Tips For Visa Applicants: General Visa Terms & Related Information

Words utilised as a part of visa process are specialised. As an applicant, we are generally unaware of the definitions and terminologies that Embassy/Consulate uses while instructing us about the visa processing or the visa updates.

 

We have regularly observed the chaos in travelers while identifying with such terms. Regardless of how much voyaged we are, sometimes this procedure leads us to frenzy circumstances. Here we will attempt to help you with the significance of some terminologies that are frequently used. 

 

Terminology allows people in a specific field to communicate clearly, thus this is how the Embassy/Consulate will communicate the important information to us or to our visa consultants. 

E.g: If we have to fill up any Schengen visa application, there is a question which states as "Member State of Destination" or "Member State of the first entry". We as a traveler are aware that the Schengen area includes 26 countries, but very few are aware that these 26 countries have officially signed an agreement/treaty. i.e. all these countries are members of this treaty hence the term Member state.

 

The following terms and their definitions explain how they are used in the visa process. Here are some of the most frequently used terms a visa applicant should be aware of - 

 

Visa Validity & Stay Validity - This is the validity which indicates how long the visa is valid. Important is that this does not mean the number of days you are allowed to stay. The visa validity indicates from which date to which date is the traveler permitted to go to a specific nation and what is the last date for the exit. The stay validity as the word implies is the validity which indicates how many days the traveler can remain in the country. Generally, the stay validity is less than the visa validity. So let us consider I have a Schengen visa issued on 05th Feb 2017 to 05th Mar 2017 and the duration of stay is 10 days. So here the one month period from 05th Feb to 05th Mar is the visa validity and the 10 days within this period is the stay validity.

 

Entry Controlled Visa - At the point when the visa is required to be valid only for your entry to a particular country then it is an entry controlled visa. This can be better comprehended with an illustration - The normal tourist UAE visa is issued for 58 days. The visa allows the traveler to stay for 29 days on this visa from the date of entry. That implies if you enter on the 57th day from the date of issuance you can still stay in UAE for 29 days from that day. Also, you need not have to valid visa while exiting the country.

 

Exit Controlled Visa - As the name hints, this visa is inverse to that of entry controlled visa. The traveler needs to exit the country before the visa terminates. This means if your visa is valid to say from 05th Feb 2017 to 05th Mar 2017 and the duration of stay is 10 days, and you travel on 01st March, you won't be permitted to stay for 10 days even if your visa pursues the duration of stay as 10 days. You should leave the country most extreme on 05th March 2017.

 

Embassy & Consulate - Embassy and Consulate refer to government representations in an another nation. A country will have only single Embassy in the foreign country while it will have a number of consulates in many cities like Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Pune etc. An embassy is the higher representation, but a consulate is just a smaller version of the embassy. The working of Embassy or Consulate does not have any distinction. 

 

Business days - A business day is counted each official working day of the week. When we apply for a visa or visit any visa consultant and ask about the visa processing days they will dependably give a time saying business days. Typically, this means the processing excludes Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays and any special holidays that the Embassy/Consulate will take after. So in case, your application is under process and there is some holiday proclaimed that would mean the process will get delayed by those many days.

 

Stamp Visa - Your visa stamp resembles your entrance ticket to the nation. In most cases, your visa is appended or rubber-stamped on the passport.

 

Paper Visa - When we apply for the visa by submitting hard copy documents and the visa issued is an electronic visa, it is known as a paper visa. E.g: Australian Visa

 

E-Visa - This visa is another option to visas, when we apply for the visa electronically and the approval is also in the electronic format, it is called an E-Visa. E.g: UAE Visa

 

Counter at the Embassy/Consulate - The Embassy or Consulate is the authority liable for accepting or rejecting your application and checking if you meet the requirement for visa.

Acceptance of application request does not depend on any visa consultant or agency. This section is called as the Submission/Collection counter.

 

Biometrics - Biometrics is the process to verify someone's identity collecting fingerprints & Iris scans, this does not involve any interview. An applicant has to go personally for biometrics for some of the countries like UK, Schengen, etc. 

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