Passports and Visas

Passports

This is your most important travel document and the key to your journey. Without a passport you will not be able to travel to most places in the world. You need a passport to cross almost any international border. Passports are now required for travel between the USA, Canada, and Mexico. It is wise to make arrangements long before your intended departure for a new passport as well as a renewal. Consider getting one now if you don't already have one and would like to be able to travel soon!

If you are a citizen of the USA, getting a new adult passport will run over US$100. The Passport Office of the USA Department of State has all the forms, instructions, and details. Before you can apply, you'll need either your old, expired passport or proof of citizenship (typically your birth certificate if you were born in the USA or your naturalization certificate if you were born elsewhere).

The Passport Office says routine passport issuance takes 6 weeks, but AirTreks strongly recommends that you pay extra for round-trip Express Mail delivery and expedited service if you need your passport in less than 8 weeks. If you are leaving right away, you should be able to get a passport the same day, but only for an even higher in-person appointment fee, and only at one of the 14 Passport Offices in international gateway cities.

If you are a US citizen and need a passport quickly, we recommend Passport Express . Use this link for automatic discount pricing; otherwise you are welcome to call them Toll Free at 1(888) 272-0125 and mention our client discount code 41-597771 . They provide easy, efficient, and fast service (24 hour expedited service is available) to help you obtain your passport safely and securely so you can rest assured that you will receive it in time for your trip.

Passport issuance procedures vary, of course, according to the country of your citizenship. Here are a few passport Web sites for other countries whose citizens we often deal with at AirTreks:

1. Canadian passports
2. UK passports
3. Irish passports
4. Australian passports
5. New Zealand passports

Visas and Government Entry Requirements

Prior to finalizing your plans, you should make certain you'll be able to get permission to visit all the countries on your AirTrek . Do you need a visa? Will you need to show a ticket out of the country ("onward ticket") before you'll be allowed into that country? (Countries where this is often an issue include Australia and Indonesia) And do you need to be on a tour, or have a local sponsor, to get a visa? (Ask your personal travel consultant for more information about these rules if you plan to visit Bhutan, Tibet, Russia, or other republics of the former Soviet Union.)

If you have a passport from the USA, Canada, or the European Union, visas for short tourist visits will usually be just a nuisance, if they are required at all. But you should check the requirements for each country in advance, just in case.

The only authoritative source for information about the requirements to visit another country is the embassy or consulate of the country you wish to visit -- not your own country's government, a guidebook, a travel agency, or any other third party except an immigration attorney. As a convenience, the USA State Department provides a directory of Web sites of foreign embassies in the USA and a (non-authoritative) annual summary of foreign entry requirements for citizens of the USA. Additional contact information for foreign embassies in the USA is available at Embassy.org .

AirTreks can arrange travel to almost anywhere in the world except Cuba and North Korea. For details of the rules which prohibit us and other travel agencies in the USA from assisting anyone with travel to Cuba (regardless of your citizenship), see the government's summary of sanctions for the travel industry . AirTreks has gone to unprecedented lengths to obtain special licenses to assist our clients with travel, in spite of travel embargos imposed on their plans. But no licenses are being issued to anyone in the USA for tourist travel to Cuba.

Passport and Visa Services

As long as you have enough time, you can apply for most visas on your own: it's just a matter of filling out the forms, carefully following the instructions (amount and form of payment, number of photographs, etc.), and sending your passport back and forth to the consulate or embassy by secure, traceable means (Express Mail or FedEx).

Visa and passport services are most useful if you need several visas in a hurry, or if you need to get a visa for the odd consulate or embassy, such as those of China, that do not accept visa applications by mail (only in person or through visa services). If you need to use a visa service, AirTreks also recommends Passport Express in the USA. They have representatives in Washington who can walk your passport from embassy to embassy without having to send it back to you in between.

Travel with Children

Many parents don't realize it, but in recent years new rules have been put in place in the USA and many other countries to protect against international child abduction.

These rules have created new requirements you need to know about before you try to get a passport for any child under age 14, or before any international travel by any minor under age 18.

To get a passport for a child under 14 years old, the USA and many other countries require the notarized consent of both parents, or notarized proof of sole custody or guardianship. The forms and instructions for the USA are on the State Department Web site.

There is a separate requirement stating that any minor under age 18 traveling across international borders either:

1. Be accompanied by both parents (with proof of parentage, such as a certified copy of a birth certificate, if the family names of both parents and the child aren't all the same);
2. Be accompanied by a parent or guardian with proof of sole custody or proof that the absent parent has given permission for the trip; or
3. Have proof of consent from both parents (or the sole guardian) to travel alone or with someone other than their parents. The point is to prevent international parental child abduction in custody disputes.

There's a sample consent form for international travel by a minor under age 18 from the Canadian government that can easily be edited for USA or any other citizenship, or another option is to download this sample consent form .