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Post by tod2 on Jul 28, 2014 16:23:33 GMT
Today we finally.....finally...got an appointment with the Visa people. Hours and hours spent at the bank getting information filled in for some currency. We purchased pounds Stirling and euros. All in the name of getting a visa. We have emails arriving in 2 days time to re=assure the Embassy we have enough cash in Credit Cards should we need it. Our appointment is on Wednesday.
So - Why am I concerned with flying? I 'm only concerned in getting my "Stress Value" back in the finest French Champagne, a fabulous dinner with a cheese board, Port wine, and dessert. a wonderful duvet and piles of pillows to drift me off over the roar of those jet engines.....See you at Heathrow baby!
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Post by bjd on Jul 28, 2014 17:58:36 GMT
Tod, why do you buy foreign currency in advance? Why not use cash machines when you are on the spot -- just get enough cash to tide you over the first day or so.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 28, 2014 18:13:46 GMT
I think she actually has to show the cash to get a visa. The world is a strange place.
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Post by bjd on Jul 28, 2014 19:13:04 GMT
So if they don't give the visa, she has to change it back to rand and lose on the exchange again?!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 28, 2014 19:29:27 GMT
Visa people are not part of the human race most of the time.
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Post by fumobici on Jul 29, 2014 2:27:10 GMT
I was told at one time one is required to be able to show a couple hundred dollars in Canadian currency if you are planning on staying there longer than a day or two. I was told there's (or was) actually a formula with X amount needed per person per day. I was never asked to produce any when I've gone. Not sure if it's still a thing, people tend not to carry a lot of cash around now as everything is done with plastic.
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Post by bjd on Jul 29, 2014 6:15:00 GMT
I go into Canada on a French passport (let my Canadian one lapse years ago) and have never been asked for any cash proof. Maybe it depends where you are coming from, but the Canadian immigration people are usually those who have failed every possible personality test (except one French-speaking guy in Toronto airport).
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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2014 14:28:38 GMT
Yes, it all depends on where you're coming from, bjd. When I first went to France in the 80s I had to get a visa from the consulate in Toronto. Thank god there was no financial check then!
From diplomatie.gouv.fr:
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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2014 16:33:02 GMT
I find it interesting that American journalists require a visa for France, but I imagine that the reason is the usual reason: reciprocity.
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Post by tod2 on Jul 31, 2014 8:01:32 GMT
bjd, We purchase foreign currency first of all to have cash on hand right from the get-go. If we produce the documentation( not the actual cash) from a bank or other entity selling and buying foreign currency, it strengthens our case positively for obtaining a visa. We actually don't HAVE to buy cash in advance but then MUST have a letter from the Credit Card issuer like Visa or Diners Club, declaring the amount available on the card for spending money. I also did this and luckily was able to request the document over the phone and have it emailed. There were numerous security questions to prove it was really me on the phone!
Going back to using ones card to get cash on arrival - Done this at cash machines during our stay in UK and Paris but not when all groggy and jet-lagged at an airport or train station. You only have to put in the wrong PIN number too many times and whoosh! the card is eaten by the machine. Too scary to think of no card , no money... And yes, if the visa is not granted we are given 30 days to change the money back, and if you return with unspent money you also have that time limit to change it back......like we have any left over! Our exchange rate is a Little over R18 to the pound - ouch, ouch ouch!
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Post by tod2 on Jul 31, 2014 8:19:06 GMT
To add just a little taste of other requirements asked of us: To produce three months current bank statements To declare what you spend on living costs in your home To declare all investments such as stocks and shares, pension funds and other savings. To list ( with old passports as proof if possible) the departure from South Africa to other countries. Doesn't matter where, they just want to see how much you travel. To produce all travel documents like train tickets from city to city. For instance our train tickets from Paddington to Penzance and back, then tickets to Manchester return, our Euro star tickets to Paris and finally our tickets from Paris to Frankfurt. We must produce all areas of accommodation booked and paid for - even required to produce a letter from our friends inviting us to stay with them for 3 days.
It goes on and on, and who's fault is this? Squarely on the shoulders of the South African government for allowing thousands of passports to be issued as South Africans to citizens from our northern border countries. The passport business is a hotbed of scull-duggery!
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Post by bjd on Jul 31, 2014 9:22:26 GMT
Good lord, Tod. You really have to want to travel to go through all those hoops every time. Are those Schengen visa requirements or also for the UK?
