Showing posts with label Visas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Visas. Show all posts
Friday, October 10, 2008
India Outsources Visa Process to Travisa
Our Indian Visa applications are now in the mail. I hope we have as good of luck getting those back as we did with the China Visas. What I found humorous about this process is that India has outsourced their visa process. It is now impossible to go to a consulate and just apply in person. Everyone must submit their application to Travisa and pay the $13 processing charge. To their credit, Travisa had a pretty slick and straightforward website.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Random Travel Updates
Hey - since some folks might be interested in learning about the travel planning aspect of this adventure, here are some updates:
-We got our visas back from China Travel Service quite promptly. This was a bargain, and great service too. If you are sending in passports for a famiy, do ask about negotiating the return shipping fee. We saved $75.
-I finally got the warranty money on our carseat/stroller combo. This turned out to be quite a bargain, as the stroller broke recently. We got to keep the carseat, so it was kind of like getting a brand new carseat for the $17 cost of the warranty. Now we are shopping for a baby backpack to replace the stroller. We got full use of the carseat stroller while Lily was super-small, and now she can ride in an umbrella stroller. The refund will cover the cost of the backpack which should be more travel-friendly. (We're looking at Ergo and Deuter Kangakid right now...anyone with other suggestions? Lightweight, durable, comfortable, and multipurpose are our criteria!)
-We've been researching travel opportunities for children/family friendly activities. Cadiz looks easy, because it is so close to the beach and a very walkable city it seems. Turkey looks like it might be a challenge, but we at least identified a few places with playgrounds for burning off energy. In Thailand, we are going to opt for Pattaya over Bangkok due to the kiddos. There is an orphanage there, and I look forward to Abi having the opportunity to play with other children. Shanghai sports an Ocean Aquarium and an interactive History Museum for reasonable rates. We aren't sure how much time we will spend in Kobe, Japan but it was a very friendly city for children, so we hope to spend a considerable amount of time there. In many places, we expect the entertainment will be the food, the culture, and the people we meet. So, we don't want to overbook ourselves. But we are trying to generate a list of ideas to begin with so that we atleast know which neighborhoods to head toward.
-We got our visas back from China Travel Service quite promptly. This was a bargain, and great service too. If you are sending in passports for a famiy, do ask about negotiating the return shipping fee. We saved $75.
-I finally got the warranty money on our carseat/stroller combo. This turned out to be quite a bargain, as the stroller broke recently. We got to keep the carseat, so it was kind of like getting a brand new carseat for the $17 cost of the warranty. Now we are shopping for a baby backpack to replace the stroller. We got full use of the carseat stroller while Lily was super-small, and now she can ride in an umbrella stroller. The refund will cover the cost of the backpack which should be more travel-friendly. (We're looking at Ergo and Deuter Kangakid right now...anyone with other suggestions? Lightweight, durable, comfortable, and multipurpose are our criteria!)
-We've been researching travel opportunities for children/family friendly activities. Cadiz looks easy, because it is so close to the beach and a very walkable city it seems. Turkey looks like it might be a challenge, but we at least identified a few places with playgrounds for burning off energy. In Thailand, we are going to opt for Pattaya over Bangkok due to the kiddos. There is an orphanage there, and I look forward to Abi having the opportunity to play with other children. Shanghai sports an Ocean Aquarium and an interactive History Museum for reasonable rates. We aren't sure how much time we will spend in Kobe, Japan but it was a very friendly city for children, so we hope to spend a considerable amount of time there. In many places, we expect the entertainment will be the food, the culture, and the people we meet. So, we don't want to overbook ourselves. But we are trying to generate a list of ideas to begin with so that we atleast know which neighborhoods to head toward.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Passport and Visa Applications
Don't we look so cute? These are our passport photos, which we are submitting for the various passport and visa applications we have to do for our journey. Today I started folders on each of us, with a note-taking page, and dividers to separate out the different applications we need to fill out. Hopefully, this will help keep things organizied.
Out of all of the countries we are visiting, only five require visas. Three of the visas are fairly innexpensive and will be aquired while we are on the program. However, the visas for China and India are quite expensive and we are beginning work on those now.
With passports and visas, a little extra time helps lower the prices. We applied for passports for the kids as soon as we decided we were going on the Spring voyage, Luke needed to renew his, and I needed extra pages in mine. We applied last month and have already recieved them, even without using expedited service. We now have plenty of time to secure visas for China and India without getting extra fees.
Can you believe this? India has actually outsourced its visa process to an American company called Travisa. India is currently the only country to take this approach. Travisa recieves $13 for every visa issued, and manages the online application. Indian visas automatically start on the date they are issued, so we won't be able to apply for the Indian visa until October or so to recieve the cheapest rate.
Chinese visas can be obtained by any agent that applies in person at the San Francisco Consulate. This gives us two options: 1) fly one of us to San Francisco to get all of our visas or 2) apply through one of the hundreds of agencies willing to act as an agent for a "fee". The third option would be if someone out there wants to go take our applications to the consulate out of the kindness of their hearts...anyone??
We will probably use China Travel Service. This is the company used by the study abroad office I work at, and they are very reputable and don't charge too much.
Semester at Sea has a Visa Service they use, and it is very economical for the average student. However, as a family, we do not want to pay to have each visa shipped to us separately. That would cost us about $60 extra. We'll let you know in a later post if we come to regret this decision:)
Out of all of the countries we are visiting, only five require visas. Three of the visas are fairly innexpensive and will be aquired while we are on the program. However, the visas for China and India are quite expensive and we are beginning work on those now.
With passports and visas, a little extra time helps lower the prices. We applied for passports for the kids as soon as we decided we were going on the Spring voyage, Luke needed to renew his, and I needed extra pages in mine. We applied last month and have already recieved them, even without using expedited service. We now have plenty of time to secure visas for China and India without getting extra fees.
Can you believe this? India has actually outsourced its visa process to an American company called Travisa. India is currently the only country to take this approach. Travisa recieves $13 for every visa issued, and manages the online application. Indian visas automatically start on the date they are issued, so we won't be able to apply for the Indian visa until October or so to recieve the cheapest rate.
Chinese visas can be obtained by any agent that applies in person at the San Francisco Consulate. This gives us two options: 1) fly one of us to San Francisco to get all of our visas or 2) apply through one of the hundreds of agencies willing to act as an agent for a "fee". The third option would be if someone out there wants to go take our applications to the consulate out of the kindness of their hearts...anyone??
We will probably use China Travel Service. This is the company used by the study abroad office I work at, and they are very reputable and don't charge too much.
Semester at Sea has a Visa Service they use, and it is very economical for the average student. However, as a family, we do not want to pay to have each visa shipped to us separately. That would cost us about $60 extra. We'll let you know in a later post if we come to regret this decision:)
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