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the forms for us. They are specialists in the area and are much less likely to make mistakes than we are. “For Angola, the situation is more complex. The greatest challenge is that they are always changing the goalposts. One day you’ll suddenly discover that they require you to include a certificate of Yellow Fever immunisation or a recent bank statement with the application. You can never assume that the requirements are the same as they were the day before. Furthermore, few of our executives are willing to send a recent bank statement to a West African embassy. They tend to present an account they don’t use.
The variety, complexity and fluidity of embassy requirements for visa applications is a headache at best, a critical business issue at worst
“This is further complicated by the fact that the Angolan embassy only takes applications on Mondays and Tuesdays, and travellers need to be in country within 72 hours of the visa being issued. To cope with this, we route all travellers through London, and arrange for a courier to pick up the visa from the embassy and hand-deliver it to the traveller at the airport. “My advice is, quite simply, do not try to do this on your own. Get help from a specialist. This could be outsourcing the entire process to them, or getting access to updated advice on their website. However you do it, never make the mistake of trying to do it all yourself, as it is a false economy.”
THE VISA SPECIALIST
Karen Taylor, co-founder at The Travel Visa Company
“WE HAVE FACED many urgent calls from companies in desperate need of visas, who held the misconception that business travel visa requirements were the same across the globe. This is far from the truth and, in fact, the difference in the application processes and traveller requirements, from China to India, Russia to Nigeria, is startling. “The other dangerous
misconception is that the rules can be bent. They cannot. Above
THE TMCs’ VIEW
Rosie Frewin, manager of the passport and visa department at Chambers Travel Management
“CORPORATES TRAVELLING FREQUENTLY to the same destination that requires a visa should apply for a multi- entry visa, where possible. Russia, for example, will issue multi-entry visas. These are more expensive up front, but can work out cheaper in the long run. Nigeria and China, however, will only issue a multi-entry visa if the corporate has already had a visa previously. “Travellers should always
have spare passport photos at hand so that paperwork can be sent off promptly. Photos must be recent, as most embassies don’t like it when a traveller applies for a visa with a photo which has been used on a previous application. “Think about when you
apply. For travel to India, I would suggest corporates apply in the less busy season, October to February. The High
Commission has a high volume of passport applications at other times of the year and this can delay the process, from three to five days. It still offers a same-day process during busy months, but this is more expensive. There are so many intricacies to the visa application process that I really would suggest corporates use a TMC to help. It can save them huge amounts of time, money and frustration.”
Simon Bean, managing director at ATPI
“I CAN EMPATHISE with our clients, who have to apply for hundreds of visas a year. We have many clients in the energy, financial services and engineering sectors, operating in emerging markets where visa applications can be especially difficult. “For example, Brazil is proving troublesome for many of them. With the boom in offshore energy there and the
FIFA World Cup and Olympics due to take place there in 2014 and 2016, it is an increasingly popular destination for business travellers. One of our clients needs to send 60 people at a time out there. Yet the embassy accepts only three applications a day from one visa company, so we need to plan a long way in advance. “My advice to corporate
travel departments is to add the information needed for visa applications into your travellers’ profiles. Have copies of all the documents on immunisations, proof of identity, recent travel destinations and so on that one day an embassy might decide it needs. “Finally, encourage your
travellers to have second passports. A major issue is that visa applications require you to send in the traveller’s passport, but these people are almost always overseas with their passports. A second passport for visa applications can significantly simplify matters.”
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and beyond this, there are many other considerations – here are just three. “First, if you are planning to do business in your destination territory, then you need to make sure you are applying for the appropriate visa classification. For example, the Chinese government takes an extremely hard line on the difference between tourist and business travel. You are not allowed to attend meetings or work in any form while on a tourist visa.
“Second, find out if you require a letter of invitation. China requires you to have
such a letter from a business registered in China; Russia requires a letter from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and India requires a letter of invitation from the company you are visiting in India, and the company you are travelling from in the UK. “Lastly, investigate payment requirements, as they differ widely. With applications for Nigeria, US$164 has to be paid in dollars online and verified by a Visa card, which has to be in the applicant’s name. Then, an additional fee of £20 has to be paid by postal order to the Nigeria High Commission.”
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