a tourist visa (visa subclass 676) as opposed to the ETA (visa subclass 976). All Info about this is here: http://www.immi.gov.au/visitors/tourist/676/index.htm. Don’t be confused by them telling it’s only for 3 months. This is just the default, you can apply for 6 months.
Online application: https://www.ecom.immi.gov.au/visas/app/uu?form=VSS
I’m sure Central Aisa would have been an experience! It does mean you have to be a bit creative and also be open to changes in your plans. I suppose in a way, denied visas or entry time limitations mean you have to juggle things around and when well laid plans are tossed around it can sometimes lead to interesting unexpected experiences.
Mat I was always going to head to Chang Mai becaus ea couple friends were coming up this way as well… I just wish I would have specified to the Myanmar people that I needed more entry time.
Weltreise thanks for that. I’ll look into it and let you all know how I go!
I sometimes use Project Visa as a source for all my quick visa queries. It’s yet to fail for me, so I reckon it’s worth a shout out.
Visas drive me insane. I think I am spoiled as an American, because there a quite a few places that we can go without one. I always get one in advance if I need one - until recently, I didnt know there are place where we can obtain on arrival. Maybe I should pretend that I don’t know that - I have a tendency to procrastinate.