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).

Visa refusal

A visa may be denied for various reasons, for example:

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• if the applicant is felt to be intending to stay permanently while applying for a temporary visa
• if the applicant does not have a genuine reason for their journey;
• if there is already an immigration problem in the country the applicant intends to visit;
• if the applicant is asking for a resident visa and has no visible means of sustenance;
• if the applicant has a criminal record;
• if the applicant is considered to be a security risk.