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Post by tod2 on Jul 31, 2014 14:54:35 GMT
bjd - They are UK requirements. Very similar for Schengen. When you go for the Schengen interview all your documents have to be in a certain order that they have stipulated. Woe betide you if you have not done this excercise correctly. I was once repremanded like a naughty school girl for not getting it quite right. Luckily now all visas are first scrutinised through an agency. They are very nice people and very helpful. When all is sorted correctly they send it off to Pretoria and the Embassy. At the UK Visa place you are asked to hand the paperwork over in no particular order.
You may get a giggle out of this - after our interview and document handing in , one has to go through to another cubicle where there is a gentleman waiting at a computer. A lady was in there while we sat and waited. She came out and "Next"! was called out. I jumped up and entered the sanctum. "Close the curtain!" So I obeyed. "Sit down and put your right hand on the machine for fingerprints - Now the thumbs" "Please spread them wider apart - Thank you" "Please stand up straight and look directly at the camera above you on the wall, first stating your full names and the date you were born" Did it. "Now push the chair back against the wall and sit up straight" "Look at the other camera" I hear a faint click. "Now please pick up that pen and sign your name on the instrument in front of you"....It is like a plastic screen similar to the ones we oldies used to have as children where you could pull it upwards to make the writing or drawing disappear. A few more words and that was that - time for my husband to enter the curtained (but see through from the outside) curtain, but not before he quips " What were those excercises you were doing?" as he goes in.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 31, 2014 15:13:18 GMT
Good lord, tod, I would never, ever be able to travel with those requirements.
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Post by tod2 on Jul 31, 2014 15:37:27 GMT
You may say that Lizzy but it was not always like that. We started travelling way back in the 70's (my husband) and me in 1980 for the first time. Once you have expanded your boundaries there is no turning back no matter how bloody difficult it becomes. All because the countries of Europe are being flooded like never before with illegals, crooks and drug dealers. I don't blame them for making it hard for them ...and of course we fall into the crevice as well. Of course the Visa I am applying for is for 6 months at a cost of R1,500-00. I can also apply for a year at R5,000-00 or 10years at R10,000-00. I have a good mind to do just that next time.
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Post by mossie on Jul 31, 2014 16:00:30 GMT
That is one hell of a lot of hoops to jump through. I presume you are coming for quite a long visit to make it all worth while. I'm afraid it wouldn't do for this impatient old so-and-so. When do you travel?
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Post by htmb on Jul 31, 2014 16:09:23 GMT
Tod, are all the requirements the same, except for the money part, no matter how long the length of the visa?
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Post by mich64 on Jul 31, 2014 16:13:40 GMT
What an interesting process Tod. How long are you planning on staying abroad? Do you now expect to have everything completed on time?
We always buy cash from the bank before we travel. We charge our hotels, fuel and shopping items to a credit card and pay it when we get home but like to have the cash for restaurants, bars and cafes. We usually buy the equivalent of $100.00 per day we will be away.
Canada now offers a ten year passport so when we have to renew that is what we will choose. I do not think we will ever have to apply for a Visa as we probably will only travel to countries that just require our passport. We do not expect to travel for more than the 90 days.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 31, 2014 16:24:00 GMT
I'm looking forward to the 10 year passport, because that means in a decade I'll look ten years younger in my passport.
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Post by tod2 on Jul 31, 2014 16:54:47 GMT
Mossie/mich64 - we try to come over for 6 weeks at a time but this year only 2nd September to 2nd October.
htmb - I can't honestly say 'yes'. I only THINK it is but somehow it can't be. What about the spending money and bank details..... I aim to find out.
Lizzy - You're a hoot!
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Post by anshjain97 on Aug 1, 2014 16:04:44 GMT
As an Indian, I can understand the pain of getting a Schengen visa. It's a huge pain, enough to create a few seriously anxious weeks just before travelling.
The only time I applied for a UK visa was when no interview was required. The process has been made much more difficult now and I would not like to try out that anytime soon.
They could definitely make the process simpler for repeat travellers, at the bare minimum. But then, as Kerouac says they are not part of the human race most of the time.
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Post by tod2 on Aug 1, 2014 16:21:38 GMT
You have a very good idea there anshjain9/ about repeat travelers but I think the visa for 10 years covers that. Costs a bomb but gee what a saving of time and effort! I have decided it will be at least two to three years before we set out for UK again. Going back to the schengen visa - from South Africa it does not automatically let you romp around Europe willy-nilly when applying. One has to decide which part of Europe, eg. France, you are going to spend the most time. It is then that embassy which you approach. This then allows you to travel around but you must spend the maximum days in France.
