I am a Master’s student from India in the US. I am going back to US via LHR and have an 11 hour layover. I wanted to explore London a little before boarding my flight. My flight would land around 6:30 am and depart by 6:30 PM. Should I apply for a transit visa? I do qualify under the transiting without visa options. Would it be advisable to pass the border without getting this visa?

Past Travel History: I have a valid visa for Australia, USA and New Zealand. I also had the UK visa and the Schengen Visa ( 3 approvals) earlier.

I’m applying for Colombian visa - I’m a PR in Canada. It’s asking for me to ‘Present ticket reservations for entry and exit from the country’. On their website they specify that i shouldn’t book yet. I’m not sure what to do

Me 22m her 23f met on social media a month ago and we fell in love really quickly i know want to marry her and move to her permanently but i have no idea on how to do this fast and cheap its hard for us to qualify for the K1 because she doesn’t have a job and we haven’t met in person im wondering if you were in my position how would you move to the usa and marry her in the shortest time frame while it being cheap

Hi everyone,

I’m a 25-year-old male from Delhi, India, and I’m planning my first solo international trip to Japan this August. Japan has been on my bucket list for years, and I’ve finally reached a stage where I have enough savings and leave approval from work to make it happen.

A bit about my profile:
- Currently employed full-time at a consulting firm
- Annual salary: ₹12 LPA
- Filed Income Tax Returns (ITRs) for the past 3 years
- Current bank balance: approximately ₹6 lakh
- Maintained a bank balance of ₹3–3.5 lakh+ consistently over the past 6 months
- Employer-approved leave and NOC available

Planned itinerary: Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo over 11 days during the first week of August!

I have previously traveled to Singapore and Hong Kong (back in 2016), however no recent international travel history.

I have all my travel bookings and documents ready and intend to apply for a short-term tourist visa.

For those who have applied for a Japan visa from India, how strong does my profile look? Is obtaining a Japan tourist visa generally difficult for Indian applicants, or does my employment, financial profile, and travel plan make approval reasonably likely?

Would appreciate hearing from anyone who has applied recently or has a similar profile.
Thanks in advance!

Hello guys,

I will be going through my Canadian Student Visa medical test soon. Based on what I read, they would be checking my serum creatinine levels.

However, I am 19 yo, male, and hit the gym regularly. Therefore, I take creatine monohydrate on a daily basis...around 2.5-3g/day. I do hydrate properly as well.

However, creatinine is a product of creatine monohydrate.

Now, creatine monohydrate might raise serum creatinine levels in people, so what should I do? anyone has been in the same situation for Canada or any other country?

Please share your experience.

I need to withdraw my italy visa application because i need to travel elsewhere next week. Embassy has been sitting on the application since 12th May.

I called embassy, they said call vfs. I called vfs they said email for further instructions. I emailed vfs and they said I need to submit withdrawal form with other documents. But never told me where to get the form from. There is nothing available to download from the website anywhere.

Has anyone withdrawn their application from Italy consulate? Pls share the procedure and your experience. How soon did you get the passport back after submitting the withdrawal request?

Hi everyone,
I am planning to apply for a US tourist visa (B1/B2) and would appreciate some insight from anyone who has been in a similar situation or dealt with the Frankfurt consulate recently.
Here is my quick breakdown:
Citizenship: Turkish
Current Status: Erasmus student in Germany.
The Catch 1: I do not have the physical plastic residence permit card (Aufenthaltstitel). I currently only have my valid entry student visa sticker in my passport.
The Catch 2: My German student visa expires at the end of September.
My Questions:
1 Eligibility without a card: Can I legally apply through the US Consulate General in Frankfurt if I only have the student visa sticker instead of the actual plastic card? Does the consulate strictly require the physical ID card to prove legal residency for third-country nationals?
2 Visa Expiration: Will the fact that my German student visa expires at the end of September be an issue or a red flag during the interview?
3 Experience: Has anyone successfully gone through the interview in Frankfurt under these conditions? Were there any issues at the security check or during the document review?
Any advice, timeline insights, or personal experiences would be incredibly helpful. Thanks in advance!

I am planning to travel to Malaysia later this year around december, as holder of a jordanian passport, do i need to apply for Visa or is it not? i read online it is not needed; however i need assurance that i dont have to. I live in the UAE i tried contacting the embassy of malaysia in UAE however no response, can someone confirm with me plz?

