New Year Brings New Changes for India

by Mirissa R. Spears, Country Information Coordinator for India

The Indian Government will be introducing a new visa application in the United States over the next several weeks. It has been confirmed that the old application will continue to be accepted for up to two weeks after the new visa application has been introduced in each location. One major change will include a revised online application that is currently being utilized worldwide in over 30 countries. We anticipate major delays in processing speeds across the board once all locations have been introduced to the new visa application.

The Government of India has opened a new Honorary Consulate to serve the Southeast.  The new Consulate is located in Atlanta, Georgia; Georgia is the 10^th largest exporter to India among US states.  In addition to Georgia, the office will serve states of Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee, as well as the US Virgin Islands and the US commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The Consulate has a temporary location and is currently awaiting approval from its home government in New Delhi and the US State Department on a pending contract for its permanent space. It is expected that this Honorary Consulate will be upgraded to Consulate General status later this year, at which point it begin issuing visas.  We will continue to provide detailed information as it becomes available.

China Enforcing New Regulations

As of February 1, the Chinese government is enforcing strict new visa regulations.  Same-day visa service has been discontinued, though applicants may still appear in person in extremely urgent cases to request same-day processing.  G3 is still able to process visas in 24 hours.

The Chinese Embassy will also be enforcing consular jurisdiction, meaning that applicants must apply at the consulate that has jurisdiction over their state of residence.  With our nationwide network of offices, G3 is able to assist residents of every state to get their Chinese visas quickly and easily.  If you have any questions, or would like to request the appropriate visa instructions, please email China@g3visas.com.

Passport Cards Available Online
The U.S. State Department is currently running a test and allowing holders of valid passport books to apply online for passport cards.  Travelers can apply at U.S.Passport Cards, and the cards will be issued without having to submit the passport book.  The test period will run through mid-April.

Passport cards are valid for land or sea travel to Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean only.  All international air travel requires a passport book.

Consular Updates
Azerbaijan - The Embassy of Azerbaijan has released a new visa application.

Belarus - Visa fees for Belarus have been increased.

Cameroon - Gun permit regulations have been changed.  Hunters may now import only one gun to Cameroon instead of two.  The Embassy of Cameroon is also taking an extended period of time to issue gun permits, up to one month or more.

Democratic Republic of Congo - As of February 1, the Embassy has discontinued rush processing.  The fastest visa processing currently available is three business days.

Iran - The visa process for Iran requires the visa section to request approval from Tehran.  We have been seeing a slowdown in the time it takes for the approvals to be issued; in some cases, the approvals have taken more than eight weeks.

Niger - Visa fees for Niger have been increased.

Turkey - Visa fees for Turkey have increased by a few dollars due to currency fluctuations.

Embassy and Consulate Closures for February
February 3:  Mozambique and Sao Tome closed. Mawlid Al-Nabi (birthday of the Prophet Mohammed) – many embassies closed, including Afghanistan, Ethiopia and Jordan.
February 6:  Burundi closed.
February 9: Lebanon closed.
February 10: Cameroon closed.
February 13:  Myanmar closed
February 15: Afghanistan closed.
February 17: Gambia closed.
February 20: Washington’s Birthday - All US Passport offices closed. Most embassies closed, including Brazil, China, India and Vietnam.  All G3 offices open.
February 21: Bangladesh closed.
February 23: Russia closed.
February 28: Egypt and Taiwan closed.

Further embassy closures are possible; not all embassies announce their closure schedules in advance. For updated embassy closures calendars, please see www.g3visas.com or our Facebook page.

Questions?  Ask Us! Do you have any questions about visas or passports that you’d like us to answer?  Email them to newsletter@g3visas.com, and we’ll make sure your question is answered, and you may see your question featured in a future edition of G3 Global Insight!

When it comes to passport advice, I turn to G3 Visas and Passports. Communications Director Summer Jenkins advises what how to  avoid complications before you travel.

Your tickets are purchased, your bags are packed, you’ve checked to see if your destination requires a visa… but have you checked to make sure your passport is valid for travel?