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Post by bjd on Aug 1, 2014 19:35:58 GMT
You have a very good idea there anshjain9/ about repeat travelers but I think the visa for 10 years covers that. Costs a bomb but gee what a saving of time and effort! I have decided it will be at least two to three years before we set out for UK again. Going back to the schengen visa - from South Africa it does not automatically let you romp around Europe willy-nilly when applying. One has to decide which part of Europe, eg. France, you are going to spend the most time. It is then that embassy which you approach. This then allows you to travel around but you must spend the maximum days in France. I don't know about that last statement, Tod. Ansh has done a big sticky thread about Schengen visas on TT and I understand you don't actually have to spend the maximum time in the country that issued your visa. Since there are no border controls in Schengen, they don't know where you are and how long you stay. It's pages long, but here is a link to it if you are interested: www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/forums/europe-western-europe/topics/have-a-schengen-query-please-read-this-post-first
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Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2014 19:58:59 GMT
It's true that you are officially supposed to apply to the Schengen country where you will spend the most time, but travel plans change for all sorts of reasons, so there is nothing really strict about this. All you need to be able to do is to explain why your plans changed.
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Post by anshjain97 on Aug 2, 2014 10:19:12 GMT
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Post by tod2 on Aug 2, 2014 16:16:47 GMT
When applying you are asked "Which Country do you intend spending the most time". It is possible to circumvent the rules only if the Consulate accepts your documents to prove it - For instance: Many years ago I did not want to travel to Johannesburg to apply for my schengen visa to visit Paris. So, I applied to the German Consulate only 70km away from me. They to wanted proof of hotel accommodation , money, etc., etc. I booked a hotel in Munich and submitted the email. NO GOOD they told me! They wanted the hotel to actually write me a letter on their hotel stationery. I said no deal, they can't do that- all they send is an email and that I would decide not to go to Germany after all. This did the trick and they said "We will make a plan", which they did and I got my visa and cancelled all hotel bookings. So you see if they agree it's fine but I doubt very much whether that untruth would be accepted today. Should I try it?
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Post by anshjain97 on Aug 2, 2014 16:24:32 GMT
I did that last in 2011, with the Swiss consulate in Mumbai. I have never heard of hotels writing on hotel stationery- alsways have used reservation confirmation printouts. Up to you whether you would like to try it, in India, I wouldn't hesitate doing so if it meant I would be dealing with an easier embassy (like Switzerland; German consulate here was just pathetic).
In India if you give your application to travel agencies, the smart ones still try to circumvent these rules whenever possible. It works.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 2, 2014 16:43:16 GMT
If you want to really know how ridiculous some of the rules can be, one time I flew into Los Angeles from Tahiti on my American passport. Since I had been flying standby on airline employee tickets and was stuck in Tahiti for 3 days until I got a flight, obviously I had no specific plans for where I would stay in Los Angeles before continuing to Paris.
On my landing card, I left "U.S. address" blank since I did not have one, and this posed a problem for the immigration officer. "But I am an American citizen. I can sleep in the street if I want to," I remember saying. "That's not how it works," the guy said. "I'll just write 'Hilton' in the box." And that's what he did. It is much easier when the officials themselves realise that the rules are useless. I could have made up any address I could think of or written any real or invented hotel name, and there would not have been the slightest problem.
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Post by anshjain97 on Aug 2, 2014 16:51:50 GMT
That's funny considering I have left the address blank two times on the Hong Kong arrival card when I was on a layover. The immigration officer didn't bat an eyelid.
What irritates me, though, is that Indians have to fill a departure card while leaving India whereas foreigners don't, and this card asks for all the useless info: phone no, purpose for travel, address in India. Indeed, I could just enter fictitious names or numbers and no one would care. If they really needed my number, address or any such thing in case of an emergency, my passport application is probably just a click away with today's technology.
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Post by tod2 on Aug 4, 2014 17:07:29 GMT
HEY Y'ALL! I got a visa, I got a visa , I got a VISA! Well a UK one which is a starting point! Filled in the schengen forms and am surprised ( no, make that shocked! at the few questions asked) There has got to be a trick! Hopefully we will get appointments this week and can submit the final 'curtain'!
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