Paperwork

[JohnTM]

No, not Charmin.


What countries require visas? Do I need to give someone power of attorney? Do I need to carry my title? Do I need a note from my mommie?

This is another good opportunity for a HoW article. So what do I need?

[pilot]

A lot really depends of where you're going and where you're from.

US citizens have different requirements than Canucks, for example. I only know for sure about Central America. Others can chime in on the others. You can get all your visas and stuff at the borders. Take your title, passport, drivers license, and lots of copies of each. Many borders require lots of copies. They usually have a sister in a both across the street charging for them. Sometimes you can supprise them and they take the copies you have. Other times, not.

[McB]

There was a discussion in one of the David Hough sessions at MOA about travel to and from Canada. The impression was given that a passport is required. Not yet true.

At this time, a government issued photo ID (such as a DL) and proof of citizenship are required for land/water travel, but a passport won't be required until 2009.

http://gocanada.about.com/od/canadat...izenborder.htm

For air travel, however, either a passport or proof of passport application (and photo ID) is required.

[rallybug]

For UK subjects, the FCO (Foreign & Commonwealth Office) recommend checking with the appropriate embassy/consulate in London as to the visa requirements. No doubt the State Dept has a similar page.

[tricepilot]

No matter what country the trip is to, one of the best pieces of paperwork advice I've heard is to make digital copies of all your important docs and send them to yourself as an attachment to an email before you leave.

That way, if you lose everything, if you can find an internet connection in a reasonable place, you can download and print what you need. They're not originals obviously, but hopefully they can help you get through some major obstacles.

[VelvtRide]

Originally Posted by tricepilot

No matter what country the trip is to, one of the best pieces of paperwork advice I've heard is to make digital copies of all your important docs and send them to yourself as an attachment to an email before you leave.

That way, if you lose everything, if you can find an internet connection in a reasonable place, you can download and print what you need. They're not originals obviously, but hopefully they can help you get through some major obstacles.

It's also good to keep them a flash drive. Get one that comes with Migo software and all you need to do is plug it into any computer and can surf the web, open email, edit MS docs all with the programs on the flash drive as well as house special documents on it. Once unplugged from the public computer, it leaves no trace of your web browsing or anything. It also comes with a program that locks access to it - you set the password. Won't even register as a drive letter until the correct password is entered.

[PhilSpace]

The Dept of State Travel site is a good place to start. Travel advisories are posted there and if you are going serious third world, there are links to register yourself with the Embassy so they will know that you are there.

They also list the entry requirements for every country, they are called Counsular Information Sheets, with all the entry costs and visa requirements. Many countries down south have an entry fee, exit fee or both and want cash, some in USD only, some in bongo bucks only. CIS Linky

I have picked up quite a bit of good info, like one little golden nugget that saved me once in Venezuela - they, and many others require that your passport have at least six months left on it prior to entering the country. Some will ignore it, but you never know, everything at every crossing is purely subjective.