No More Trips To Embassies With Electronic Visas

Traveling sometimes requires some preparation as far as documentation is concerned. We all know that we need passports, but depending on where you are going, you may also need a visa to go with it. Getting one is no picnic if you do it the old-fashioned way. You need to get off work, travel to the nearest embassy of the country where you want to go, stand in line, and basically waste an entire day for a piece of paper. Lucky for us, things are changing.

Introducing the electronic visa

The electronic visa is not new. They have been around for a few years but now is when the process is expanding. At first, only a handful of countries released such a document, but today, more and more states adopt this program. It is a lot simpler than the application process at consulates, and people are sold when they hear that they can go through all that from home.

Let’s take an example, shall we? Let’s say that you want to travel to Egypt. That means you need an Egypt evisa. Depending on your country of origin, you may or may not be eligible for one. For the sake of argument, let’s say you are a US citizen, thus eligible. All you have to do is fill in an online application, and then you wait for the visa to arrive via e-mail in the timeframe of your choosing. At the same time, the evisa will be linked electronically to your passport.

Of course, there are a few requirements you need to meet, apart from the eligibility issue. One of the most important is your passport. You are required to have a passport that is valid and remains as such for at least another six months from your date of departure. This is a general requirement dictated by Egypt’s visa policy, so there is no way around it. Even so, a valid passport is not such a difficult thing to obtain. Worst case scenario is that you apply for a new passport. You can find passport photos online as well if you like.

Apart from the passport requirement, you also need to provide a few documents for the company that will handle the application process. There are multiple companies that can do that for you, one of which is iVisa, so they need some things from you to get started. You are required to provide your personal information, answer some personal questions, and depending on the visa you are applying for, some additional documents. The supplementary materials depend on the case as well. For example, if you travel with your minor child, you need an authorization letter from the other parent. Failure to upload the entire necessary documentation will lead to a denied application, and you may end up at an embassy after all. However, if you pay attention and make sure to cross every requirement off the list, you should be able to get what you need in just a few days.

Say what you want about this, but you have to admit that it is a brilliant solution to a common problem. You can apply from home, day or night, and there is no hassle and waste of time. Not to mention that it is not expensive either. Until passports and visas go extinct, this is the best thing that can happen to travelers.