Visa

A visa is a document issued by some countries to visitors from other countries to facilitate – but not guarantee – admission at the border. It can be a stamp or sticker in your passport, or can simply be an electronic record. It's important that you check whether you need a visa for each country you visit or transit, for the kind of visit you are intending. Not having the correct visa may see you denied boarding to transportation or denied admission at the border. Many popular travel destinations provide visitors (from most countries) with a short-term tourist visa on arrival, but many countries may require you to apply in advance. The conditions and requirements depend on your nationality.

A few countries require exit visas separate from entry visas.

Some countries routinely deny entry to holders of passports that show evidence of travel to a disputed area or a hostile country (e.g. Israel). See Visa trouble.

Do you need a visa?

Countries require visas from visitors for regulatory, security and economic reasons. It is important to confirm visa requirements with a current and reliable source, such as the embassy or consulate of the country where you plan to travel. You may need a visa for any countries you visit or transit on your trip. Visa requirements vary depending on the nationality of your passport, the length of your stay, whether you will leave the airport, the nature of your trip, your point of entry, and the areas you will be visiting. These requirements can also change regularly. While you may be exempt from having to obtain a visa when making a short trip to a particular country for tourism or business, long stays in any foreign country will almost always require you to obtain some form of visa or permit.

As a rule of thumb, the more different (culturally, economically, politically, etc.) your country of citizenship is from the destination country, the more likely it is that you need a visa even for tourism or transit. This is especially the case if the country you plan to visit has a richer economy than the country you hold a passport for.

Visa requirements nearly always depend on your nationality, not your residency. If you are a non-citizen where you reside, never rely on local advice concerning whether you need a visa to visit a nearby foreign country or other popular location abroad. The locals may not need visas, while you may (or vice versa). However, for some combinations of countries, being a legal resident of the Schengen countries (most European countries) or the U.S., for example, can greatly speed up the visa process and make a tourist visa much easier to obtain.

Also, be sure you will be allowed back into the country where you are residing. If you are not a citizen of that country, you may need a permanent residence visa or at least a visa that allows multiple entries to be allowed to return. This includes hours-long day trips at border towns.

On the other hand, your residency does matter where you go to obtain the visa. Your destination country may require you to apply for visa at a particular embassy, consulate or visa-application centre.

Visa summaries

A visa summary, telling what countries you'll probably need a visa for, can be useful at the early stage of planning a trip. For example, a long-distance overland journey may be simpler to arrange if most of the route passes through countries that you don't need to get a visa for. However these lists are difficult to keep up to date, and as a summary, they may miss some details which apply to your particular situation.

We don't have a summary here, but see:

Category:Visa requirements by nationality for summaries on Wikipedia.
UK nationals can use the advice of Foreign and Commonwealth Office, with a complete list of countries around the world.
U.S. citizens can visit a website maintained by US Department of State for initial indications of a need for visas.
Most nationals can use the IATA Travel Centre for initial indications on whether a visa is required or not. This is what airlines use to determine whether to let you on the plane.

In advance or at point of entry?

Many popular travel destinations provide visitors for tourism with a free short-term visa on arrival stamped into their passport. Others will accept payment and issue a visa on arrival for a fee. Still, others require an application and visa to be in your passport in advance, and prior to boarding any flight.

If visas are issued upon entry, this might be at only some points of entry. For example, in developing countries, major airports might issue visas on arrival, but some land borders may require a visa issued in advance or vice versa.

Some countries, particularly those that want to attract tourists, offer an e-visa system. An Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA or "e-visa") is obtained online and often has a fee. This is much easier than mailing forms, passports, and payment, but usually falls short of the free short-term visa on arrival. Many countries use the e-visa method: Australia, Canada, India, Kenya, Myanmar, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Turkey, and the United States for example. Not everyone needs an e-visa (such as citizens of USA and Canada visiting each other's countries), while some nationalities (e.g. Pakistanis entering India) still must use the traditional paper forms where overstaying or security is a concern. Even though these e-visas are usually granted instantly, secondary processing can take many weeks.

Always confirm your visa before buying non-refundable tickets. When filling in the passport number, be careful not to confuse ones and I's or zeros and O's. This could result in the application being rejected. Also, if the passport number has any non-English characters, refer to the FAQ page of the e-visa application site or contact the consulate or embassy.