So basically, I applied and submitted my documents on 26th of May basically last week. And from what I’ve seen online I’m supposed to wait for 10 business days but then the same time I’ve seen people who have gotten it under 5 business days under seven working days and so on under 9 business days . I’m confused on how long it fully takes ?, but also since so far it has passed some days. Is it possible to get it this week or do I have to wait for the full complete 10 days. The purpose of the trip is to visit a relative in Korea so yeah any advice or suggestion perhaps. So far of only I have received a mail saying it is under review on the 27th may and on the visa.go.kr website it says receipt..I don’t know if that is normal or not. But I haven’t received any emails or updates.. this is vfs global New Delhi

My friend and I are Indian passport holders. He is in the UAE and I'm in Australia due to our work situation. We're planning to visit Japan in July. Is it possible for us to apply for a tourist visa and be granted within such short notice?

Hey everyone,

I recently applied for an Ireland Short Stay 'C' Visa from India for an academic event.

Background Profile

• Applicant Type: PhD Researcher in the final year of study at an IIT.
• Purpose of Travel: Attending a fully funded, short-term international Summer School at a university in Dublin (June 28 – July 4), followed by a couple of days of personal tourism (July 4 – July 6).
• Travel History: Recent Schengen visa with compliance stamps from a European conference presentation earlier this year.

The Detailed Timeline (May 2026)

• May 14, 2026: Submitted physical application, passport, and biometric data at VFS.
• May 18, 2026: Application package physically arrived at the Embassy of Ireland in New Delhi.
• May 28, 2026: Passport officially processed and dispatched by the Embassy via courier. Verified my AVATS number on the official Embassy weekly Decision PDF list online: STATUS: GRANTED!
• The Visa Issued: I was granted a BIVS (British-Irish Visa Scheme) endorsed single-entry visa valid from 1 June to 30 August.

The Big Confusion: "Conference/Event" vs. "Short Term Study"

When filling out the initial online AVATS form, I spent days overthinking whether to select "Short Term Study" or "Conference/Event" because a summer school technically feels like both.

• The Verdict: If you are attending a short-term academic summer school, workshop, training seminar, or symposium lasting fewer than 14 days, "Conference/Event" is the correct category to choose.
• Selecting "Short Term Study" can sometimes accidentally trigger rigorous long-term student visa screening protocols (like requiring an extensive, multi-year history of academic tuition fees or full student maintenance funds).
• Choosing "Conference/Event" perfectly aligns with standard university invitation letters and scholarship sponsorships. The Visa Officer cares far more about the transparency of your supporting documents than the specific category label you click in the online portal.

My Cover Letter Strategy (How I Explained the Tourism Extension)

Your cover letter is the single most important document because it ties your entire folder together for the Visa Officer. Because my trip had two distinct parts, the academic event and a short holiday, I made sure to explicitly mention this in the cover letter to avoid any confusion. Here is exactly how I structured that explanation:

• The Introduction: Stated my name, passport number, and primary purpose of travel (the fully funded academic summer school).
• The Event vs. Tourism Breakdown: I explicitly outlined the exact dates for the officer. I stated that from June 28 to July 4, I would be fully engaged in the academic program. I then clearly stated that I had extended my stay from July 4 to July 6 for tourism purposes to explore Dublin before returning home.
• Linking the Accommodations: In the letter, I pointed directly to my attached documents, explicitly noting: "I have attached the university campus housing confirmation for June 28 – July 4, followed by a separate hotel booking for July 4 – July 6 to cover my tourism days."
• Ties to Home Country: I explicitly stated my mandate to return to India after July 6 to submit my final PhD thesis and resume my family life.

Complete Document Checklist Submitted

To get a quick approval, organise your physical folder into clear, tabbed categories in this exact order:

1. Official Forms & Identification

• Printed and signed AVATS Application Summary Sheet.
• 2 recent passport-sized photographs conforming to Irish visa specifications.
• Current Passport (plus full-colour photocopies of previous visas and compliance stamps).

2. Proof of Purpose & Accommodation Logistics

• Official Invitation Letter from the host organisation/university in Ireland.
• Document confirming Full Funding/Scholarship coverage for the duration of the academic program.
• Primary Accommodation: Campus housing confirmation from the university for June 28 to July 4.
• Tourism Accommodation: Confirmed hotel bookings in Dublin for July 4 to July 6.

