Jeff Carrier of Naples, Florida, had the following request for subscribers (Jan. ’15, pg. 68): “I would like input from readers who have traveled recently to any of the nearly 40 countries that are pretty much always on the US State Department’s ‘Travel Warnings’ list, which appears monthly in ITN. How did they do it and what were their experiences?” A number of responses were printed in last month’s issue. The remainder appear below.
Of the large numbers of migrants overwhelming many European countries in 2015, many are escaping wars and violence in Africa and the Middle East. The greatest numbers of asylum seekers are fleeing from Syria, but many are emigrating from Afghanistan, Eritrea, Nigeria and Somalia.
In 2015, Frontex, the European Union’s border service, detected more than 340,000 migrants crossing into Europe through August, with many more undetected. Within that same period in 2014, the number was estimated at 123,500.
Visitors to the Maldives, an archipelago nation in the Indian Ocean, now can get free, 30-day tourist visas upon arrival. To qualify, a visitor must have a valid passport, a return ticket out of the Maldives and proof of financial capacity to cover expenses while in the Maldives (measured at $150 a day) or a hotel reservation.
A visitor can extend his visa to a total of 90 days by filling out a Visa Extension Application Form with the Department of Immigration for an additional fee of MVR750 (near $49).
While driving in Italy in 2005, I briefly crossed the border into the Lugano area of Switzerland. When leaving Switzerland, I was stopped at the border crossing by a Swiss policeman, who said I had been on the highway without a toll sticker. Luckily, I wasn’t fined, but I did have to pay for a sticker even though I was leaving the country.
As of July 1, Kenyan tourist and transit visas can be applied for and purchased online, and as of Aug. 31, visas are no longer available upon arrival.
For an e-visa, go to www.ecitizen.go.ke, click on “Register,” then register as a visitor. Logged in, click on “Department of Immigration Services,” then on the application for the type of visa wanted. Completely fill out the application, submit it and pay the nonrefundable fee ($51 for tourist visa or $21, transit) online with a credit card.
When I handed my passport to the Immigration officer at Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands in May 2014, I requested he put a stamp on a page that had already been used.
“The page is full,” the agent said. “I can’t put a stamp on top of a stamp.” So he turned the leaf and put a stamp smack in the middle of one of the blank pages, taking up an entire page that also could have been used for a visa or other stamps.
I decided to try to beat the travel officials at their own game. I put rubber bands around pages that I didn’t want stamped.
Looking forward to going on the tour “Discover the Caucasus: Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan,” Aug. 29-Sept. 23, 2014, with Original World (San Rafael, CA; 888/367-6147, www.originalworld.com), I discovered that visas to Armenia and Azerbaijan had to be obtained in advance (July ’15, pg. 15).
An Armenian visa could be obtained online in advance for $10 at www.mfa.am/en/visa.
