Non-visa travel restrictions explained

Many countries have entry restrictions on foreigners that go beyond the common requirement of having either a valid visa or a visa exemption. Such restrictions may be health related or impose additional documentation requirements on certain classes of people for diplomatic or political purposes.

List of common non-visa travel restrictions

Blank passport pages

Many countries require a minimum number of blank pages to be available in the passport being presented, typically one or two pages.[1] Endorsement pages, which often appear after the visa pages, are not counted as being valid or available.

Vaccination

See main article: Vaccination requirements for international travel, International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis and Vaccine passports during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many African countries, including Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo, South Sudan, Uganda, and Zambia, require incoming passengers older than nine months to one year[2] to have a current International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis, as does the South American territory of French Guiana.[3]

Some other countries require vaccination only if the passenger is coming from an infected area or has visited one recently or has transited for 12 hours in those countries: Algeria, Botswana, Cabo Verde, Chad, Djibouti, Egypt, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Lesotho, Libya, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tunisia, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.[4] [5]

Passport validity length

Very few countries, such as Paraguay, just require a valid passport on arrival.

However many countries and groupings now require only an identity card – especially from their neighbours. Other countries may have special bilateral arrangements that depart from the generality of their passport validity length policies to shorten the period of passport validity required for each other's citizens[6] [7] or even accept passports that have already expired (but been cancelled).[8]

Some countries, such as Japan,[9] Ireland and the United Kingdom,[10] require a passport valid throughout the period of the intended stay.

In the absence of specific bilateral agreements, countries requiring passports to be valid for at least 6 more months on arrival include Afghanistan, Algeria, Anguilla, Bahrain,[11] Bhutan, Botswana, British Virgin Islands, Brunei, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Curaçao, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Fiji, Gabon, Guinea Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel,[12] Jordan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Laos, Madagascar, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Mongolia, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Oman, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Peru,[13] Philippines,[14] Qatar, Rwanda, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tokelau, Tonga, Turkey, Tuvalu, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Vanuatu, Venezuela, and Vietnam.[15]

Countries requiring passports valid for at least 4 months on arrival include Micronesia and Zambia.

Countries requiring passports with a validity of at least 3 months beyond the date of intended departure include Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Honduras, Montenegro, Nauru, Moldova and New Zealand.Similarly, the EEA countries of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, all European Union countries (except Ireland) together with Switzerland also require 3 months validity beyond the date of the bearer's intended departure unless the bearer is an EEA or Swiss national.

Countries requiring passports valid for at least 3 months on arrival include Albania, North Macedonia, Panama, and Senegal.

Bermuda requires passports to be valid for at least 45 days upon entry.

Countries that require a passport validity of at least one month beyond the date of intended departure include Eritrea, Hong Kong, Lebanon, Macau, the Maldives[16] and South Africa.

Criminal record

Some countries, including Australia, Canada, Fiji, New Zealand and the United States,[17] routinely deny entry to non-citizens who have a criminal record while others impose restrictions depending on the type of conviction and the length of the sentence.

Persona non grata

The government of a country can declare a diplomat persona non grata, banning him from entering the country or expelling him if he has already entered. In non-diplomatic use, the authorities of a country may also declare a foreigner persona non grata permanently or temporarily, usually because of unlawful activity.[18]

Israeli stamps

Kuwait,[19] Lebanon,[20] Libya,[21] Syria,[22] and Yemen[23] do not allow entry to people with passport stamps from Israel or whose passports have either a used or an unused Israeli visa, or where there is evidence of previous travel to Israel such as entry or exit stamps from neighbouring border posts in transit countries such as Jordan and Egypt.

To circumvent this Arab League boycott of Israel, the Israeli immigration services have now mostly ceased to stamp foreign nationals' passports on either entry to or exit from Israel (unless the entry is for some work-related purposes). Since 15 January 2013, Israel no longer stamps foreign passports at Ben Gurion Airport. Passports are still stamped at Erez when passing into and out of Gaza.

Iran refuses admission to holders of passports containing an Israeli visa or stamp that is less than 12 months old.

Biometrics

See also: Countries applying biometrics. Several countries mandate that all travellers, or all foreign travellers, be fingerprinted on arrival and will refuse admission to or even arrest travellers who refuse to comply. In some countries, such as the United States, this may apply even to transit passengers who merely wish to change planes rather than go landside.[24]

Fingerprinting countries/regions include Afghanistan,[25] [26] Argentina,[27] Brunei, Cambodia,[28] China,[29] Ethiopia,[30] Ghana, Guinea,[31] India, Japan,[32] [33] Kenya (both fingerprints and a photo are taken),[34] Malaysia upon entry and departure,[35] Mongolia, Saudi Arabia,[36] Singapore, South Korea,[37] Taiwan, Thailand,[38] Uganda,[39] the United Arab Emirates and the United States.