Visa fees

When visa fees are charged they can vary according to your nationality, the number of times you will enter, the length of stay or validity, the purpose of travel and sometimes how and where you apply. If visas are available at the border, it might be significantly cheaper to get one there, rather than acquiring one in advance.

Should your own country charge a fee for visitors of your destination, reciprocal visa policy and fee may apply. Sometimes particular nationalities are charged additional visa fees for reasons that are difficult to ascertain, with country groups assigned to particular fee bands.

If you are traveling around border regions you can often reduce visa fees by structuring your movements around such fees, taking an open jaw flight into one country and out of its neighbor can avoid multiple entry fees. If taking a quick visit to a neighboring country, keeping your trip to a single day can often avoid fees too.

Children, family of citizens, students who hold prestigious government scholarships and some other groups are sometimes charged a reduced fee or no fee at all. The maximum age of the child can vary from under 12 up to 18.

The embassy or consulate of the country will also tell you how your payment has to be remitted. At the border, it is possible that the visa can only be purchased with cash. Often the cash has to be in the local currency, but some insist on a specific "hard" currency (commonly U.S. dollars).

Visa fees are generally charged up front as a cost of the administrative processing of the visa application. Simply put, this is the fee that the consulate charges you for them to take the time to look at and consider your application. Once the visa is granted, the fees are never refundable if you decide to go somewhere else or your trip falls through. Being denied does not get you a refund either.

Countries may request applicants to go through third-party agencies (e.g. VFS, TLS Contact). In such a case, applicants may have to pay a service fee to the third party in addition to the visa application fees (or for an otherwise free visa).

Classes of visas

Visas come in many forms, so it is very important to obtain the appropriate visa for what you intend to do. Attempting to enter a country without the correct visa can see you refused entry, deported, or even barred from future re-entry. Not all countries offer the same types of visas. Here are some of the most common varieties:

Tourist visas are issued to persons wishing to travel to a country for sightseeing or vacation; most are good for one to three months, though some are for as little as 14 days and some last five or ten years (for periodic visits, usually maximum 1–3 months per visit). Employment is generally not allowed, and you should not be carrying documents related to your profession, such as those you would show a potential employer or business companion. Some countries, such as North Korea and Turkmenistan, do not issue tourist visas to journalists, even for holiday visits.

Many countries have additional requirements. Many will not allow entry on a one-way ticket; you must show officials a return or onward ticket to be admitted. Nepal does not much want tourists who only hang around in Kathmandu; they issue only short-term visas, and to renew it for a longer stay you must present a receipt showing you have been trekking with a licensed guide agency.

Transit visas are issued to people passing through the country without a significant stay, normally for anywhere from 24 hours to ten days.

Most countries offer sterile transit through their airports; if you are only connecting between international flights at the same airport, you are not considered to have entered the country, so you need not go through immigration formalities or have a visa. Several countries, most notably the U.S. and Canada, do not permit this, and require all passengers to go through immigration control, and some to have a visa, even at a refueling stop. This is one reason for avoiding travel through the United States and avoiding travel through Canada.

Business visas are issued if one needs to conduct financial transactions in the country, sign contracts, attend training or meetings, and a plethora of activities in connection to one's work or profession back home. Employment in the host country is forbidden.

Student visas are issued to those who wish to undertake a course of study in another country. Proof of admission, enrollment, proficiency in the local language, and evidence of sufficient funds to cover your school fees and living expenses are necessary. In some countries this visa does not allow employment; in others, it does but usually with some restrictions. See Studying abroad.

Work visas are permits allowing one to hold a paid job in the destination country for a period of time. These are notoriously hard to acquire unless special arrangements exist between your home country and the destination country. This is because the primary requirement to be considered for a work visa is that nobody in the employer's local job market is qualified and willing to do the job the employer needs to fill. It might be slightly easier for you to get a working visa if you possess an advanced degree (i.e. MA, MS, Ph.D.) from a reputable school or an undergraduate degree with extensive and substantial related experience. Teaching English or other languages is also often an exception; various countries want native speakers for that. If the work visa does not automatically allow you to permanently immigrate (i.e. you're a contract worker), the visa will usually be restricted as well to a particular employer and job type.

Work visas are needed also if you are sent by an employer at home. In this case they hopefully take care or most of the bureaucracy. In many cases you need also other paperwork, such as special permits to conduct studies in a nature reserve or as anthropologist among indigenous peoples.

