Everyone knows that you must have a passport to travel across international borders. You can come across another term known as “visa” from time to time, as for some countries, it is an important document to get through. It will depend upon your travel destination; you may require only a passport, or getting a visa is essential, too at times. If you are a frequent traveller then you should know about Visa vs Passport to avoid any further confusion.
This article is based on Visa vs Passport and the critical points you should know about them.
What is a Visa?
The visa is a document that allows the individual to enter any other country for a purpose or for a particular amount of time. The requirement of a permit entirely depends on many factors like stay duration, travel reason, country citizenship you own, etc.
All countries issue a lot of different kinds of visas. Here is the list of the common types of tickets for you:
- Transit visas
They are issued when the traveller has to pass a country to catch the connecting flight. These types of visas are valid for a short interval. Also, the authorities never permit the visa holders to leave the airport during the layoff.
- Work Visas
These visas allow the traveller to enter the country for employment. Also, governments do need specific work visas if they tend to stay in the country for work.
- Student Visas:
These types of visas are issued for students studying in the country. Student visas allow the visa holder to stay in the country for studies. Still, restrictions are there on they start working in the country.
- Tourist Visas:
These visas are issued to travelers for travelling to any other country to visit, sightseeing, meet friends, and for nonofficial and non-commercial purposes. These types of tickets are valid just for a few months.
How can you receive your visa?
The countries that need a visa will always ask you to send your passport to the consulate or embassy on travelling. Do know that requirements will always depend on the government country, and you need to provide your photograph, travel booking, address proof and duly-filled visa form. Also, the visa process can take upto 30 days to complete.
Not all countries issue visas in advance. Some of them provide a key on arrival, too. For example, Egypt provides a 30-day tourist visa for United States citizens and charges $25. Many countries also allow the traveller to apply online. For instance, Australia always allows United States citizens and other country citizens to apply online. The traveller must not submit his passport to any consulate or embassy if the visa is issued online.
Visa Requirement
It will always depend on your citizenship, the country you are travelling to, how long you will stay, and your travel purpose.
If you are a citizen of the United States, then you need a visa to travel to any other country. You should know about the Destination tool having the visa information. Do know the rules keep on changing. You should verify the requirements every time you plan to travel. Lets know about passport before heading to the last section about Visa vs Passport.
What is a Passport?
The passport is considered a widely used document for international travel identification. The document is issued by the government to their citizens and, in some cases, to the non-citizens. The passport comprises identifying information such as passport number, photo, gender, date and name.
Many passports also consist of electronic chips with digital signatures and identity information. This feature makes the document difficult to copy or alter.
The passports are also categorized as tourist or regular passports. Usually, the United States issues blue passports for its citizens. There are official and diplomatic passports, too, for the official who chooses to travel on behalf of the government.
Requirement of Passport:
A passport is a must requirement if you are travelling internationally. You will find many alternatives for United States citizens travelling to Mexico or Canada by land. But in most cases, crossing the international border requires a passport.
Types of passport:
Before going further about Visa vs Passport, here is the list of types of passports for you:
- Ordinary Passport
These passports are also called regular or tourist visas issued by the government. These passports allow travellers to travel abroad for business and personal purposes. Also, the key will help the individual to experience varied cultures and explore foreign lands. This is one of the most common passports. If you travel occasionally or plan a short trip, then an ordinary passport will be required by you.
- Official Passport
The official passports are mainly issued to individuals representing their countries, government officials and diplomats. The visa allows them to travel for work purposes and also allows them to have access to restricted sections. If you are employed in government services or work on official duties on foreign lands, then the official passport will help you perform your responsibilities correctly.
- Diplomatic Passport
These passports are always provided to high-ranking government authorities or diplomats representing their nation in foreign lands. Also, these passports represent the power of diplomats and provide them with protection and special privileges under international law. While working on their assignments, the diplomatic passport holders have certain immunities and exemptions. The passport is essential if you are appointed diplomat or a government official in diplomatic missions.
- Collective passport
These passports are issued on special occasions to a group of individuals travelling abroad for any cultural organization, school trip or sports team. Rather than giving separate tickets, a single passport is given to the whole group. Collective key helps streamline the administrative procedure and ensure you can travel with your group without issues. Apply for a collective passport if you travel with big groups to simplify all your documentation requirements.
- Emergency Passport
If your regular passport is stolen, expired or lost while you are already in a foreign country, then an emergency passport is issued. Also, the temporary access will help you return to your country, or you can contact the consulate or embassy to give a new key. Also, an emergency passport does have limited validity for a particular period. Most of the time, they are designed per the urgent travel requirements; once you are back, they must be replaced with the regular passport.
- Family Passport
These types of passports are designed for families who are travelling together. The family passports allow the complete family to be listed, including the kids, in a single document. The key is best for families who travel together regularly. If you are going on a family vacation, then the family passport will always offer a practical solution to you and make the arrangements hassle-free.
- Transit Passport
These passports are issued for passengers travelling from one of the countries but are kept from leaving the transit space of the port or airport. These passports are allotted especially for the transit and have limited validity. If you are having a layover in a foreign country and do not have to enter that country, then having a transit passport will help you.
Visa vs Passport: Lets know the difference:
Here is the table for Visa vs Passport for you:
| Visa | Passport | |
| Validity | Valid for a particular time period. Can be permitted for longer periods too | Usually the passport validity is for 10 years but exceptions can be there |
| Authority | Its is issued by the consultae or embassy of your destination country | Issue by your the country’s government |
| Inclusions | A small booklet inclusive of your date of birth, photograph, name, etc | It includes stay duration and purpose of visit |
| Usage | Used for an identification purposes while travelling abroad | The visa is provided to authorize your stay in that particular country |
Some Myths about Visa and Passport:
- Anyone can apply for a visa without having their passport. This doesn’t hold, as you can only apply for a Visa with a passport. But you can use it for a [access without your Visa.
- With a single visa, you can visit any country. A single passport can work anywhere in the world. But for Visa, you need to seek permission every time.
- Visa is required for every country. There are many visa-free countries that you can visit.
- Passports and visas are issued in the same office. It doesn’t hold as the key is applied from their official website or specific centre. On the other hand, the Visa is used by the consulate of the country you are visiting.
We really hope in this article about Visa vs Passport all your doubts are cleared. We have tried to covered every point to help our readers out.