From TheBestLinks.com
de:Visum zh:签证
A visa (short for the Latin carta visa, lit. "the document has been seen") is a document issued by a country giving a certain individual permission to enter the country for a given period of time. Many countries require possession of a valid visa as a condition of entry. Visas can be granted on arrival, usually only to citizens of countries enjoying good relations with the issuing country, or by prior application at the country's embassy or consulate. A fee may be charged for issuing a visa; these are typically reciprocal, so if country A charges country B's citizens 50 USD for a visa, country B will often also charge the same amount for country A's visitors. Expedited processing of the visa application will also incur additional charges. Visas are typically stamped or attached into the recipient's passport.
Common types of visas are:
- transit visa, usually valid for 3 days or less, for passing through the country to a third destination
- tourist visa, for a limited period of leisure travel, no business activities allowed. Typically the only visa granted for free. Some countries (eg. Kuwait) do not issue tourist visas. Saudi Arabia introduced tourist visas only in 2004 although it did (and still does) issue pilgrimage visas for Hajj pilgrims.
- business visa, for engaging in commerce in the country, usually valid longer and more easily renewable than a tourist visa
- student visa, which allows its holder to study at an institution of higher learning in the issuer's country
- diplomatic visa, which confers diplomatic status on its holder and is normally only available to bearers of diplomatic passports
- journalist visa, which some countries require people in that occupation to obtain when travelling for their respective news organizations. Countries which insist on this include Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, the US (I-visa) and Zimbabwe. In each case failure to obtain the correct document is likely to result in the refusal of entry, or interrogation and deportation.
Some countries, such as the Soviet Union, required that their citizens obtain an exit visa in order to be allowed to leave the country.
Visas can also be single-entry, which means the visa is cancelled as soon as the holder leaves the country, double-entry, or multiple-entry, permitting multiple entries into the country with the same visa. Countries may also issue re-entry permits that allow temporarily leaving the country without invalidating the visa. Even a business visa will normally not allow the holder to work in the host country without an additional work permit.
Once issued, a visa will typically have to be used within a certain period of time, and the period of validity starts only on entry into the country. A notable exception to this is India, where the visa validity period starts immediately when the visa is issued. Once in the country, the validity period of a visa can often be extended for a fee. Overstaying a visa's validity period is considered illegal immigration and the offender may be fined, deported and even blacklisted from entering the country again.
external links
http://www.projectvisa.com A site dedicated to visa information
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