See Working abroad.

Working holiday visas are work visas that allow short-term jobs to be undertaken to subsidize a vacation. These are based on bilateral arrangements between pairs of countries which allow people from either to work temporarily in the other to fund their travel. Typically they have an age limit (often under 35) and a duration limit (often up to a year). Check with your own government to discover which countries yours has such an arrangement with.

Religious pilgrimage visas, such as visas given for the Hajj, entitle the bearer to visit a religious shrine or site. These are common in most Muslim countries.

Religious worker/Missionary visas permits you to enter the country for the purpose of practicing, maintaining, and advancing your religious beliefs. Only available in countries that have "freedom of religion," or if the official religion of the state is the same as your own. Even countries that otherwise permit or tolerate the practice of your religion may have additional requirements for indigenous peoples, though this may apply to other professions as well, such as anthropologists. Some sort of divinity degree and accreditation is usually required for long-term visas. Doing missionary work on a tourist, student, or work visa can be quite risky.

Retirement visas allows you to reside in a country indefinitely, so long as you abide by the law and don't seek paid employment. A minimum amount of annual retirement income, currency conversion, expenditures and/or bank deposits in the host country may be required. See Retiring abroad#Visas. In addition, many countries impose a minimum age of around 55 or so.

Immigrant visas or Permanent residence visas permit one to resettle in a country. These visas are generally the hardest to obtain, with stringent requirements. Common criteria that have to be fulfilled for obtaining such visas include investing a large sum of money in a local business, living in the country continuously on a work visa for a certain period of time, or being married to somebody from that country. In addition, many countries will require you to have a clean bill of health and no criminal record (minor traffic violations excepted).

Fiancé visas similar to immigrant visas (above), give you a few months to get married in the host country, and then change to a permanent residence visa. If the marriage plans fail, you must exit the country by the expiration date. The U.S. has a lifetime maximum of two fiancé visas without a waiver, and this only applies to the U.S. host (not the fiancé).

Conditions to get a visa

Most countries require that you must have at least 6 months of validity remaining on your passport. In some cases, the requirement is six months from your date of entry, rather than the visa application date. In other cases (such as applying for Chinese visas), the six months are counted from your planned departure date from the country you're visiting (for example: if you are planning a four-month stay your passport should be valid for at least 10 months from your entry in the country). For this and other reasons, a visa application must usually include proof that you intend to leave the country (and that you won't stay longer than allowed): an outbound international airline reservation is usually enough although for visa applications to countries more developed than your home country, they would evidence of further ties to the latter is necessary.

It is important that you have not violated the terms of any previously-issued visas to you. In other words, you should have not for instance overstayed by even just a single day or worked on a tourist visa or visa-free scheme (unless explicitly permitted under specific arrangements between your home country and host country). Doing so makes it very difficult to re-apply and be granted another visa.

Being in a stable financial and employment situation is strongly advised as it can demonstrate that you have fewer reasons to potentially overstay or violate your visa terms. It is also helpful to show ownership of assets or investments in your home country (especially real estate) if you have them. Hence, be ready to procure financial documents from your bank, certificate of employment, affidavit of support, ownership titles, marriage contracts, etc. in advance in case the consulate requests them. If you are applying for a work or immigrant visa, the financial situation of the prospective host or employer or petitioning family member will also be important.

When visiting foreign countries, you're sometimes asked about any criminal history — especially in cases when you need a visa

Having a criminal record in your home country may be grounds for denial of a visa. It can also be grounds for refusal of entry when traveling without a visa. This is true even for countries with land borders and no visa requirement for tourists. In these cases, it is usually best to apply for a visa in advance, as being refused entry at the border or airport is considerably more inconvenient.

Third-party agent concerns

As the mechanics for long-term and work visas can get complicated, it may be advisable to engage the services of an immigration attorney to properly assess your eligibility for the desired type of visa, and facilitate the necessary paperwork. In some cases your employer will handle this.

