Friend of mine is doing a OWE ...going HKG, China, India, South Africa.
He has a UK passport . What are the requirements and what should he do?
He lives in orange county, CA.
Thanks for your imput.

Mike

Hong Kong- no visa
mainland China - needs visa
India, South Africa - no visa

Your friend just needs to travel with his passport if he's traveling to Commonwealth countries.

Thank you Richard for your response. I informed him, to which came another Q.
Will it be easy for him to obtain the Chinese visa in California with his UK passport. (I suggested yes, and there are fees, no idea as to the amount)
Thanks again.
Mike

I believe the reciprocity fee for an L (tourist) visa for UK citizens is $30 for a single entry and $45 for double entry. You can mail it in, but I would call the Chinese consulate general in LA to find out what their mail-in policy is.

Good Luck.

Since when did India stop requiring a visa for UK Nationals/Citizens?

According to my experience (Holder of a British Passport), I have had to obtain visa's for India as recently as November.

Chynacom, I stand corrected. I just confirmed with the Indian embassy here in Paris that British PPT holders must hold a tourist visa when entering India and pay a reciprocity fee of 30 pounds. As for the others, I KNOW British PPTs don't need visas to enter the Hong Kong AR; to enter China, they do need visas; to enter South Africa, they don't need a visa.

Sorry.

outstanding.
thank you for the information.
Mike

India requires an ADVANCE visa for pretty much EVERY nationality, with the exception of Nepal and Bhutan. There is no Visa-On-Arrival facility available. However, sterile TWOV is possible at all international airports.

And the Indians seem to need more processing time than other countries!

You have obviously never dealt with the Canadians.

No, but you know what I went through getting an Indian visa

since he will in India for 2 nights a TWOV would be in order. Where would be the best place to get this "transit visa"
LAX,YVR,HKG or from Ugarte? (sorry, I couldn't resist)

TWOV (literally "Transit WithOut Visa") facility does not permit the passenger to leave the sterile international transit area. Trust me, this is not something I would wish even on my worst enemy for 2 nights at any Indian airport. Hence, your friend will require a Transit Visa.

The Indian visa is a PITA because they take forever-and-a-day if you do it by mail. However, they will also take longer to process the visa if you apply in any country other than that of your permanent residence.

There is no Indian consulate in LAX, so that is not an option. The Indian representation in the United States are located in Washington, New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Houston.

For a California resident, the relevant jurisdiction would be SFO. However, they are also the most notoriously inefficient visa issuing post and have been known to take around 3 weeks (including mail and processing times) to issue a simple transit permit. They are also very sticky about "jurisidiction" and will not deal with you if you are not resident in their "area". Even as an Indian citizen, I was denied passport renewal service by them because I was not permanently resident in their "area".

HKG Consulate requires a minimum of 5 business days for anyone who doesn't reside in Hong Kong, Macau or Taiwan, so that would probably not be a good option either.

YVR Consulate has a reputation for being surprisingly helpful, so if your friend will be there in person it is possible to get same-day service for a fee. However, if your friend is not normally resident in Western Canada, there will be another surcharge. The cost for a transit visa will be C$16 for the visa + C$55 for same-day service + C$30 for non-resident service for a total of C$101. For US citizens, there is an additional C$61 fee as well for a total cost of C$162.

B747,
I will forward all that you wrote. Thank you for taking the time to comment.It is much appreciated.
Mike

In NYC, it is a same day service if you are personally present. It is a zoo though. You have to be in by morning, and they issue in the late afternoon.