Check Your Expiry Date
All too often, we receive frantic calls from the airport from travelers who have been denied boarding because their passport is too close to its expiration date.  Almost every country in the world follows the “six month rule,” meaning that your passport must be valid for six months after your planned departure from the country.  Even if you don’t have any travel planned, we recommend that you keep an eye on your expiry date and renew your passport when it nears that six-month mark.

Check Your Pages
Before you travel, flip through your passport and check to see if you still have any blank pages marked “Visas.”  You will need to have at least one completely blank page for entry to any country, and the pages near the back of the passport that say “Amendments” or “Endorsements” do not count. Some countries, such as South Africa, require you to have two blank pages next to each other.

Check Your Passport’s Condition
If your passport has endured hard wear or has taken a trip through the washing machine, it might be considered mutilated.  Common examples of mutilated passports include loose or missing covers, water-damaged pages, or peeling plastic coating on the photo page.  Mutilated passports aren’t just invalid for travel; they no longer count as valid proof of US citizenship.

If you need to renew your passport, have passport pages added, or replace a mutilated passport, G3 can help with expedited passport services.  We even offer same-day passport service through our Concierge Level Emergency Passport Service – just call G3 or email CLS@g3visas.com to begin your customized emergency service.

2011 in Review, and Looking Forward to 2012

By Summer Jenkins, Communications Director, G3 Visas & Passports

The world of visa processing is a world of constant change.  Embassies change their visa applications, their processing times, requirements and fees; not a week goes by without updates to our website and PDF visa instructions.  However, 2011 brought major changes to our top two countries, China and Russia, and even saw the creation of a brand-new diplomatic mission in Washington, Southern Sudan.

In February, China’s embassy in Washington released a new visa application, replacing the two-page application they’d used for years with a far more detailed application consisting of four pages with a two page supplement for select applicants.  Over the next few months, the other Chinese consulates in the US phased in the new application, and the New York consulate released its own version of the application.  Further requirement changes followed: first the consulates insisted that the application must be completed typed with no handwritten answers (G3 provides fillable PDF applications for the convenience of our clients), and then they instituted a rule that all questions must be answered, even if the answer is “n/a” or “none.”

Russia’s changes were even more extreme.  On July 1, the Russian government abruptly instituted a new online application, which must be completed on a Russian government website before being printed and signed for submission to the consulate.  The online application is extremely complex, stretching over more than twenty web pages, and is prone to bugs and glitches.  G3 responded with a specialized Concierge Level Service offering.  For the ease of our travelers, we provide a simplified questionnaire that can be emailed to G3.  A CLS associate then completes the online application, which is double-checked by another member of the team before it is emailed back to be printed and signed.  We even provide a pre-paid FedEx airbill to send in all the documents!

Looking forward to 2012, we expect to see many more changes.  We are still waiting for the changes to the India online application that were announced this fall, but a firm date for the revised application has not yet been revealed.  We also expect to see further changes to Russia’s visa regime, which may include changes to the consulate structure and to the procedure of acquiring official invitations.  Whatever changes and surprises may lie ahead, rest assured that G3 is committed to providing the most up-to-date, accurate instructions and innovative solutions for our travelers.

U.S. Passport Application Update
The U.S. State Department has changed the link for the online passport application to http://pptform2.state.gov.  The applications themselves remain unchanged.  For assistance with the passport application or with any other passport questions, email our passport team atDCPassportAssociates@g3visas.com.

New ETA Procedure for Sri Lanka
As of January 1, Sri Lanka has instituted a new Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) visa system that will imact US citizens.  Previously, US citizens visiting Sri Lanka for tourism did not need to acquire visas, but visas were required for business trips.  With the new ETA system, US citizens and the citizens of many other developed nations (including Canada, Australia, all European nations, China, India and Russia) will need to apply for an ETA regardless of the nature of their trip.  G3 can aquire Sri Lanka ETAs; for instructions or any other questions, please email our ETA team at ETA@g3visas.com.