Be extremely careful with persons or organizations whose services you wish to engage to help you apply for a visa. Some of them claim that they can get you a visa quicker than conventional methods. If a proposition sounds too good to be true it probably is. You will be held liable for whatever fraud or misrepresentation they commit in your application. In addition, if you commit fraud either by yourself or with the help of your agent, you face the following consequences:

ban from re-applying for a visa which can last for the rest of your life or for very long periods (not less than five years)
criminal prosecution and jail time in the country where you committed it
loss of the money you paid the third-party

If you don't have a document to prove your eligibility, it is better to explain its absence than present one that is fraudulent or forged (issuing authorities often have full-time, professionally trained staff assigned to verifying documents). Most agency fraud is related to visas for employment, immigration, or education rather than business matters or a short vacation. That said, there are many legitimate visa processing companies that assist persons who reside far from the embassy, find the matter too complex, or live a busy life. Of course, it's a good idea to check their reputation first.

Entry without a visa

Some countries permit certain nationalities to enter without a visa, but other conditions may apply for a longer stay, or stays for reasons other than tourism (also visits to friends and family usually count as tourism). Most countries allow visitors from some neighbouring or otherwise "friendly" countries to visit visa free as tourists for a few months. All citizens of the European Union can generally freely travel from one member country to another with almost no restrictions, and stay indefinitely for work and some other accepted purposes. Citizens of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states may visit most other member states without a visa for business and tourism purposes. The United States allows certain nationals to enter under the Visa Waiver Program for tourism and business only, provided they fill out an online application prior to their arrival. Australia, Canada and New Zealand also have a similar system, in which certain nationals may apply online for an electronic visa without having to make a trip to the embassy.

Even when there is no immigration or customs control at the border, such as normally in the Schengen area, you still need to satisfy the conditions to enter: a Schengen visa usually applies to all of the Schengen area, but the allowed length of stay may vary, and if you have a visa or residence permit for an individual country, you may or may or may not be allowed to visit other Schengen countries. You might get caught in a random check away from the border.

While crossing borders usually requires a passport, there are some cases where a nationally issued photo ID of certain countries is enough for entry into others. This may save you money on a passport or be handy in certain situations.

In some cases, visa-free entry is only permitted through specific ports or modes of entry. For instance, citizens of Thailand and Myanmar may only visit each other's country without a visa if they enter by air, while they will need a visa to enter by land or boat.

Often you don't need any visa to transfer between international flights in an intermediate country as long as you don't leave the "air-side" of the airport, but don't count on it, especially if you are from a country often accused of terrorism. Some countries require a transit visa even for unplanned refuelling stops (notably the U.S.A.). Others require a transit visa for transfers that include leaving the air-side area (for overnighting at a hotel, or just transferring between airports or terminals). Some require transfer visas for stays longer than what typical layovers or stopovers require.

If your destination allows others of your nationality in without a visa, don't automatically assume that you won't need one, especially if you are planning to stay for extended periods (i.e. to work, study or immigrate either temporarily or permanently), you have visited a "suspect" country or you have had problems with the authorities. In fact, it's a good idea to always enquire when you're traveling for any reason other than being a typical "tourist". This includes visiting family or friends, getting married, speaking or performing to an audience or congregation (even if unpaid), journalism (vlogging or other forms of content creation for social media websites or apps may count as such in some circumstances), research, professional photography, etc. Check to make certain of your status before entry. In some cases, you may, in fact, need a visa, in others, you may simply need to bring more documentation to the border. Also, you may need a special visa if you visit remote areas where indigenous people live who are not part of mainstream society (e.g. parts of the Amazon Basin, remote areas of Africa, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands off the coast of India).

Obtaining the visa in advance

	Ukrainian conflict and backlogs: Some missions are prioritising applications from Ukrainian refugees as a result of the ongoing war there. As such, visa appointments may not be available for up to a year. Check with an embassy or consulate or a government website when planning any travel.

For most countries, begin the visa process at least four weeks prior to your trip for ordinary tourist visas (months or even a year for employment visas, unless your case belongs to some quickly processed class; e.g. for Finland, tourist visas take two weeks in simple cases, up to seven weeks if further checks are needed). Some countries may have priority processing available, to an additional cost. Applying in time will hopefully let you complete all of the necessary work in advance of when you desire to leave. Some countries allow for quicker turnaround times, but this comes with the obvious risk of missing your flight or paying a substantially higher fee. The visa may sometimes be obtained by postal mail or air express document shippers (FedEx, DHL, UPS, etc.). There may be visa processing services in your home country which deal directly with the embassy. However, often a visit in person is necessary, in some cases more than one. As much as possible, start the application process at the earliest possible opportunity.

