update on the 3-year tourist visas

[Renee (Stillings) Huhs]

Dear  SEELANGERs,

 

As I imagine you are all very excited about this new possibility of a 3-year
visa, I thought I would share the latest updates to keep in mind.

 

1.	So far these are issued as 3-year PLUS your passport needs to be
valid for 6 months after the end of the visa. This makes this not an option
for many of you unless you have just recently renewed your passport and have
3.5 years left on it . . This aspect is particularly annoying if any of you
want to bring small children (as I was hoping would be more economical with
these new visas) as with the 5-year visas, it seems like someone's passport
is always at or near expiry.
2.	Rush processing NOT possible at all with the 3-yr visas. Processing
time (in DC anyway) is averaging 10 business days. Rush processing is still
possible with the standard 30-day visas (same applies to business visas that
are not 3-yr as well).
3.	There is an additional form required for submission along with
everything else if you are applying for the 3-yr. Visa processing agencies
should all have this, ideally set up as an easy-to-fill-in pdf that you
print and include.
4.	At the moment, standard single-entry tourist vouchers that include a
hotel reservation (real or otherwise) and have a reference number, can serve
as the basis for your 3-yr visa. Even though these are only good for 30
days, you indicate on the visa application itself a 3-yr period.

 

Anyway, it does appear that they really are issuing these. Just need to keep
all of these things in mind as you plan your next trip/visa.

 

Best,

Renee

 

 

******************************

Renee Stillings

Director, SRAS.org


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