Embassy and Consulate Closures for January
January 2: New Year’s Holiday - G3 Closed.  All US Passport offices and almost all consulates closed.
January 2-9: Russia Closed.
January 4:  Angola and Myanmar Closed.
January 6: Orthodox Christmas - many embassies closed, including Armenia, Belarus, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Lebanon and Sudan.
January 12: Tanzania Closed.
January 13:  Cape Verde and Togo Closed
January 16: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day - All US Passport Offices and most embassies closed. All G3 Offices Open.
January 19: Algeria and Ethiopia Closed.
January 20: Cape Verde and Mali Closed.
January 23-24: China Closed.
January 25: China Closed (NYC Consulate Only).
January 26: India and Uganda Closed.
January 30: Nepal Closed.

Further embassy closures are possible; not all embassies announce their closure schedules in advance. For updated embassy closures calendars, please see www.g3visas.com or our Facebook page.

Questions?  Ask Us!
Do you have any questions about visas or passports that you’d like us to answer?  Email them to newsletter@g3visas.com, and we’ll make sure your question is answered, and you may see your question featured in a future edition of G3 Global Insight!

Gathering as much information as you can before you leave home is a smart way to cut down on the stress of holiday travel. Here are a few tips and apps that will help you to know before you go.

1. Download My TSA is an app that gives you great travel info. Just select the airport you’re departing from and you’ll get information about real time delays and the wait times at various security check points along with everything you need to know about what you can carry on and how to dress to speed up your check-in time.

2. Ship your gifts whenever possible. Not only will you avoid having to drag cumbersome packages through crowded airports, but also, you’ll probably be saving money because of increasing charges for both checked and carry-on luggage. And if you must carry gifts with you, don’t wrap them. They will be opened and your expensive gift wrap (not to mention the time you spent wrapping) will be tossed in the trash.

3. Be aware of local laws and regulations in the city to which you are traveling (and from which you will also be leaving). Within the United States, the Transportation Security Administration web site warns that.  “It is a passenger’s responsibility to be aware that origination and destination cities may have local laws prohibiting the possession of [specific items].” Go to tsa.gov to find out what’s allowed and what’s not.

4. Check out The Smart Traveler app, provided by the U.S. Department of State, will give you important information about any country you might be visiting, including any new travel warnings, safety issues, the current political situation, local rules and laws to be aware of, and U.S. embassy locations, among other useful information.

In addition, other countries may have rules that differ from ours. For example, I was departing Heathrow recently when a jar of my Egyptian Magic Skin Creme (its a solid olive oil, bees wax, and honey) I’d had in my carry-on luggage throughout many (domestic and international) trips was confiscated because Heathrow officials determined that it was a “paste,” and pastes in the UK are considered “liquids.” So check the airport web site in the country of your destination to avoid being unpleasantly surprised.

5. While most checked luggage is screened electronically, there may be a reason why the TSA finds it’s necessary to open a bag. If you’ve locked your luggage and the TSA can’t open it, your lock will be smashed. To avoid this, buy a lock that can be opened by security with a master key. They’re easily available at airports, many travel stores, and online.

Russia Holiday Update

By Summer Jenkins, Communications Director, G3 Visas

With Christmas and New Year’s fast approaching, please be aware that Russia will close its consulates and the Foreign Ministry in Moscow for an extended period. We can expect the Russian Foreign Ministry to be closed as early as the 30th of December and possibly staying closed to the 16th of January, which is the first Monday after the celebration of Old New Year’s on the Julian calendar.  This means that there will no business invitations issued during this period. The embassy will most likely be closed for 7-10 business days as well, with a short week schedule in the second week of  January.

We recommend that any travelers planning a business trip to Russia in January or early February should contact G3 now to initiate visa processing, as business invitation processing will come to a virtual halt for about three weeks during the holiday.  For more information, please contact G3′s Country Information Coordinator for Russia, Jonathan Phillips, at Russia@g3visas.com.

Visa Updates
India: The updated visa application which was scheduled for release in early November is currently on hold. Our sources do not know when the new application will be released. As the new application is expected to be more difficult than the current one, we recommend that travelers planning trips to India get their applications in now, before the application changes. As all India visas are valid for at least six months after the date of issue, visas can be applied for well ahead of the departure date.

Cameroon: Gun permit applicants must also now provide original proof of their legal ownership of the guns. Photocopies of gun registrations or permits are no longer accepted.