Your first stop on your journey to get the valuable visa is the website of the immigration authorities, foreign ministry or embassy (see below) of the country or countries you wish to enter. They will provide the list of documents you need to get and specific procedures you need to undergo for your case. They will also provide instructions on how to apply in case they are not directly represented in your home country.

In the case of short-term visas, the following documents are usually needed:

passport (always required; sometimes including additional photocopies of your bio-data page and other previous visas and stamps)
financial documents (e.g. tax returns, bank certificates, bank statements)
employment or school certificates (if applicable)
property documents (e.g. certificate of land ownership) and other evidence that demonstrate ties to your home country or incentive to return there
affidavit of support with sponsor's supporting documents (if applicable)
travel details including flight reservations (however don't purchase non-refundable tickets until the visa is issued), hotel reservations, invitations and itineraries
bank deposit or payment slip (if instructed to pay in this method)
birth certificate (sometimes not needed, since your passport is based on this)

If you are a resident of a country you are not a citizen of and you are required to apply for the relevant visa in your country of residence rather than citizenship, note that only pertinent documents issued in your country of residence may be recognised (so if you are a Chinese citizen living in the U.S. and most of your assets are back in China, you might not be able to use your property and financial documents from China to support your visa application).

A complication can occur if you have documents that need to be authenticated by the destination country prior to travel (not common for tourist visas). If the documents originate from a different part of the country from where you reside, they may have to be shipped to whichever consulate (or main embassy) that handles their particular region of origin. The most common example of this is a birth certificate issued by another state or province. If the official languages of the host country are different from that used in the documents or the latter's languages are not directly recognised by the former, they may need to be translated. The embassy will have a list of approved translators that you must use.

Once you have all the necessary documents, you can start filling out the application forms. However, don't write or mark anything until you have read the entire application. There can be some very fine line choices such as "I'm part of a delegation" or "I'm accompanying a delegation."

In some countries, applications are only possible online, while in others, they have to be hand-written or type-written. In the case of the former, you may have to print out the submitted application form or a barcoded page that accesses such information. In the latter there may be a blank form to fill out; sometimes the form can be filled out online and then printed out and signed. Next, you can set an appointment using the website or phone number assigned by the visa-issuing authorities. How to pay the visa fee and whether you should pay it before or during the appointment varies. The embassy or consulate will tell you whether you need to come for further interviews.

An increasing number of countries are giving some travellers the option of applying for an eVisa, in which you just need to lodge your application online, upload the necessary documentation, and pay a processing fee, and your visa would usually be approved in a few days without the need to go to the embassy or consulate. This is typically only available to citizens of a select list of countries, and may have additional restrictions compared to a regular visa, such as requiring you to enter only at specific ports of entry.

If an online process isn't available or it handles only some aspects of the application process, you have to deal with an embassy or consulate of the destination country. A commercial third-party accredited by the embassy or consulate may handle administrative aspects of your visa application (i.e. you could be dealing with them in submitting your application rather than the embassy or consulate itself) but they have no influence over the outcome of your application. Embassies are normally in the national capital city. Consulates are a branch of an embassy, usually far away from the capital. For example, Los Angeles and San Francisco have many consulates, as these are major cities thousands of miles away from the capital. Sometimes a country's consulate may process visa applications received from fellow consulates elsewhere (e.g. UK consulate in New York processing UK visa applications received elsewhere in the US). Generally, small countries have no need for consulates at all, with the possible exception of a neighboring country having a few consulates to reduce the load on the main embassy or a country having one in a city with heavy concentrations of that small country's population, making it more convenient for its citizens. An honorary consulate typically cannot issue visas or assist in legal matters directly; they mostly deal in information about tourism and local culture. However, they might sometimes be able to forward visa applications to the appropriate embassy or regular consulate.

For some countries, only your designated consulate or embassy will process your visa, based on where you live (the country or the specific area). This may be awkward if it means travelling across a large country. Even worse, if you as a U.S. citizen living in the U.S.A. are visiting Japan as a tourist and want to make a trip to China, the Chinese embassy and consulates in Japan will not issue you a visa, but will instead direct you to a mission back in the U.S.A. Therefore, you should ensure you have obtained all the necessary visas before setting out on your trip, if possible. If your travels have already begun, and you want to visit a nearby country which requires a visa, contact the nearest embassy or consulate beforehand to avoid a wasted trip to the embassy or consulate.

