Our visa experiences...

Applying for visas is one of the hardest parts of organising a long-term cycle tour. Often visas are only valid for 30-90 days from when you receive them, so you have to apply while you're on the road. This requires research and planning as to the best country to apply for a particular visa, and how to increase your chances of success.


We started researching visas about six months before we left and realised that even some countries where we thought we could apply on arrival, we couldn't because we were cycle tourists. For example, we couldn't get the 30 day visa on arrival in Thailand because you can only get that when you arrive by plane, not overland or by ferry or train. You can only get 15 days at the border and that's not enough time to cycle from Malaysia to Laos! (plus stop in Bangkok for a few days to apply for the Vietnamese visa... you get the idea)


For some countries you need confirmation of hotel reservations, for others you need to provide your itinerary. Here is a summary of our visa experiences so far.

Country

Indonesia




Singapore



Malaysia





Thailand










Laos




China








Turkey




Greece






Albania




Montenegro





Croatia



Italy




Switzerland to The Netherlands






England




USA

Visa application process

As Australians we can get a 30 day visa on arrival when we land at the airport in Bali. This gives us 30 days to make it across the islands to Malaysia. UPDATE: Before Jetstar would let us board the plane to Bali they made us purchase an outward ticket, to prove we were leaving Bali.

We quickly and easily got a 90 day stamp in our passports at the ferry terminal in Singapore. 


Australians can get a visa on arrival, however a confirmed flight out of Malaysia is normally required. Hopefully our Thai visa will be proof enough that we're not planning to stay there. UPDATE: No proof of an onward journey was needed. We quickly got a stamp in our passports at the road border in Johur (from Singapore).

Up until a week before we left Melbourne we were working on the assumption that Australians can get a 30 day visa on arrival in Thailand. But a final check revealed that if you don't arrive by plane you can only get 15 days - which wasn't enough time. So we quickly organised our paperwork and sent our passports off to the Royal Consulate in Brisbane for a 60 day visa. Got the visa quickly, and they even sent us back the money-order saying they were waiving the usual fee! UPDATE: no problems with arriving by ferry from Langkawi to Koh Lanta.


We can get a 30 day visa at the Friendship Bridge land border between Thailand and Laos. We had to pay extra because we arrived on a Sunday and couldn't find Sam's passport photo (which was meant to be a requirement but for US$1 the requirement went away)
 

You can't get a Chinese visa on arrival. A single entry visa is valid for three months (you have three months to get there) and gives you 30 days once you're in. We applied at the Chinese Consulate when we arrived in Brisbane, and that gives us three months to get to China. We had to put a Queensland address on the form, and pay extra for a three day 'rush' service but for $70 each we got the 30 visa. We will apply for a 30 day extension while we're in China.


When we arrived in Turkey Sam switched to using his UK passport. Both of us were issued 60 day visas for US$20 at the airport when we arrived.



We arrived via ferry from Turkey. Sam is of course using a UK passport so he can travel through Europe for as long as he wants. Shanna thought she would need to get a schengen visa on arrival in Greece, but they simply stamped the passport and let her in.


We arrived overland from Greece. Once we found the border (which was difficult) we waited 10 minutes for them to do some kind of paperwork then we had our passports stamped and passed through. I had read somewhere that is cost US$10 each but there was no charge. 


We arrived overland from Albania. Shanna thought she might get the schengen visa this time, as Albania is not part of the EU but Montenegro is. But again, just a stamp and passed through.


Same story - easily passed through the border with no questions or problems.


Arrived via ferry from Croatia. Had our passports quickly looked at as we rode out of the terminal. Even Shanna didn't get a stamp, which makes it hard to track how long she is in the schengen area. Guess they don't really care about the limit of 90 days within any 6 month period.


Crossed into Switzerland at the top of the Grand Saint Bernard pass. Not even a border check, just rode in. This was the same for the rest of mainland Europe.



Arrived via ferry from The Netherlands. Sam had no problems, but Shanna was grilled on our planned route, how long we planned to stay, where we were going next... Once they were convinced she wasn't going to stay illegally she was issued a 6 month visa.


Flew to America from Dublin. Sam went back to using Australia passport. Three month visas issued on arrival. Don't forget to do the ESTA check before arriving!