There's nothing quite like gearing up for an adventurous, fun-filled trip abroad. Many foreign countries welcome visitors and their cash with tourist-friendly visa rules and lenient regulations on renewals, extensions and length-of-stay. In many places, no visa is required -- but there's always a pending deadline on your departure, and allowing that clock to run out can be financially unwise.
Each country sets its rules on the maximum stay for foreign visitors. If a visa is required for entry, the limit on your length of stay depends on the type of visa you have. A typical tourist visa, such as that of Thailand, limits your stay to 30 days. Many countries also require proof that you plan to leave, and will accept a return ticket to document your timely future departure. If you wish to extend your stay, you must apply for a visa extension before the current visa expires. Getting caught with an expired visa at the border, or in the departure hall of an airport, can mean hassle, delay and an immediate fine.
Some countries will issue visas at the border, while others require a visa application before you leave your home country. In the latter case, you send the application to the embassy or consulate in the United States, and enclose your passport and an application fee. The passport comes back with a visa glued to one of its pages, and the length of stay indicated on the visa. The "L" visa issued by the People's Republic of China, for example, allows casual visitors to stay three to six months. The allowed length of stay may be different for business purposes if you're arriving to accept a job, for educational or research purposes, or if you have family in the destination country.
Not all countries require visas, while some require visas only for visitors from certain countries. U.S. residents can travel freely to Canada without a visa, for example, but when arriving by air must have either a passport or NEXUS photo-ID card, which is issued by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency. Canada still limits your stay, in most cases, to six months. Border police in Canada can limit stays to shorter periods based on information provided by the traveler and require a visitor to post a deposit to guarantee they won't be overstaying.
European Union countries typically do not require visas for tourism or casual visits; in addition, the EU has quite relaxed border controls. A free-travel zone known as the Schengen area consists of all the EU countries, with the exception of Great Britain, Ireland, Romania and Bulgaria, and includes Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. With a valid passport, U.S. travelers can enter the Schengen area, have their passport stamped and travel freely without a visa for 90 days within each 180-day period. Although you need a passport to enter France directly from the U.S., for example, you can zip across the border into Germany or Spain without even slowing down.
