A visa is a document which allows someone to travel into a specific country and stay there for a set period of time. Generally, a visa may only be issued at the Consulate of the country or, in some cases, at the border. Visas may be stamped or glued directly into a passport or they may be issued electronically (e.g. Australia Visa). Some countries require everyone who enters to obtain a visa, while others have what are known as reciprocal agreements with certain countries that waive visa requirements. A visa may allow one, two or multiple entries before the expiration date of the visa. It is important to research visa requirements before traveling internationally to avoid any issues with border control officials and airlines. If a destination country requires a visa and the traveler does not have it in his/her passport, the airline may refuse to board this person on the plane.

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Please refer to the following page on our website to check whether a visa is required or not: visa requirements worldwide. Select your citizenship from the drop down menu at the top of the page, and you will be provided with a complete list of countries that require or do not require visas for you to travel. For detailed instructions on how to apply for a visa select the country of destination from the table.

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At this time, VisaHQ.com only processes tourist, business, private, crew and official visas. Applicants looking for student visas, work visas or residence visas must apply directly through the nearest Embassy or Consulate.

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If you are a resident of the United States or Canada, we may be able to process your application, depending on the country you would like to visit, the type of visa you need, and your visa status in the United States or Canada. Please consult our individual country pages or other questions in this FAQ for further information.

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The validity of a given visa represents the dates that the visa is effective. For instance, if a visa for China is valid for 90 days, you must enter China before that period of 90 days expires. Maximum stay is the time allotted for stay in the country. Using China as an example, the default maximum stay is 30 days, which means you are only allowed to stay in China for 30 days, even if your visa validity is 90 days. Please note that different countries have different requirements and interpretations regarding visa validity and maximum stay.

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In most cases, visas can be processed in Washington DC, without regard to consular jurisdiction. However, there are several countries that require all visa applications to be submitted in the assigned consular jurisdiction. Consular jurisdiction is the geographic area for which a consulate has responsibility for issuing visas. When a consulate is jurisdictional, it can only process visas for those who reside in a state within their jurisdiction. VisaHQ directs applications to appropriate cities for faster or less complicated processing. Please be advised that required documents and processing times may vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. VisaHQ continuously updates processing times for all countries including those that are jurisdictional.

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