Visa (document)

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 formally request to enter the country over a given period of time and for certain purposes (but see below for caveats and exceptions). Most countries require possession of a valid visa as a condition of entry for foreigners, though there exist exemption schemes (see passport for examples of such schemes). Visas are typically stamped or attached into the recipient's passport. A visa should be distinguished from documents such as the U.S.A. I-94 which are formal permission for an alien to enter and remain in the country in the status given. The common phrase "he has to leave because his visa has expired" is a common error: the status has expired, the visa may or may not have. Visas are associated with seeking merely the permission to enter (or exit) and is not the same as the actual formal granting, at the entry point of the country, of the necessary legal status to enter and remain there for a prescribed period (usually evidenced by a white form stapled to a passport like an American I-94 form, or a stamp in the passport given at the entry-place).

Types of visa

Common types of visas are:

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• 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. Some countries (e.g., 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.
• fiance visa, granted for a limited period prior to intended marriage based on a proven relationship with a citizen of the destination country, for example a German woman who wishes to marry an American man would obtain a Fiance Visa (also known as a K1 Visa) to allow her to enter the United States.
• immigrant visa, granted for those intending to immigrate to the issuing country. They usually are issued for a single journey as the holder will, depending on the country, later be issued a permanent resident identification card which will allow the traveller to enter to the issuing country an unlimited number of times. (e.g. the United States' Green Card).