Republic of Congo: A new version of the visa application has been released. Additionally, tourist visa applicants must now submit either a copy of hotel reservations or a confirmation letter from their Congolese tour operator.

Southern Sudan: A new visa application has been released.

Embassy and Consulate Closures for December
December 1: Central African Republic, Chad, and Myanmar Closed
December 2: Laos Closed
December 5: Thailand Closed. Ashura – many embassies closed, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
December 6: Ashura – many embassies closed, including Bangladesh and India.
December 8: Paraguay and Uzbekistan Closed
December 9: Cambodia, Tanzania and Thailand Closed
December 12: Kenya and Thailand Closed
December 16: Bahrain, Bangladesh, Kenya and South Africa Closed
December 19: Qatar Closed
December 22: Zimbabwe Closed
December 23: India Closed
December 26: Christmas/Boxing Day – all US Passport Offices and embassies closed. All G3 Offices Closed.

Further embassy closures are possible; not all embassies announce their closure schedules in advance. For updated embassy closures calendars, please see www.g3visas.com or our Facebook page.

Questions? Ask Us!
Do you have any questions about visas or passports that you’d like us to answer? Email them to newsletter@g3visas.com, and we’ll make sure your question is answered, and you may see your question featured in a future edition of G3 Global Insight!

Trip Viewer (right) is a great new iPad app to use in conjunction with the Trip Journal 6.1 app for iPhone. Trip Journal allows you to track, document, and record your travel experiences, personalize them with notes, photos, and videos, and share them with your friends.  Now, with Trip Viewer, you can export those experiences to an iPad, view your stopping-off points overlaid on a map, and enrich the whole experience with real-time locations and photos for the richest, most complete record of your travels you could possibly imagine.

iTranslate makes you instantly fluent in more than 50 languages. Just speak an English word into your phone and iTranslate will show it to you in the language of your choice. Spoken voice translations are also available in 18 languages so that you can have an actual conversation anywhere in the world. Trying to give a cab driver directions? Looking for a restroom? Lost your way to the hotel, restaurant, shop, or museum you were looking for? Can’t find anyone to ask who speaks English. No worry! iTranslate will do the translating for you.

Google Places uses GPS to locate nearby restaurants, bars, hotels, attractions, ATMs, and much more in cities throughout the world. You can even rate the places you try and Google will then send you future recommendations based on your likes and dislikes. The app takes preplanning out of the equation. Now you can find a restaurant or café whenever you get hungry, or get cash whenever you run out. This is great for those of us who like to do things spontaneously and sometimes change our minds on the go.

Read it Later: Is there stuff you really want to read online but just can’t get to right now? Read it Later will download offline copies of items on your reading list so that you can get to them whenever you want. Even if you’re offline, in airplane mode, or underground with no Internet connection.

Zite: Worried about what to read while you travel? Zite may be your answer. This new iPad app allows you to create a customized magazine by picking and choosing among its wide variety of subjects and sections for many different sources so that you wind up with just the material you want and nothing you don’t. As you read, you can ask for more info on particular subjects so that as you use it the app actually gets “smarter” about knowing your interests and sends you more of what you like.

It’s that time of year again, this Sunday November 6th at 2:00 am it’s time to fall back! And when it comes to traveling, most of us are aware that there will be some time change to deal with—which is how jet lag got its name. But at certain times of year—specifically spring and fall—the time change can be a bit more confusing than usual.

Most places in the world “spring ahead” and “fall back,” time wise that is. But not always on the same day. For example, virtually all of Europe and Russia already began Daylight Savings Time (DST) on October 30th, 2011, which is 1 week earlier than November 6th, when we do it here in North America.

For example, in Brazil (the states that observe DST) the time already changed on October 16th. In New Zealand it was on September 25th, and in Israel the “fall back” date was October 2nd, 2011. And even when you’re traveling within the USA it can be a problem because Hawaii and Arizona don’t change their clocks at all.

To avoid unnecessary confusion, you can check online before you go at worldtimezone.com, call your concierge, or the local embassy of the country you’ll be visiting. Especially if you’re traveling on business, you don’t want to run the risk of missing a flight or arriving at your first appointment an hour early—or worse, an hour late.