Complications can also arise if a country has rival claimant governments. For instance, since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, some Afghan embassies are run by the Taliban, while others are run by remnants of the previous U.S.-backed government. There is no use visiting the latter for a visa. There may be similar issues with contested territories.

In many cases, personal appearance at the application centre is compulsory, i.e. you cannot ask someone to drop off your application documents for you. This is because many embassies need to collect your biometric identifiers (e.g. fingerprints, take your photograph with their camera) – and verify your identity. If the destination country's closest mission is far away, this is obviously a problem. Some countries, such as those of the European Union, may allow a visit at a certain other country's mission instead, but may require that you go to a specific mission, regardless of which one would be convenient. Some countries require that you go to the mission responsible for your country of residence or citizenship, or even one dedicated to the area where you live.

Transit

A transit is when you enter a country for a short period for the purposes of transferring to an onward transport leaving the country again.

Working out which rules apply to transit can often be more complex than working out the visitor visa requirements. Some variables include the length of your stay (often measured in hours), and whether you will need to leave the sterile transit area of an airport. Some countries that require visitors to have visas will allow transit without a visa under some conditions but may require a transit visa if these are not satisfied.

If the transit entry conditions require you to stay in the sterile area during transit, you have to consider your luggage. Some airlines will not check your luggage through to your destination. This can be because they are a budget airline operating on a point-to-point basis, or even with multiple full-service airlines without the correct affiliations to transfer luggage between them. Countries which don't normally require visas for a sterile air-side transit may require you to procure a visitor or transit visa to collect your bags since you have to pass through the immigration control to enter that country to commence the rest of your journey by checking-in again by yourself. You should consider any visa application fees when comparing travel options.

Some airlines that don't normally offer to check luggage through to a final destination when fares are booked per sector online, may do so for the same flights if booked as a connecting flight by a travel agent, or as a codeshare.

After obtaining your visa

First, check to see if all the information printed on the visa sticker is correct (from your name to the type of visa). The usual information printed on the visa is as follows:

name
date of birth
nationality
passport number
validity dates*
number of entries allowed*
type of visa

*For validity dates and entries allowed, even if you applied and paid for a longer period, the consul, at their discretion may actually give you a shorter period and fewer entries if they are not fully satisfied that you will potentially comply. It is typical for the first time successful visa applicants to get single entry visas.

Having a valid visa does not automatically guarantee entry into the country that issued the visa. When you land at the host country, immigration officers will check once again to see that you are still eligible for that visa. The reasons and circumstances that gave you the visa in the first place must still exist. If traveling as a tourist or a business visitor, make sure you have a return or onward ticket and contact details of your host (including their full address). Some countries may also require tourists to bring sufficient cash — Thailand is a prime example. For another status, have all the documents related to the purpose of your trip in order. Don't bring documents or items a normal traveler won't bring. You may be denied entry and your visa may be canceled if you are unable to demonstrate your eligibility or qualifications for your visa.

From the time the visa is issued to the time you leave the host country, you are responsible for complying with all the terms and conditions of your stay. If on a multiple-entry visa with a long validity period, the following constitute grounds to automatically invalidate your visa once these are uncovered:

staying beyond the period given to you
performing an activity not allowed by your visa or immigration status (e.g. work or study on a tourist visa, work more than the maximum number of hours on a student visa)
changing of circumstances that got you the visa in the first place (i.e. they no longer exist)

Length of stay and validity dates

Depending on the country, the length of authorized stay may or may not be printed on the visa and instead be given at passport control. In relation, the validity dates may have different meanings depending on the country.

In the United States, for example, the validity period is simply the window in which you can travel to that country. It is not connected to the allowed period for which you can stay in the country. This means you can enter on the last day of your visa but still receive and be allowed up to a full 6-month period in which to stay there. The actual deadline for you to exit will be stamped in your passport by passport control officers - make sure you leave on or before this date.

In other places such as the United Kingdom and most Schengen countries, the last day of your validity period is the deadline for you to exit the country. While the maximum period for you to stay may be printed on the visa, you will either be given that period to stay or until the last day in which your visa is valid - whichever is shorter. This means while you can enter on the last day, you must also exit on that day.