Many countries also require a photo be taken of people entering the country. The United States, which does not fully implement exit control formalities at its land frontiers (although long mandated by its own legislation),[40] [41] [42] intends to implement facial recognition for passengers departing from international airports to identify people who overstay their visa.[43]

Together with fingerprint and face recognition, iris scanning is one of three biometric identification technologies internationally standardised since 2006 by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for use in e-passports[44] and the United Arab Emirates conducts iris scanning on visitors who need to apply for a visa.[45] [46]

The United States Department of Homeland Security has announced plans to greatly increase the biometric data it collects at US borders.[47] In 2018, Singapore began trials of iris scanning at three land and maritime immigration checkpoints.[48] [49]

See also

References

Notes and References

  1. News: Baker . Vicky . Passport expiry dates and blank pages: what are the rules? . . 20 June 2013 . 13 January 2024 . The number of remaining blank pages a passport should have is also an issue. Some travellers have reported arriving with one or less than one full page left and waiting for hours at immigration, until an official reluctantly grants them entry. The FCO lists no hard and fast rules because, in many cases, there aren't any..
  2. Web site: Yellow Fever . Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) . African Union . 23 August 2021 . African countries that requires (sic) Yellow Fever vaccination certificate: Countries that require vaccination for all travellers older that 9 months or 1 year: Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameron, Central African Republic, Congo, Côte d’lvoire, DRC, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Niger, Togo..
  3. Web site: Fièvre jaune. fr. September 2, 2018. August 27, 2019.
  4. Web site: Yellow Fever . Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) . African Union . 23 August 2021 . African countries that requires Yellow Fever vaccination certificate: Countries that requires (sic) vaccination for travellers from countries with risk of yellow fever transmission or transit for 12 hours in those countries: Algeria, Botswana, Cabo Verde, Chad, Djibouti, Egypt, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Lesotho, Libya, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tunisia, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe..
  5. https://web.archive.org/web/20190129031950/https://www.who.int/ith/ITH_country_list.pdf?ua= Country list - Yellow fever vaccination requirements and recommendations; and malaria situation; and other vaccination requirement
  6. Web site: Foreign Affairs Manual, 9 FAM 403.9-3(B)(2) f. U.S. Department of State. 10 October 2017.
  7. Web site: Visitor Visa . travel.state.gov . US Department of State . 13 January 2024 . Passport valid for travel to the United States – Your passport must be valid for at least six months beyond your period of stay in the United States (unless exempt by country-specific agreements). Each individual who needs a visa must submit a separate application, including any family members listed in your passport..
  8. Web site: Countries whose citizens are allowed to enter Turkey with their expired passports . . Ministry of Foreign Affairs . Republic of Turkey . 6 July 2018 . Countries whose citizens are allowed to enter Turkey with their expired passports: 1. Germany – Passports expired within the last year / ID’s expired within the last year, 2. Belgium - Passports expired within the last 5 years, 3. France - Passports expired within the last 5 years, 4. Spain - Passports expired within the last 5 years, 5. Switzerland - Passports expired within the last 5 years, 6. Luxemburg - Passports expired within the last 5 years, 7. Portugal - Passports expired within the last 5 years, 8. Bulgaria – Valid ordinary passport . https://web.archive.org/web/20151008091234/http://www.mfa.gov.tr/countries-whose-citizens-are-allowed-to-enter-turkey-with-their-national-id_s.en.mfa . 8 October 2015 . dead . dmy-all .
  9. Web site: Frequently Asked Questions . Embassy of Japan in Malaysia . 13 January 2024 . Q: Do I need at least 6 months passport validity in order to enter Japan? A: Japan does not have any regulations relating to passport validity, so long as your passport will be valid until after you leave Japan..
  10. Web site: Entering the UK . Gov.UK . 17 March 2021 . You’re not from an EEA country: you must have a valid passport to enter the UK. It should be valid for the whole of your stay..
  11. https://www.evisa.gov.bh/VisaBhr5En.html Bahrain government website
  12. Web site: Passports and Visa | GoIsrael - the Official Website of Tourism to Israel.