3. Proof of Academic Standing & Ties to Home

• No Objection Certificate (NOC) and an institutional support letter from my home university explicitly stating that I am a final-year researcher with a strict requirement to return to India for my upcoming thesis submission.
• Marriage Certificate: Included alongside a formal financial support letter and financial documents from my spouse to firmly establish deep-rooted family ties in India.

4. Financial Capabilities

• Personal bank statements for the last 6 months (stamped and signed by the bank).
• Official scholarship payment history downloaded from the scholarship portal.
• Supporting financial documents from my spouse (bank statements and income tax returns) to show solid secondary backup.

Key Takeaway

Don't be afraid to add a few days of tourism to an academic trip! As long as you are completely explicit in your cover letter and provide hotel bookings for those exact extra nights, the visa officers are incredibly reasonable. The fact that it was endorsed by BIVS is a massive bonus!

Good luck to everyone currently waiting on their decisions! Happy to answer any general questions about the process or documentation in the comments below.

I have recently applied for a visiting visa for Ireland. So far it only shows that it's been dispatched to Irish embassy for processing. How long does it usually take?

I've been wairing for my tourist visa approval since 20 dys now and there ia no validity date can anyone advice me what to do next X

My sister-in-law wants to go to India for a family wedding but is unsure how to go about it. She already tried once last year but it wasn't approved. Is there anyway to get it approved or no? We are US citizens.

Vfs Mumbai @Italy timeline

Anyone who has applied from mumbai vfs for italy pls update timeline anyone who applied in the last week of April or May and got their passport with visa result back. I'm looking for a ray of hope. I applied on 18 may, and I'm anxious because my travel date is September but I hope that doesn't mean I'm getting my passport back near my travel date. Pls guys let me know your timeline

Hello everyone

I would like to apply for Japan's evisa from Toronto. My understanding is that I should provide an itinerary. I have few questions about that:

1-Do I need to actually book the flight in advance? or I can just show which flight I'm interested in booking?
2-What happens if I changed the dates of arrival and/or departure? if If I have major changes in my itinerary like skipping a whole city or changing hotels. Would that be possible after obtaining the visa?

3-What happens if I did end up not going for some reason? Would that affect me applying again for the visa?

Hey everyone, I'm a German student trying to apply for the Argentina TIE 24H student entry permit online via the Provincia NET portal.

When I try to pay the EUR 80 fee, the total shows ARS 0 and I get a Server Error when clicking Pay ("Object reference not set to an instance of an object").

I have tried:

• Visa and Mastercard
• Chrome and Incognito mode
• Deleting and re-creating the order
• The order cannot be deleted either ("Existen solicitantes en la orden")

I already submitted a support request via the Migraciones contact form. Has anyone experienced this before and found a solution?

Thanks!

Need to only transit through Canadian airport on the way from US to India? Do I need to apply to Canadian eTA or Transit VISA?

Hi, for this particular itinerary, is there a visa/transit visa required at Istanbul or in Bahrain? This is for an Indian passport holder travelling from London to Bengaluru.

Anyone recently travelled

Hello everyone,

I hope you all are doing great. My family and I recently completed a wonderful one-week trip to Japan in the month of Feb, 2026. Since I found very few detailed experiences online while preparing for our visa application, I wanted to share our experience and some important information that may help others planning a trip to Japan.

Feel free to ask any questions in the comments, and I'll do my best to help.

Note: Our visa applications were submitted through the Kolkata VFS Centre.