Extending stay and changing status

Main article: Visa run and border run

If you are looking to extend your stay or change your immigration status, apply at the immigration service center of your host country. However, this is not always possible depending on the rules of the immigration status that you used to enter the country with. For instance, those who entered the US under the Visa Waiver Program are not permitted to change status or extend their stay at all. When it is not allowed to change status in the host country, you must exit first and apply at your home country (make sure you leave before time is up otherwise you will have a difficult time getting that new visa). Other than checking past compliance with immigration history, your application for a different visa is independent of your past visa applications and will be viewed on its own merits.

Many foreign citizens who work or live in a country where it is difficult or simply not possible to extend a visa will be familiar with the visa trip. For example, a foreigner working in Maputo, Mozambique can get a 1-month visa on entry to the country very easily, but extending this is not an option. So the trick for many is to take the short car journey into South Africa (where many citizens can enter without a visa), do some shopping and then return, picking up a new Mozambique visa on the way.

Overstaying

If your visa (or entry permission) expires before you leave the country, you have overstayed and could be punished. The best advice is not to do this. Should there be any chance of overstaying your entry permit/visa, you need to contact the immigration service of the host country for advice as soon as possible. Punishment for overstaying varies from nothing to having to 'tip' the immigration official, to fines, deportation, or even imprisonment. Changes can occur at any time with little to no notice. Showing up at the international airport with an airline ticket in hand often will reduce any punishment in comparison to being caught elsewhere. (Especially the inconvenience of being temporarily detained without notice, even if other penalties are the same.)

One trick to reduce your chances of overstaying your entry permission is to say you will be staying longer than you really are when you enter the country. Usually, you will fill out a form when entering, saying when you will leave. Add a few days or a week to the exit, but nothing that would put you into a more costly or complex type of visa. If the immigration policy is only to grant entry permission for the actual length of stay, you can gain some time with this, and save a trip to the immigration service. Caution: for air travel, officials may want to see your outbound ticket, which will have the date of departure on it.

Should you be unexpectedly hospitalized, or it becomes impossible to leave the country due to natural disasters, riots, war, terrorism, coup d'état or other hazardous events, contact your embassy immediately.

Exit visas

Russia, Saudi Arabia and some other countries have an exit visa requirement. This should not be confused with the exit visa that some former Soviet republics countries require their citizens to have to validate their passport for international travel - see the Passports page for more on those. Those who are required to have a visa to enter these countries must also have a visa to leave them. It is not as dire as it seems, however; only certain classes require a Saudi exit visa; Russian tourist, business, and transit visas are entry-exit visas.

Countries such as Saudi Arabia require that foreigners have an exit visa before they can leave. Getting in with a work visa requires a Saudi sponsor and getting out requires the sponsor's signature; this can lead to a variety of problems. Foreign teachers at a university may find they need half a dozen lesser signatures (no overdue library books, no outstanding advances on pay, etc.) before they can get the official signature to get out. At one point in the 1980s one problem – female domestic employee claims various sorts of abuse by an employer; he says she is lazy and disobedient and refuses to sign exit papers – became so common that the Philippines government forbade their citizens to take such jobs in Saudi Arabia.

However, if for any reason, your visa or permission to remain expires before you leave, you are normally required to obtain an exit visa. This requirement may be waived under certain conditions. For example, the Russian exit visa requirement may be waived in case of minor delays due to unforeseen circumstances such as illness or flight cancellation.

If you are required to obtain an exit visa, do so well in advance of your departure. It can take as many as three weeks to obtain one.

In any case, upon departure, immigration officials in most countries will check your documentation, and, if the country uses some kind of migration control document (e.g. entry card stapled into passport), they will collect that document. If you lost your passport during your stay, these will probably have to be verified or replaced.

Foreigner registration

In some countries, you must register your presence and address where you are staying with the local authorities. This might require filling out a form with the local police or a visit to the immigration offices. In many countries with such a law, local hotels will handle the registration (make sure to ask). In other cases, only those staying outside of tourist accommodations need to register. However, this makes the law much more obscure, so find out beforehand.

The registration may be an additional stamp in the passport or a piece of paper with an official stamp. Leaving a country without registration can be a problem. You may well be turned back at the immigration counter and told to go to register, which will probably mean missing your flight. In other cases, failure to register could raise suspicion by authorities when you reenter the country, and could lead to entry denial and deportation.