The big question - is the cost of visas too high?
Added: 04 Jul 2008
As China follows the lead of other countries in outsourcing its visa application process for UK travellers, is the cost of visas now getting out of hand? The 'service fees' charged by the visa processing company now mean the cost of a single-entry visa to China has more than doubled overnight. There was also controversy earlier in the year when Zambia more than doubled the cost of a single-entry visa for UK travellers.
Report content as inappropriateWhat are your thoughts on this? Are these service fees getting out of control? Are popular destinations taking advantage of increased visitor numbers by ramping up the cost of a visa? Or is it our government's fault for charging citizens of other countries high visa fees, which are in turn reciprocated by those countries' governments? Is there another charge that could be levied - a visitor tax for example? The floor, or the rest of the page at least, is all yours...
Keywords
These are the keywords currently assigned to this item. Click a word below to see other items with that theme, or add keywords that will help others find this item more easily in the future.
- visas
- fees
- cost
- charges
- governments
- alternatives
Why not login and add your own keywords?
Responses
- Added by: Liz D
- On: 04 Jul 2008
- Why can't we just pay a visa entry fee on arrival which is what a lot of countries allow you to do. Alternatively can we not process them on line which is what we now do for an Australian Visa. After having to get up at 4.30 am to get into the centre of London for my India Visa last year and even then it was 3.00in the afternoon before i got it its not just the service charges that are unreasonable.
- [Report as inappropriate]
- Added by: whitetigeruk
- On: 04 Jul 2008
- Yes why cant we just obtain a visa on arrival ? Or as Liz has suggested by doing it online. Visa's are just another large cost that has to be taken into consideration when you travel and as air fares increase visa costs will be come a major consideration.
- [Report as inappropriate]
- Added by: BridgetC
- On: 04 Jul 2008
- Absolutely right! After the complete fiasco we recently had when trying to get an Indian visa through the Consulate in Edinburgh, we will never go back there on holiday unless they change their visa regulations. They have to be the worst to deal with - hardly any English communication skills, arrogance (when we finally did actually get to speak to them - they don't ever answer their phone - not even an answering machine) and 2 sets of extra fees, plus demands for official letters from where we were going (a homestay for a week!). It ended up costing about £100 for the 2 of us for a visa for a simple 1 week holiday. I did lodge a complaint, but of course no apology or anything other than an acknowledgement of my email.
I've already decided that we'll concentrate on going to places that you can get your visa on arrival (or on line). - [Report as inappropriate]
- Added by: jenelle
- On: 04 Jul 2008
- Whilst I agree with the above - I don't think getting a visa on arrival is the answer, when that just creates long lines and chaos at the airport after a potentially long flight. I would much prefer to have everything sorted before arrival. In terms of fees, I suppose it is what the government does with them, are they using it for improvement or otherwise?? I don’t mind paying entry/visa fees if I know it is going to help the local community where I am visiting – such as Cambodia with the Tonle sap entry fee, using the money to build a road to help access for the village. Where as the Australian government has just raised the departure tax by $9 supposedly to increase security, whilst at the same time cutting the budget of customs etc. . . . simple money raising there.
- [Report as inappropriate]
- Added by: ontheroad
- On: 05 Jul 2008
- Although I have just promised not to moan about visa issues again having read Squibber's comment under a different subject heading about the hassle of getting a UK visa for foreign nationals... I'm going to have a little moan anyway as it's one of my pet hates.
Yes, visas are way too expensive. As mentioned by others above, you wouldn't mind so much if you had some idea where the money was going & if it was benefiting the ordinary people of the country, but there's no way of knowing this. As it stands you just feel like you are being milked for cash with nothing to show for it. Surely there must be more economic benefit for countries to encourage people to visit for tourism/business by giving them free visas; the amount of money they spend in country, which will go directly to local people/businesses, outways whatever they can cream off you as a visa fee?
The unfairness of visa fees is another issue. For example, on my Trans-Africa overland trip 2 years ago (total cost for visas for whole trip, around £500!!!) the Australians on the trip consistently paid less for visas than the Brits, e.g. Nigerian visa: US$100 for us, US$20 for the Aussies! (the Irish also seem to be very favoured) Now I know this is all down to reciprocal actions reflecting how our respective countries immigration services treat Nigerians applying for visas, blah blah blah, but that doesn't stop it from feeling very unfair, I'm not responsible for my government's immigration policies!
But then I stop to reflect just how much harder it is for a person from a third world country to get a visa to come here (see Squibber's post under the China visa discussion), what we generally go through is nothing in comparison. So I guess we've just got to grit our teeth and remember that next time we're confronted with petty bureaucracy and ridiculous fees.
- [Report as inappropriate]
- Added by: chickster6
- On: 10 Jul 2008
- After queuing for a Chinese visa in Kathmandu and an Indian Visa in Nairobi, I am not keen on the whole process. Charging a fortune for it just seems to add insult to injury. A friend recently went for her Russian visa and worked out (as she was queuing) that the Russians make at least £72,000 per week out of visas alone.
- [Report as inappropriate]
- Added by: Cathy Aitken
- On: 12 Jul 2008
- Visa fees for Brits are generally based on what we charge their nationals. For example, it costs £65 for an Indian to visit the UK, whereas we pay £30 + £9 fee, so in this case I don't think it is too high.
Now that the Indian High Commission has out-sourced visa processing (here and in India) it may be more difficult. Last time I got an Indian visa (in 2002) I submitted my application in Edinburgh at 10am and picked up my visa at 3pm the same day.
My most recent visa was for Iran. The local agent in Iran sent the visa approval to London. I sent my passport, form and fee and got my visa back within a week.
- [Report as inappropriate]
- Added by: Serval
- On: 16 Jul 2008
- Politically reciprocal visas are a con - how many British passport holders are going to want to settle permanently and illegally in, for example, Nigeria? I object less to paying what is in essence a visitor tax than to the expensive application process. I've decided that I'm passing on those countries with a complicated and expensive visa process until I've thoroughly explored the rest of the world - so, not for a long time, then!
- [Report as inappropriate]
- Added by: Ruth
- On: 10 Aug 2008
- To obtain a Russian visa takes some doing...we had our invitation from the company booking hotels & train tickets but it took us 4 days to get our application in. day 1 - arrived too late, day 2 - still too late having arrived before 8 am. day 3 - place closed, day 4 - arrived before 6am..got in at 11.20 - last application taken at 11.30am.
luckily for me it wasn't actually me who did this. the London based people got that job whilst I was working in Newcastle lol
people were thrown out of the queue for being too loud..this was 2004 so hope it has improved.
I am a little upset by how much my vietnam visa is going to cost me when i go in jan - [Report as inappropriate]
Add your response
You need to be logged in to add a response to this topic.