1. How did we apply for a Japan Visa?
   • We are a family of five. I personally prepared all the required documentation for every family member and submitted the applications on behalf of four family members at the Kolkata VFS Centre.
2. Japan Visa duration?
   • 15-day single-entry visa
3. Do we need to submit our passports to the VFS team for a Japan tourist Visa?
   • Yes, so that they can print the beautiful visa stickers on our passports.
4. Timeline
   • 26/11/2025: Went for the first time to the Kolkata VFS with all the documentation required. I followed the official documentation list to prepare documentation for our Visas. The VFS team went through the documentation of each of my family members and asked me to make corrections and visit the next day. Although I could have made the changes and returned the same day, visa applications are accepted only until 2:00 PM, and the corrections required additional time. Therefore, I decided to return the next day.
   • 27/11/2025: I went again to apply for the Visa. I was told that I needed further corrections in my documentation. So I noted down all the corrections that the VFS team suggested and decided to visit the next day
   • 28/11/2025: The VFS team finally decided to accept my application, but were not so satisfied and told me that they are accepting my application, but if any issues come from the visa checking officer, then they won't be responsible.
     • I accepted the risk and paid 9000 INR for the Japan tourist visa for 5 people, took the receipt, made sure all details were correct on the receipt, and left.
     • Since I do not reside in Kolkata, I opted for courier delivery of our passports.
   • 07/12/2025: We received all five passports with Japan visa stickers attached and without any additional queries from the visa officer. Hurray!
5. How did I prepared the documentation?
   • Preparing the documentation was by far the most time-consuming part of the process. My strongest recommendation is to follow the official Japan visa document checklist applicable to your jurisdiction. Since my location falls under Kolkata VFS, I strictly followed the document requirements listed for Kolkata applicants.
6. Sponsorship
   • I sponsored my mother, and my older brother sponsored my father.
   • We had to attach separate sponsorship letters from both of us and explain how we will be sponsoring our parents, and also attach our income and investment proofs(the more the better) to prove that we can actually afford our parents' expenses for the trip.
7. Some common issues I encountered during the application process.
   1. Photo: All photos were required to have a white background. Also, the person should not be wearing white clothes, it will be rejected by the VFS team.
   2. Flight tickets: It is advised to book dummy flight tickets for the safer side. I booked my dummy round flight tickets from here. Totally reliable website and great support. My application was getting rejected because the dummy ticket hardcopy I had was not clear. Fortunately, the dummy-ticket people were super helpful, and they helped me multiple times, booked another ticket, and gave me a clearer picture.
   3. Hotel tickets: I made my actual reservations via Airbnb and used the receipts for hotel proof for all days in Japan.
   4. Bank statement: Official bank stamps were required on all pages of 3-month bank statements.
   5. Income proof: We attached bank statements of the last 3 months, investment proofs(FDs, MFs, Stocks). We made sure we had maintained around 300K INR in our bank statements for the safer side. Attach as much as you can for income proof.
   6. Itinerary: We have to provide a proper day-to-day itinerary for the visa, so we gave the actual itinerary only. Although you don't necessarily have to follow the itinerary that we give for the visa application
   7. Explanation letters: We had to provide explanation letters for my older brother for why he was applying for Kolkata VFS, even though he was currently residing in a different place
   8. Authorization letters: Except for me, all my family members (4 people) had to provide an authorization letter, which gave me the authority to submit a visa application on their behalf.
   9. Leave granted proof(NOC): We(my siblings and I) are employed and were supposed to provide proof that our employer has granted us leave for the trip. Since my employer doesn't provide such documents, I applied for the leave and got it approved, and used the approved email screenshot as proof.
   10. Cover letter: All 5 of us had to write cover letters separately. We took help from the internet to write this letter. We kept it simple and explained our intentions for visiting Japan.
   11. ITR: 3 years of ITR are required; if not, then we have to provide an explanation letter for the missing year of ITR. My older brother had ITR for 2 years only, so he provided an explanation letter.
8. Hotel bookings
   • I found out that Airbnb is the best alternative for booking stays and made all bookings from Airbnb only. Faced no issues at any of my booked stays. I booked all stays 2 months before my Japan visit with at least 1 month of free cancellations. I booked all stays with 1 month free cancellations because I was not sure if our visas would be accepted or rejected.
9. Japan trip
   1. Did we experience any racism? Nope
   2. Were people helpful? Absolutely. We found Japanese people to be extremely polite and helpful, especially elderly residents.
   3. Any issues from our Airbnb stay owners? No issues at all, we made sure we abide by their rules and clean up after ourselves.
   4. Best place to stay in Tokyo? SHIBUYA, we stayed within a 1km distance from the famous Shibuya crossing so that we don't miss any action.
   5. Is Japan safe at night? Yes, some days we got really late to reach our hotel and faced no issue from anyone late at night.
   6. You'll have to walk a lot, so make sure you're taking appropriate rest every day.
   7. Get yourself a SUICA card on the first day itself, which can be used at metros, 7/11, etc., places. You can get yourself a SUICA card from the metro stations.
   8. Please be respectful of your accommodation. Dispose of all garbage properly and leave the property as clean and tidy as possible when you check out.
   9. For visiting Mt Fuji, make sure you check the weather forecast and visibility conditions. We were fortunate enough to see Mount Fuji completely unobstructed, which was one of the highlights of our trip. We booked a private cab to visit Mt Fuji.

