Spontaneous changes to itinerary - how does it affect visas?
 

Hi all,

I'm notorious for changing my plans half way through a journey. I'm in the middle of planning a round the world trip, with a few "side trips" in the middle. Not having been to many places recently that require me to actually apply for a visa, I'm not certain on how the process works.

If I change my flights, will the visa remain valid (so long as it's within the 180 day or whatever limit of the actual visa) - or are they ONLY valid for the dates you provide to the consulate/embassy? A few of the destinations I'm particularly concerned about are Cuba, Russia, and China.

The dates will generally only be 2-6 weeks either side of what they were planned, so nothing too drastic. Though any thoughts would be much appreciated!

Cheers :)

In general, the dates you fill out on your visa application are completely irrelevant. The only thing Immigration will check is whether or not your visa is still within its validity period when you arrive.

So long as the purpose of your trip hasn't changed (eg. Tourist Trip has now become a Study Abroad Program) and the visa remains within its originally stated validity and conditions, you can change your plans as much as you want legally.

Great, pretty much as I guessed. Thanks for the replies guys :)

Applying for multi-entry visas to China I've never even put down dates for later trips as we didn't know. No hassles.

And when you leave...in India, apparently. A friend of mine had his visa run out because he changed the trip dates and didn't notice that the departure date fell outside the visa eligibility. He was stuck in BOM for 72 hours, since Immigration wouldn't let him get on the plane.

Unless you apply for long-term visa (and this is really notorious task), your Russian visa will only be valid for exact dates that you have requested.

Eeek - how did that work out for him in the end? Deport the overstayer! :rolleyes:

Thanks Xevus - I'll have to do some investigating into how I'll handle Russia then....

There were a few calls to the State Department that I don't know the details of, but from what I understand Indian visas can be magically extended with cash at the airport handed to an official, but said friend isn't the type to engage in such.

Depends on the country. Some have a reasonable validity period ^, others are issued only for the dates you provided for your trip :(

Russian visas are most definitely issued for the exact dates indicated on the application. Upon arrival you also have to register your visa with the hotel you are staying at (ay check-in), or if not staying at a hotel, you have to register it with OVIR, which can be a hassle as well. Those arriving for the stay of 3 or less business days do not need to register their visas.

On the other hand, when I've gone to Russia, I normally extend the dates a few days on either side of my planned trip, in case of a delay or flight rescheduling. I haven't had any problems, but I was staying with a private individual and got a separate invitation for whatever dates I requested. I think it's fine as long as your actual dates fall within the range on the visa. I did get the visas registered, of course.

If you're staying at a hotel and letting them do the invitation, they may only want to issue it for the dates you're staying with them. The visa dates will match the invitation.

For those not familiar with Russian visas, you have to get an "invitation" from a Russian travel agency or hotel which indicates the dates you'll be there. You then send this with the application to a consulate to get the visa. Once you arrive, you have to "register" the visa within 3 business days in each city you visit.

If you're staying at a hotel, they can do the invitation and registration. You can also order an invitation for a small fee from a number of agencies, who'll put whatever dates you want on it (subject to the normal visa rules, of course). If you're not staying at a hotel, you'll have to do the registration paperwork yourself along with your host.

Regarding China there is definitely no problem provided you are within the expiration period of the visa. You may be aware already but if not, please note that the visa regulations for China are far more stringent in the run up to the Olympics than was otherwise the case.

It's all on embassy websites but forget multi-entry visas for now, the best you can get is double-entry. Don't even think about business visas....it's a nightmare. I just go on tourist visas for now and hope for the best (as advised by my local Chinese Consulate!)

Yes, but for Russia the dates you request in your application are the ones you get printed in your visa, and as said, those are the ones that matter. AFAIK (it's been a good 10 years since I last visited), there is also no requirement to prove or otherwise match your exact arrival/departure dates to the visa's validity period, so as alanh says (and I myself did on my last trip), people pad their visa application by a few days to allow hassle-free changes.