31 May 2012

RUSSIAN FORMS NOW MANDATORY

As of now the new Russian on-line visa application system is mandatory.

All Canadian applicants must use the on-line service provided by the consular division of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to fill in their new Russian visa form.

The on-line form features individual unique coding and a bar code which is scanned by the Russian embassy in order to see the details on screen at the time of processing.

Set aside up to two hours to enter all the required details of your personal life on the Russian computer, and have a copy of your resume and the names and addresses and telephone numbers of all your past employers and schools on hand for easy reference. The Russians want it all.

You can visit the new Russian government website here -
www.visa.kdmid.ru

Click here for our updated Russian visa application package, explaining all the new features.

17 May 2012

TOURISTS TO CHINA

Dear Tourists to China

The Embassy of China is now strictly enforcing all new visa application rules for tourists.

People seeking Chinese tourist visas MUST provide a copy of their air ticket into and out of China (or a cruise ship ticket / booking confirmation).

They MUST also provide a confirmed booking for a hotel or guest house made out in their name.

These new requirements are non-negotiable. All applicants must provide these new addtitional documents without exception.

Thank you

Embassy of China

14 May 2012

CHINA BACKLOG

The Chinese Embassy is already applying the new rules to tourist visa seekers by demanding airline tickest and hotel bookings. And it is causing a massive line-up at the embassy.

This morning, Monday, the line was 2.5 hours long inside the embassy, and promises to get worse as the week goes on.

Under these circumstances fast service visas may become difficult to acquire for the next week.

Not since the Beijing olympics have we seen this sort of backlog.

Lesson: apply EARLY !

2 DAYS TO CHINESE REQUIREMENTS

There are only two more days until the new Chinese tourist visa rules will be strictly enforced. As of Wednesday 16 May 2012 the Chinese embassy will require more documents from tourist visa applicants.

Each tourist applicant must provide both and air ticket in and out of China; or a cruise booking confirmation form and itinrary, in their name.

Each tourist applicant must provide a confirmation of hotel booking in their name.

This new requirement is mandatory and applies to all people seeking tourist visas. Remember to provide both your air ticket and your hotel booking. The hotel name and contact information also gets printed in box 2.5 and 2.8 of the Chinese visa form.

Students and teachers/professors musts still make the student/teacher declaration regarding obeying all Chinese laws. This can be done in the other declaration space provided in box 5.

Click here for Chinese application forms.

The REAL RUSSIAN WEBSITE

As you all know and fear, Russia has adopted an on-line electronic visa application system for filling in the visa form. The questions remain as they were on the printed form, but now the e-form forces certain answers and does not allow blank spaces.

The real problem was that over the past two weeks there have been two Russian visa websites, one that works and one that does not:

1) the one listed on the Russian Embassy in Canada website which is the worng one because it does not list Canada as a visa country option; and

2) the correct site which does allow Canadian applicants, and it looks real, which is a bonus.

The correct specialised website of the Consular department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation is https://visa.kdmid.ru

Click here to see the new Russian on-line site.

10 May 2012

CAMBODIA'S BEST HOTEL

The best hotel in Cambodia, and one of the finest in all of Asia, is the Hotel de la Paix in Siem Reap, near the temples of Angkor Wat.

The rooms and suites are superbly detailed and cared-for, and staff are attentive and helpful in a useful way. I never wanted to leave the swimming pool on the rooftop. When the poolboy asked what flavour of crushed ice I would like after my swim, and if I wanted to be misted with cool water, I simply died and went to heaven.

Food is beyond compare, and rooms include breakfast in the Meric room under the direction of Joannes Riviere. The spa suites are two stories with private outdoor plunge bath and massage tables. Even the regular rooms are far from ordinary, with beautiful Khmer designs and artwork.

And you do not have to feel guilty about enjoying the luxury in the midst of a sea of poverty. HdlP is a major sponsor of community charity activities. The hotel will help you help the locals. The hotel pairs with the Life and Hope Association at Wat Damnak in Siem Reap to provide all sorts of charitable care in the community.

Click here to visit Hotel de la Paix.

VISA PHOTOGRAPHS

"Yes", I tell visa applicants again and again, "you do need more photos even though you already have a passport if you want a visa". I have even offered to cut photos out of people's passports for them. This is not difficult people: provide a passport photograph. But do not be like the person who provided a photograph of his passport instead of a passport photograph!

Almost every country wants at least one standard passport-style colour photo attached to each visa application. The general rules are the image should be passport-photo size, usually colour, full face, head on, no hats and usually no glasses, never sunglasses, white or grey background, and taken recently. If you wear religious or cultural headcoverings, you will have to make certain of the requirements. All photos must be identical.

Some embassies require the photographers stamp and date on the back, but most do not. Most embassies want one or two, but a handful of embassies demand four! The good news is these are available almost everywhere now, including many pharmacies. And it is always best to have extra copies of both the photos and the visa application forms (filled-in) with you during your travels in case some nasty border guard insists on more paperwork.

RUSSIA DEMANDS E-VISA APPLICATIONS

Canadians are now subject to filling in on-line mandatory Russian visa application forms. This process can easily take 90 minutes per application. You will need to fill in a lot of personal information, and you will need to know the address and telephone numbers of every place you went to school and worked. You also need to know where you went in the past ten years.

Click here for all new Russian forms, requirements, and new instructions.

VENEZUELA PHOTOS

The Embassy of Venezuela now requires electronic photos in addition to the paper visa application. The picture for the visa must be submitted in digital format to the Embassy of Venezuela.

• Photos must be recent (such as maximum 6 months).
• Picture size: must be symmetric with a minimum of 600 pixels x 600 pixels and a maximum of 1200 pixels x 1200 pixels. Image files containing a scan size letter with the photo in a corner are not acceptable.    Format: JPEG     Extension: *.jpg
• File size: equal or less than 240 KB (kilobytes) and greater than 40 KB (kilobytes).
• Colour with a white background.
• Show the uncovered and upright face and the neck - face should be 66-75% of the photo.
• The person should be with the mouth shut and neutral expression.
• No glasses.
• Save the image as follows: name-Apellido_VISA.jpg (Pedro-Perez_VISA.jpg).
• The photo must be emailed to both the embassy and the consular section:
embve.caotw@mppre.gob.ve
yrasema.sanchez450@mprre.gob.ve
• Email subject line: "Photo VISA name surname" (photo VISA PEDRO PEREZ)

Click here for Venezuelan visa forms and details.

ANGOLA SPEEDS UP?

Lately we have noticed that the Angolan Embassy in Ottawa hs been speeding up the processing of regular (Ordinario) visas for Canadians.

Instead of the strict three week processing, we have lately seen some visas being issued in as little as two weeks.

We hope this is a trend.

Click here for Angolan visa forms and details.

CHINESE TOURIST REQUIREMENTS

The Chinese government announced today they are now requiring all persons applying for tourist visas to provide two more documents.

Each tourist applicant must provide both and aitr ticket in and out of China; or a cruise booking confirmation form and itinrary, in their name.

Each tourist applicant must provide a confirmation of hotel booking in their name.

This new requirement is mandatory and applies to all people seeking tourist visas. Remember to provide both your air ticket and your hotel booking. The hotel name and contact information also gets printed in box 2.5 of the Chinese form.

Click here for Chinese application forms.

RUSSIAN E-VISAS MANDATORY

The Russian government has now made it mandatory for all persons applying in Canada to use their on-line visa application system.

 Click here for all new Russian forms, requirements, and new instructions.