Question:
Basic Info: I'm a British Citizen
holding a UK Passport I'm thinking
of going on holiday next year, i'm
planning flying to Hong Kong one
way. And plan to travel through
Chins, Mongolia, Russia, Poland
and through Europe back to the UK.
I know i will need Visa's:-
1) Should
i get all the Visa's from the UK?
2) Should
i get all the Visa's from Hong Kong?
3) or get
the Visa's as i move around the
countries, i.e. get the China and
Mongolian one from Hong Kong, get
the Russian one from China? Would
they be any cheaper this way?
Answer:
Why not get the Visas before you
leave. That way you have no worries
about not being left without a visa.
Ray: I have recent experience of
obtaining a Russian tourist visa
so I can comment on that one at
any rate. I am a British Citizen
living in Northern Ireland, and
had the choice of obtaining the
visa from the consulates in either
London or Dublin. I discovered that
at the time (2002) each consulate
was free to set their own fees for
visas, and the price in Ireland
was considerably less than that
in London.
In addition,
the visa was processed quite swiftly,
presumably because the Dublin consulate
has a lot less traffic. However,
I would warn you that in general,
the consulate for nation A in country
B may only be able to communicate
with you in languages A and B. So,
if you are in China, seeking a Russian
visa, for example, you could have
some difficulties unless you are
skilled in either Chinese or Russian.
For example, the application forms,
etc., may only be available in the
language of the host country and
the country in which you find yourself.
Plus, you do need some particular
paperwork (for example, confirmation
of hotel reservation) for a Russian
visa, which needs to be obtained
well in advance of travel So, my
advice would be to obtain the visas
in the UK before you set out, and
then you can relax and enjoy your
holiday.
A good resource
I have found in the past is http://www.embassyworld.com/
also countries like china and russia
can be notoriously slow in giving
visa's it took me weeks to get my
russian visa, albeit it was a multiple
entry working visa some countries
like the USA will only (in theory)
issue visa s at your "home country"
embassy i.e. in your case in london
it has been done where we as aircrew
have got us visa's in small country
embassy's but theyre usually a one
off i am only quoting usa as an
example, some of the countries you
mentioned may have the same rules
i think the guy from in ireland
may be able to use dublin or london
due to the special circumstances
in in ireland, ie the citizens there
can have irish or british passports
or both I would think you need the
visas BEFORE you leave, as airlines
will not allow you to board with
incomplete documents. That's not
entirely correct.
Many locations
have visas that can be obtained
at the point of entry. For instance,
Russians can pick of a visa at the
point of entry in Jamaica, so there
is no reason for the airline to
check before departure for Jamaica.
Americans can obtain Mexican tourists
cards at the destination airport.
If you are flying from country A
to country B to country C to country
D, the airline flying you from Country
A to Country B doesn't need to see
your visa for Country D, unless
the passenger isn't stopping over
en route, and the OP is stopping
in multiple countries.
