The Travisa Connection
 
April 2016
Travisa Updates, Announcements and Reminders...
Announcement: China Processing Time

China Processing Back to Normal in DC
The Consulate of China in Washington, DC has informed Travisa that visa and legalization processing times are returning to normal and emergency next day service will resume.

Reminder:Canada eTA

Canada has a new entry requirement, (eTA), for visa-exempt foreign nationals who fly to Canada. Exceptions include U.S. citizens and travelers who already hold a valid Canadian visa. All other visitors, including U.S. Greencard holders do require an eTA to enter Canada by air.

 
Consulate and Embassy Closings
Atlanta

France
: Friday April 1st
India : Wednesday April 20th
Japan : Monday April 25th

Chicago

Bulgaria
: Friday April 29th
China : Friday April 29th
Denmark : Friday April 22nd
India : Wednesday April 20th
Peru : Monday April 11th
Serbia : Friday April 29th
Thailand : Wednesday April 6th, Thursday April 14th, Friday April 15th

Houston

India
: Wednesday April 20th

London

Australia
: Friday April 29th
Bangladesh : Thursday April 14th
India : Friday April 15th, Wednesday April 20th
Italy : Monday April 25th
Myanmar : Monday April 11th, Tuesday April 12th, Wednesday April 13th, Thursday April 14th, Friday April 15th, Monday April 18th, Tuesday April 19th
Serbia : Friday April 29th
Thailand : Wednesday April 6th, Thursday April 14th, Friday April 15th

Los Angeles

Peru
: Monday April 11th
Thailand : Wednesday April 6th, Friday April 15th

Miami

Argentina
: Friday April 22nd, Thursday April 28th, Friday April 29th

New York

Bulgaria
: Friday April 29th
India : Wednesday April 20th
Serbia : Friday April 29th
Thailand : Wednesday April 6th, Friday April 15th

Ottawa

Japan
: Friday April 29th
Thailand : Wednesday April 6th, Wednesday April 13th
Vietnam : Monday April 18th

San Francisco

Brazil
: Friday April 15th
India : Wednesday April 20th
Peru : Monday April 11th

Toronto

China
: Monday April 4th
Japan : Friday April 29th
Philippines : Friday April 29th
Sri Lanka : Thursday April 14th
Thailand : Wednesday April 6th, Wednesday April 13th

Washington

Bangladesh
: Thursday April 14th
Bulgaria : Friday April 29th
India : Wednesday April 20th
Myanmar : Monday April 11th
Serbia : Friday April 29th
South Africa : Wednesday April 27th
Tanzania : Thursday April 7th, Tuesday April 26th
Thailand : Wednesday April 6th
Vietnam : Monday April 18th




Corporate Accounts and Travel Industry

 

Find out the benefit of opening a Corporate Account with Travisa, and find out how your organization can increase its profits by offering passport & visa services. 

 
Need a US Passport in a hurry? 

Visit our
Online Passport Section with step-by-step online and downloadable passport application forms, requirements and valuable passport information.

Featured Article: The Top Summer vacation spot and how to get there! 
Machu Picchu, Peru

Machu Piccu has been rated one of the top destinations for 2016 by both Lonely Planet and National Geographic! Machu Picchu is an Incan citadel set high in the Andes Mountains in Peru, above the Urubamba River valley. Built in the 15th century and later abandoned, it's renowned for its sophisticated dry-stone walls that fuse huge blocks without the use of mortar, intriguing buildings that play on astronomical alignments, and panoramic views. Its exact former use remains a mystery (google 2016).

Machu Picchu is tangible evidence of the urban Inca Empire at the peak of its power and achievement-a citadel of cut stone fit together without mortar so tightly that its cracks still can't be penetrated by a knife blade.

The complex of palaces and plazas, temples and homes may have been built as a ceremonial site, a military stronghold, or a retreat for ruling elites-its dramatic location is certainly well suited for any of those purposes.

Because of its potentially rich history Machu Picchu became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.

For US citizens traveling to Peru a visa is not necessary, however a passport is! You will need to make sure your passport is valid for six months past your travel dates. You will also need proof of departure like a round trip ticket. Travisa can help you get to this one of a kind location for your summer vacation!


Happy Travels,
Morgan Eslick 
Administrative Assistant
Travisa Passport and Visa Service 

Conde Nast Traveler
What Your Passport Color Says About You


There may be something to judging a book by its cover, after all.

Passport news is typically about changing rules, records, and regulations surrounding the official document. And rightfully so: State Department urgings to renew passports sooner rather than later are important, as is Germany having the world's most powerful passport for the third year in a row. Yet in focusing on a passport's capabilities rather than its aesthetics, we skip over a key part of its origin story: Why do our passports look the way they do in the first place?

Turns out, passport colors are most often related to geography and policy. Though the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) issues guidelines on requisite size and format, governments can choose the design and color of their national document as long as it is derived from one of four colors: red, green, blue or black.

Green: For some countries, the choice of color relates to a predominant religion. Muslim countries including Morocco, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia have green passports, which is connected to Islam: Green is considered to have been a favorite color of the Prophet Muhammad, who is said to have worn a green cloak and turban. Green is also on the national flags of Islamic republics Iran, Mauritania, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Many African nations (Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, etc.) also have passports in shades of green, mostly due to their distinction as members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Red: Hrant Boghossian, the vice president of Arton Group, which runs the interactive passport database Passport Index, told The Telegraph that red passports could hint at a communist past-or present: Slovenia, China, Serbia, Latvia, Romania, Poland, Georgia all have red passports. Many of the Nordic countries have red passports, too, given that red was a popular color during the Viking Age and can be found on many of the national flags. Passport books for countries within the European Union are also a shade of burgundy. In what The Economist called a "branding exercise," Turkey, Macedonia, and Albania all changed their passport shades to burgundy in order to match their EU aspirations.

Blue: The U.S. passport today is blue, but has only been that way since 1976, when it was changed from green for the bicentennial celebration to match the shade in the American flag. (Between 1993-1994 a special green passport was issued for the 200th anniversary of the U.S. Consular Service, but the passport has been blue since 1994.) Member states of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) all have blue passports-most likely due to their geographical locations in the middle of oceans and off coasts-and a sub-regional South American block of countries (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Venezuela) all have blue passports to represent their affiliation with Mercosur, a customs union.