India and Russia Visa Changes

The governments of both India and Russia are planning changes to the visa regime for US citizens, though neither country has made official announcements with details of those changes.

The online visa application for India will change to a revised version on Monday, November 7.  There has been no official announcement of what the revisions will entail, but our contacts in the Indian Visa Offices say that the online visa application will no longer be editable after it has been completed.  Any changes would require completing a new application.  There are also reports that visa requirements may become stricter at all consulates, but again there have been no announcements as of yet as to which requirements may change.

Russia will be moving to an outsourcing system, similar to the one used by India, starting as soon as December 1.  Outsourcing is expected to be implemented first in Washington, DC, and will be phased in at other consulates in the US this winter.  It is reported that there may be different outsourcing companies in various cities, so we may begin to see more differences between visa processing at the consulates.  Changes to the fees and processing times are likely, but we do not anticipate that the online application will change.

As more details become available, we will announce them on our homepage, on Facebook and on Twitter.  If you have any questions about India or Russia, please contact our Country Information Coordinators Mirissa Spears (India@g3visas.com) and Jonathan Phillips (Russia@g3visas.com).

Visa Updates
Afghanistan: The Embassy of Afghanistan has a new computer system for processing and printing visas.  The applicant’s photo is now scanned and printed onto the visa.  The new system has resulted in longer processing times; visas now take a minimum of 6-7 business days to process.

Cameroon: Cameroon has released a new visa application, as well as a new gun permit application for tourists wishing to bring in their own guns to hunt.  Gun permit applicants must also now provide proof of their legal ownership of the guns.

Thailand: A new version of the visa application has been released.  It is very similar to the previous application, but now requests email addresses as part of contact information.

Vietnam: As of November 1, all Vietnam consulates have increased their visa fees.  Single entry visas now cost a minimum of $80, and multiple entry visas valid for three months start at $160.

Embassy and Consulate Closures for November
November 1: Cote d’Ivoire, Philippines, and Madagascar Closed
November 2: Angola Closed
November 4: Russia Closed
November 7: Eid al Adha - many embassies closed, including Algeria, Bangladesh, Gabon, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tanzania, Turkey and UAE. Embassy closures may last for several days.
November 9:  Cambodia, Nepal, and Pakistan Closed
November 10: India and Myanmar Closed.
November 11: Veteran’s Day - all US Passport Offices closed, most embassies closed including Afghanistan, Brazil, China, Indonesia and Vietnam. G3 Offices Open.
November 15: Belgium and Cote d’Ivoire Closed
November 17: Azerbaijan Closed
November 18: Oman Closed
November 22: Lebanon Closed
November 24-25: Thanksgiving -  all US Passport Offices closed, most embassies closed. All G3 Offices Closed.
November 28: Chad and Mauritania Closed
November 30: Benin and Yemen Closed

Further embassy closures are possible; not all embassies announce their closure schedules in advance. For updated embassy closures calendars, please see www.g3visas.com or our Facebook page.

Questions?  Ask Us!
Do you have any questions about visas or passports that you’d like us to answer?  Email them to newsletter@g3visas.com, and we’ll make sure your question is answered, and you may see your question featured in a future edition of G3 Global Insight!

China Visa Changes

by Fabiola Garcia, Country Information Coordinator for China

China has recently implemented changes to their visa application that impact all travelers, and have added requirements for certain types of visas and nationalities.

All Chinese Consulates now require the application to be typed using a computer, and all fields must be filled out. When the question is not applicable, the applicant must enter N/A. Applications with any blanks spaces will not be accepted by the Consulate. The only fields that may be handwritten are the signature and date on the last page of the application.  We have made the application “user friendly” by adding fillable fields for all questions and notes in the margins to provide some clarity to the questions and assist with answers,  if applicable. If you would prefer to have a G3 Associate type up your application for you, this service is included in our Concierge Level Service. (Additional service fees apply for Concierge Level Service requests.)