I hope this post helps anyone planning a Japan trip or preparing for a Japan tourist visa application.

Attaching some pics from our trip and Airbnb reviews we received from our stay owners.

Anyone travelled from US to Saudia on Visa on arrival?
With Pakistani passport+US resident

I’m an Indonesian citizen currently in the U.S. and will be going to Jakarta next week for my first H-1B stamping.
My H-1B approval notice is valid until October 2028, but my Indonesian passport expires in October 2027.

My immigration lawyer mentioned that CBP could potentially issue my I-94 only through my passport expiration date, rather than through my H-1B petition's expiration date. I’m trying to figure out the best path

Questions:
- Has anyone entered on H-1B with a passport expiring before the petition end date?
- Is it common for CBP to shorten the I-94 to the passport expiration date?
- If CBP does shorten the I-94 to Oct 2027, can I simply renew my passport and travel internationally again before Oct 2027 to obtain a new I-94 matching my H-1B approval notice expiration date in 2028?
- Is that generally considered a reliable fix, or is it still at CBP discretion?

My options right now:

Option 1
Keep my current visa appointment, get stamped using my current passport, and if my I-94 is shortened, renew my passport later and re-enter the U.S. before Oct 2027 to obtain a new I-94.

Option 2
Keep my current visa appointment, get stamped using my current passport, renew my passport immediately while I’m still in Indonesia, then return to the U.S. carrying:
- New passport
- Old passport containing the H-1B visa stamp
- Original I-797 approval notice
Would this likely result in CBP issuing an I-94 through my H-1B petition expiration date instead? Or is there any risk in making my first H-1B entry using a valid H-1B visa stamp in my old passport while also presenting a newly renewed passport and my I-797 approval notice?

Option 3
Reschedule my visa appointment to July, renew my passport first, submit a new DS-160, and get the H-1B visa issued in the new passport.

Option 4
Try to move my flight earlier, obtain an emergency passport renewal before the visa interview, submit a new DS-160 with the new passport information, update my appointment record if possible, and attend the existing appointment with the renewed passport.

Additional Considerations:
- My appointment is next Friday (June 5), and I leave the U.S. on June 3, so Options 3 and 4 would be logistically difficult.
- Indonesian H-1B holders often seem to receive only a 1-year visa stamp due to reciprocity, even when the H-1B petition is approved for 3 years. If that's the case and I need to obtain another H-1B visa stamp around June 2027 (before my passport expires in October 2027), would it make more sense to simply proceed with Option 1 now? In that scenario, I could renew my passport before the next stamping appointment in 2027, obtain the new H-1B visa stamp in the renewed passport, and potentially receive an updated I-94 upon re-entry that matches the H-1B approval validity period. Is that a reasonable approach, or am I overlooking something?

Given all of that, which option would you choose and why? Or are there any other solutions/options?

Hi guys,

So I am attending an ML conference in Seoul and I applied for my e-visa for south korea around 12 days back at VFS Delhi. Now I did not at all track the application online and today I got my passport back. Now to confirm if my visa did get approved or not, I entered my application number and passport details on the website, but it only shows application received and nothing about an approval or a rejection. It also shows this additional message, which I don't know how to make sense of. Really confused about this. Thanks a lot for reading and any help is appreciated.

If you have applied for a visa application center, you can only pick up your passport after the status reads "Passport pickup". If the status is either "Approved" or "Rejected", you cannot pick up your passport.

Update: It now says visa denied. Because

Anyone else in a similar boat??

Hey guys, just wanted to share this bc i know how stressful this whole visa game is. After getting knocked back twice on my skilled visa (once for "not enough points" and another dumb paperwork thing), i finally got the invite last month and the grant came through yesterday!! 🥳

I'm from california and been eyeing australia for a while, Melbourne specifically bc my cousin lives there and the coffee scene is actually insane. spent almost $4,800 AUD on the whole process including assessments, english test retake (got 8.0 this time lol), and all the translations. the waiting was brutal, like 7 months radio silence at one point. Random tip - i used immigration gurus for my second attempt to review my points claim and fix the rpl stuff. They werent pushy or anything, just gave solid feedback that actually made sense and helped me tighten everything up. Not saying theyre amazing good but it helped me stop stressing about the small details.

Anyway if youre in the middle of your own application and feeling like its never gonna happen... it might. Just keep grinding the paperwork even when it feels pointless.

Anyone else get their 189 recently? how long did yours take in the end?