  13. Web site: Government Of Peru Requires Six-Month Validity On Passports To Enter Peru . Traveling & Living in Peru . 2 January 2019 . 17 March 2021.
  14. Web site: Bureau of Immigration of the Republic of the Philippines . 17 March 2021.
  15. http://cms.olympicair.com/timatic/webdocsI/countryinfo.html Timatic
  16. Web site: Maldives Reduces Passport Validity Requirement of Minimum 6 Months to Just 1 Month. 24 October 2020 . Corporate Maldives. 30 January 2021.
  17. http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/inadmissibility/conviction.asp Government of Canada -- Overcome criminal convictions
  18. Web site: Mar 18, 2005. No entry for Modi into US: visa denied India News - Times of India. 2020-09-29. The Times of India. en.
  19. Web site: Travel Report - Kuwait . Voyage.gc.ca . 2012-11-16 . 2013-07-01.
  20. http://www.smartraveller.gov.au/zw-cgi/view/Advice/Lebanon Travel Advice for Lebanon - Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
  21. Web site: Travel Advice for Libya - Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade . Smartraveller.gov.au . 2013-07-01 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130622021841/http://www.smartraveller.gov.au/zw-cgi/view/Advice/Libya . 2013-06-22 .
  22. http://www.smartraveller.gov.au/zw-cgi/view/Advice/Syria Travel Advice for Syria - Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
  23. Web site: Travel Advice for Yemen - Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade . Smartraveller.gov.au . 2013-07-01 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110820050354/http://www.smartraveller.gov.au/zw-cgi/view/Advice/Yemen . 2011-08-20 .
  24. News: Calder . Simon . Airline lobbying for a relaxation of draconian rules for London-Auckland travellers . https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220621/https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/transit-passengers-air-new-zealand-london-heathrow-auckland-us-customs-lax-a7699886.html . 21 June 2022 . subscription . live . The Independent . 7 July 2018 . 24 April 2017 . Travellers heading west from the UK to New Zealand may soon be able to avoid the onerous requirement to clear US border control during the refuelling stop at Los Angeles airport (LAX). Unlike almost every other country in the world, the US insists on a full immigration check even for passengers who simply intend to re-board their plane to continue onwards to a foreign destination. Air New Zealand, which flies daily from Heathrow via Los Angeles to Auckland, says there are currently “strict requirements for travellers” in transit at LAX. Through passengers to Auckland on flight NZ1 or Heathrow on NZ2 must apply in advance for an ESTA (online visa) even though they have no intention of staying in the US. They also have to undergo screening by the Transportation Security Administration..
  25. Web site: How to enter Afghanistan. The Entry Requirements for Afghanistan - CountryReports. Countryreports.org.
  26. News: In Afghanistan, Big Plans to Gather Biometric Data. Rod. Nordland. 19 November 2011. The New York Times.
  27. Web site: Argentina strengthens migratory control. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20131202233906/http://infosurhoy.com/en_GB/articles/saii/features/main/2012/09/27/feature-01. 2 December 2013. dmy-all.
  28. Web site: Cambodia Foreign Entry Requirements. Us-passport-information.com.
  29. Web site: China to Start Fingerprinting Foreign Visitors. Air Canada . 7 July 2018 . 31 Jan 2019 . Effective April 27, 2018, border control authorities at all of China’s ports of entry, including its airports, will start collecting the fingerprints of all foreign visitors aged between 14 and 70. Diplomatic passport holders and beneficiaries of reciprocal agreements are exempted...
  30. Web site: Äthiopien: Reise- und Sicherheitshinweise. Auswaertiges-amt.de.
  31. Web site: Visa . paf.gov.gn.
  32. News: Japan fingerprints foreigners as anti-terror move. 20 November 2016. 3 March 2017. Reuters.
  33. Web site: Anger as Japan moves to fingerprint foreigners - World . Theage.com.au. 2007-10-26 .
  34. Web site: Immigration & Visas FAQs. Kenya Airports Authority. 6 May 2019 . Will visitors still have their digital photo and fingerprints taken at the immigration desk on arrival? Yes, the need to have photos and fingerprints taken upon arrival is to authenticate that the person who applied for the Visa is the same person at the port of entry.
  35. Web site: Malaysia. CountryReports. 7 July 2018.
  36. Web site: Saudi Arabia mandates fingerprints and biometrics for foreigners - SecureIDNews . secureidnews.com . 3 March 2017.
  37. Web site: S Korea to scan fingerprints of suspicious foreign visitors - People's Daily Online. peopledaily.com.cn. 3 March 2017.
  38. Web site: National News Bureau of Thailand.