The Chinese Embassy in DC will now require a copy of medical exam results for applicants wanting to obtain a Student (X) or Work (Z) visa, regardless of the longest stay in China.  This requirement is not enforced consistently at other Consulates, but may be requested by the visa officer at time of submission. A Supplementary Visa Application Form (Form v.2011B) must be completed by all applicants wanting to obtain a Student (X) or Work (Z) visa, and by all Non-US Passport holders, regardless of the type of visa requested.

The Chinese Consulates in Chicago, New York and Houston have also begun to request many additional documents from citizens of developing nations, including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Singapore, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and all African countries. We recommend that travelers of these nationalities send their requests to our DC or San Francisco office for processing, as these consulates have not yet been requesting additional documentation.  If you have any questions about China, please call G3 or email China@g3visas.com.

Visa Updates
Bangladesh: Visa applicants visiting Bangladesh on behalf of an NGO must now provide proof of visa approval from the NGO Affairs Office in Dhaka.

Myanmar: The Embassy of Myanmar is now taking a minimum of 10 business days to process visas.  The application has also been changed and the “Report of Landing” portion has been removed.

Pakistan: Travelers to Pakistan no longer need to provide a letter from their doctor confirming that they are free from infectious diseases.  This is not required either for visa issuance or upon entry to the country.

Rwanda: Consular fees for Rwanda visas have been increased, and the Embassy has released a new application.  The Embassy now takes a minimum of 3 business days to process visas.

Embassy and Consulate Closures for October
October 3: China, Guinea, Nigeria and South Korea Closed
October 4: China and Mozambique Closed
October 5: China (Chicago, Houston, and NYC) Closed, DC and SF Consulates Open
October 6: Bangladesh, Egypt, India and Syria Closed
October 7:  Cambodia and Israel Closed
October 10: Columbus Day - all US Passport Offices and almost all consulates closed, G3 offices open.
October 11: Venezuela Closed
October 12: Israel, Laos and Myanmar Closed
October 13: Israel Closed
October 14: Israel and Yemen Closed
October 17: Bangladesh and Israel Closed
October 18: Israel Closed
October 19: Israel Closed
October 20: Israel and Kenya Closed
October 21: Israel Closed
October 24: Hungary, Thailand and Zambia Closed
October 25: Kazakhstan Closed
October 26:  Benin and India Closed
October 27: Turkmenistan Closed
October 28: Cambodia, Turkey and Turkmenistan Closed

Further embassy closures are possible; not all embassies announce their closure schedules in advance. For updated embassy closures calendars, please see www.g3visas.com or our Facebook page.

Questions?  Ask Us!
Do you have any questions about visas or passports that you’d like us to answer?  Email them to newsletter@g3visas.com, and we’ll make sure your question is answered, and you may see your question featured in a future edition of G3 Global Insight!

Hopstop: Even though I live in New York City, I don’t always know the best route to take so one of the apps I have used is Hopstop to get me to my destination the quickest, most convenient way possible. Now the Hopstop iPhone app will get you where you want to go in 62 major cities (with more being added every month) throughout the United States and Canada, as well as Paris and London.

You choose your preferred mode of transportation, key in your current location and where you want to go, and Hopstop provides step-by-step, accurate directions, including the length of time it will take you to get to each stop on your route and to your final destination.

Presselite has developed three essential guides for navigating underground in the New York City subways, the London Underground, and the Paris Metro. No more standing there trying to peer at maps when you’re in the station. Now you can map your route before you set out and carry it with you for reference along the way. New York City, Paris, and London

Google’s Mobile Map: This app has saved me more than once. Its even like a GPS when you are lost, like when I had printed directions to my brothers house but I took a wrong turn and didn’t know where I was! So I typed in my “end point” and the miraculous app found my present location (via cell phone) and I was then provided concise, correct directions. This app also provides directions for walking and for public transportation.

Get Taxi, This app launched initially in Israel, is now available in London and will soon be coming to Moscow, Paris, and other cities in Europe. No more queuing or wonder where to get a cab. Now you can order a taxi directly from your phone, which locates you via GPS and dispatches the cab closest to you. You can also get the driver’s name, license number, mobile phone number, and the car’s estimated arrival time, all while you track it’s progress in real time on a map—and then pay with a credit card if you wish.