A visa-free passport is considered to be a golden ticket in the wonderful world of travel. It opens doors to a whole world of travel possibility without you having to go the extra mile and spend extra time and money filling out visa forms. The king of visa-free passports is Germany which allows its citizens to travel to over 177 destinations without a visa, however, passports from France, Finland, Italy, Spain, Malta, Cyprus and the United Kingdom are similarly blessed albeit to a lesser degree.
So what does visa free travel entail?
Visas are government documents which foreigners must apply for if they want to visit a particular country. There is more than one type of visa, however, the most common ones applied for are tourist, business and in-transit visas. If your country has signed an agreement with another country that there is going to be freedom of movement between the two, then you’re probably eligible to travel visa-free. This means that you won’t have to fill out lengthy application forms, provide additional documentation such as letters of support from friends and employers, pictures, copies of passports, as well as bank statements. You also won’t have to take into consideration visa fees on top of everything else required for travel.
Additional advantages to travelling visa free
- You don’t have to wait for an embassy or representing body to process your application.
- You don’t need to wait in queues at border control once you arrive at your destination.
- You don’t have to share any confidential information with the authorities.
- Your travelling can be more spontaneous as there is nothing tangible holding you back.
Exceptions to the rule
Unless you’re at the bottom of the passport list, visa-free access offers you flexibility and ease of travel, however, not every oyster comes with a pearl and in fact, there are some places where you will have to go through the harrowing (and costly) visa process regardless of which passport you hold in the palm of your hand. An example of this is the Himalayan capital of Bhutan where visitors have to pay a daily $250 fee. This is meant to dissuade people from visiting and ruining the scenery. Equally costly is a visit to the world’s third smallest country, Nauru. Should you want to visit this beautiful spot, it will set you back $8,000 for a mere three months. In addition to this, let us not forget the more common destinations of America and Australia which may still require visas for visits.
Answering your visa-free prayers
Of course, if you are a high net worth individual but have a less desirable passport, the best way for you to be able to travel visa-free is to acquire a second passport from a country which has better freedom of movement than yours. Indeed, it has become quite commonplace for wealthy individuals to invest their money into citizenship programmes which will help them to acquire dual citizenship and all the work and play opportunities that come with it.