  39. Web site: Gemalto awarded Uganda's new e-Immigration solution with fast-track border crossing eKiosks at Entebbe Airport. AfricaNews. 2019-01-14. Africanews. en. 2019-04-24.
  40. Web site: Brown . Theresa Cardinal . Biometric Entry-Exit Update: CBP Developing Land Border Process . Bipartisan Policy Center . 25 April 2019 . 9 May 2016 . While a requirement for a biometric entry-exit system has been in law for over a decade, it is not yet a reality. Many reasons for the long gestating development have been documented in BPC’s 2014 report Entry-Exit System: Progress, Challenges, and Outlook, including the technological, operational, and cost challenges of creating exit systems and infrastructure where none exist today. However, many critics, especially in Congress, simply accused the Department of Homeland security of dragging its feet... the major operational, logistical, and technical challenge in implementing exit capability at our ports has been the land borders. Unlike airports and seaports, the land border environment is not physically controlled, there is no means to get advance information on who is arriving, and the sheer volume of travel—both vehicular and pedestrian—creates challenges in any system to not further exacerbate delays. While biometric exit for land vehicular traffic is still in the “what if” stage, CBP is moving ahead and piloting systems and technology to use with the large population of pedestrian crossers at the U.S.-Mexico border..
  41. News: Lipton . Eric . U.S. Quietly Monitors Foreigners' Departures at the Canadian Border . 25 April 2019 . . 21 May 2013 . Long demanded by lawmakers in Congress, it is considered a critical step to developing a coherent program to curb illegal immigration, as historically about 30 percent to 40 percent of illegal immigrants in the United States arrived on tourist visas or other legal means and then never left, according to estimates by Homeland Security officials..
  42. News: Lipton . Eric . Administration to Drop Effort to Track if Visitors Leave . 25 April 2019 . . 15 December 2006 . Efforts to determine whether visitors actually leave have faltered. Departure monitoring would help officials hunt for foreigners who have not left, if necessary. Domestic security officials say, however, it would be too expensive to conduct fingerprint or facial recognition scans for land departures..
  43. Web site: The US wants to scan the faces of all air passengers leaving the country. Campoy. Ana. Quartz. 17 April 2019 . en. 2019-04-24.
  44. Web site: ICAO Document 9303: Machine Readable Travel Documents, Part 9: Deployment of Biometric Identification and Electronic Storage of Data in MRTDs, 7th edition . 2015 . 23 April 2019.
  45. Web site: Iris Scan Implemented at Doha International Airport. live . https://web.archive.org/web/20120108085139/http://www.moi.gov.qa/site/english/news/2011/12/13/24555.html. 8 January 2012. dmy-all.
  46. Web site: Iris Scanner Could Replace Emirates ID In UAE . . 11 June 2017 . SimplyDXB . 7 July 2018 . The breach of privacy is probably the biggest threat to the biometric technique of iris recognition. Secondly, a device error can false reject or false accept the identity which can also have some heinous consequences. Lastly, the method isn’t the most cost-effective one. It is complex and therefore expensive. Furthermore, the maintenance of devices and data can also be relatively burdensome. However, thanks to the oil money and spending ability of Dubai, they are economically equipped to effectively embrace this system..
  47. Web site: Roberts . Jeff John . Homeland Security Plans to Expand Fingerprint and Eye Scanning at Borders . Fortune . Fortune Media IP Limited . 24 April 2019 . 12 September 2016 . Unlike with documents, it’s very hard for a traveler to present a forged copy of a fingerprint or iris. That’s why the U.S. Department of Homeland Security plans to vastly expand the amount of biometric data it collects at the borders. According to Passcode, a new program will ramp up a process to scan fingers and eyes in order to stop people entering and exiting the country on someone else’s passport..
  48. News: Singapore tests eye scans at immigration checkpoints . 24 April 2019 . Reuters . 6 August 2018 . Singapore has started scanning travellers’ eyes at some of its border checkpoints, its immigration authority said on Monday, in a trial of expensive technology that could one day replace fingerprint verification..
  49. Web site: Lee . Vivien . 5 Reasons We Prefer Iris Scans To Fingerprint Checks At Our Borders In Singapore . 24 April 2019 . 6 August 2018 . The iris technology could potentially scan irises covertly, as opposed to the scanning of thumbprints which necessitates active participation..

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Non-visa travel restrictions".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.