Enhance your reputation in all things travel in 2014! Here are five tips to assist your clients with their passport and visa needs:
1. Many foreign countries require passports be valid at least six months after the departure date from the country. Make sure you know the country’s exact requirement and communicate this to your traveler. To avoid rush charges (and tense moments), immediately upon making reservations, ask your client to check their passport validity.
2. Ask clients to check how many pages are left in their passports. In USA passports, the amendment pages in the back are not eligible for immigration or visa stamps. Many countries require one or two totally blank pages for the visa stamp. Some require these pages be back to back. If you have corporate travelers always on the road, suggest that when they renew their passports, they request the 52-page. This is especially important if they travel to countries that require visas.
3. Why clients may want to consider a second USA passport. 1) If a traveler has an Israeli stamp in his or her passport and travels to different countries in the Middle East, there are countries that will not permit entrance even if an expired Israeli visa or immigration stamp is in the passport. 2) If a busy travel schedule doesn’t allow the traveler to be without a passport, having a second passport enables one passport to be at a consulate for a visa while traveling on another.
Although you can request a second passport, there is no absolute assurance that the State Department will grant the request. Second passports are valid for only two years, not ten years like the regular passport.
4. Always check a traveler’s nationality when making reservations. If a traveler is not a US citizen, he or she may need a transit visa for certain European countries, even if the person is not getting out of the plane.
5. Apply early for travel documentation. This is especially crucial for foreign visas. Foreign consulates sometimes close for their particular holidays or for other reasons. Some do not have a rush option to expedite visa issuance. The granting of visas is totally at the consular officer’s discretion, and may take longer than expected. It’s always wise to leave a cushion so you and your traveler are not anxious days before the trip.
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Gwen Kuebler, CTC, has worked in travel all of her adult life, beginning as travel manager with a nonprofit organization who sent workers to Africa and South America. Serving in a mid-sized travel agency, her various managerial positions included marketing, sales, operations and account management. She is currently employed at Travisa Passport and Visa Service in New York City, where she serves as account manager. Gwen earned her Certified Travel Counselor (CTC) certification and has been a member of The Travel Institute since 1993.
Contact Gwen today with questions.
