Visas and Passports

The country of Laos began offering evisas to travelers from 180 countries, including the US, Canada and the UK, on July 9. The single-entry evisa allows a visitor to stay in Laos for up to 30 days.

The US State Department announced on June 1 that passport applications now will take six to eight weeks to be processed, up from the four to six weeks it had taken previously. At press time, it was not known whether this change was temporary or permanent. Expedited service, offering processing in two to three weeks, is still available for an extra $60.

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Dear Globetrotter:

As my tour group was being driven to the airport in Turkey (June ’19, pg. 20) for our various flights to the US, one member asked, “Do you all have the Mobile Passport Control app?” We all shook our heads ‘no.’ “You have to download it,” he continued. “It’s saved me so much time at Customs.”

Starting June 17, 2019, a traveler from the US, Canada, Australia or Japan will be able to travel to Brazil for up to 90 days without a visa. Through June 16, an evisa will still be required for anyone from one of those countries entering Brazil.

I want to share with ITN readers how I save on ATM fees.

First of all, I never use a currency-exchange desk — either at the airport or in the city — because of the unfavorable exchange rate and fees. Besides, ATMs are ubiquitous.

I always travel with two debit cards that do not incur a foreign transaction fee (FTF): a Charles Schwab Visa debit card and a Fidelity Cash Management Visa debit card. There are a lot of other banks that offer no-FTF debit cards nowadays.

Two long-range missiles were fired from the Gaza Strip on March 14, landing outside of Tel Aviv, Israel, and causing no damage or casualties. They were the first missiles fired at Tel Aviv since the 2014 Gaza War. After the missiles were fired, Israeli jets and helicopters conducted air strikes on strategic but reportedly abandoned locations in Gaza, injuring two people.

After the air strikes, it was reported that Israeli officials believed the missiles had been fired by accident during routine maintenance.

On Feb. 25, the Transportation Security Administration expanded its Pre√™ (Pre-check) program to include nine more airlines, making a total of 65 airlines whose passengers qualify for Pre√^™.

The new Pre√^™-approved airlines are Air India, Asiana Airlines, China Airlines, Eastern Airlines, Elite Airways, EVA Airways, Japan Airlines, TAP Air Portugal and Volaris.

Antigovernment protests in Venezuela, which began on Jan. 23, continued through February. The protests were supported by National Assembly and opposition leader Juan Guaidó, who has declared himself president and called for new elections, saying that Venezuela's last election, which acting president Nicolás Maduro won, was fraudulent. Guaidó is supported by the US, EU, and most South American countries.