Visa Central vs Passport Health for visas

doctorbj

As above.
We are getting ready to order visas for Kenya and Tanzania August 9th. Was planning to use Passport but see good things in recent discussion re Visa Central. Any thoughts?

BKMD

Not all good things about Visa Central:
https://www.tauck.com/yaf/default.aspx?g=posts&t=10733

doctorbj

Thank you for finding that thread!

SHG

I used them to get my visas for Vietnam and Cambodia. No problems at all, and they processed everything within 3 weeks' time.

mil

I have used them before for India & Vietnam, Cambodia etc... always had my visas on time.. no issues and if I need to ask them any question regarding the form, they are always very helpful.
I'm getting ready for the Kenya -Tanzania next.

MCD

I had a bad experience with Visa Central when I got a visa for Egypt. I would not recommend them.

menahelen

Hi DoctorBJ. My husband and I will be on your trip.
We used Visa Central for a trip to China and had no problems, so we plan on using them again. They have a special "desk" for Tauck clients which was helpful.

gtcamper

For our recent trip to Cambodia and Vietnam, I did visas on line. It worked fine, but it caused our TD some confusion, because he hadn't seen it done that way before. It was about half the cost of doing it through Visa Central or other visa specialists. It really wasn't difficult.

British

We were on the Vietnam Cambodia Loas tour recently. There was a couple who had done this and the visas were separate to the passports. The tour director kept all our passports. When entering one of the countries, I now forget which, the immigration officer wanted to see the visas for the other countries and they did not have them to show because the tour director had them and had already passed thru. It caused a huge delay in the line and we were behind them. It was only when we spotted the TD and beckoned him over that he was able to give the correct documents.

We have never had an issue with Visa Central. It is the most convenient way for us since we don't like being without our passports for long. When you want visas for multiple countries it the fastest way. The only issue we have had is when we were preparing our papers for India to send to the Visa company, that was a real pain, my husband almost wanted to cancel the trip. Also, Visa Central is not the company that Tauck originally used. We are relying on Visa C on a fast turnover for an upcoming trip where we only have a short time to get a visa because we have two tours close together. Only in special circumstances are two passports allowed for convenience or we would take that option.

Sealord

I can now report the ‘do it yourself’ results. We did it ourselves for our first Africa trip whcih required two mailings. This time we did the Kenya eVisa approximately 82 days prior to entry as it is good for 90 days prior, and then they can aurthorize a stay of up to 90 days. We mailed our Tanzania visa request on the same day. The Kenya eViasas were issued in about 3 business days. I had to use my PC to download them as their system did not seem to recognize my iPad. We used Priority Mail, and enclosed a prepaid Priority Mail envelope for their return. We mailed them on April 25, and got them back yesterday May 12 ... or 18 days total. The embassy actually only had them for about ten business days, as they arrived there late on a Friday, and we received them on Saturday. The priority mail is a two day trackable service and the post office should be able to give you tracking numbers for both envelopes. Or you could use Fedex. The Kenya eVisa was a steep learning curve for the first visa request as they ask for much more information than what is on the ‘paper’ visa request. You will need to scan your passport, your visa photo, and your airline itinerary into your compurter and know where those files are in order to upload them to the visa application. You also need to know the name, addrsss, telephone number, and email address of the Amboselli Serena hotel, and the road entry point into Kenya which is Namanga. And, I think strange, they want the full names of your parents. If you have been to Kenya before, they want those dates. If you have all that info in front of you as I did for my wife’s application, it will take about 20 minutes to do the application. If you don’t, the application will ‘timeout’ while you are looking for it or scanning it, and it will take several attempts to get it done ... that was my application.

The first eVisa request had me tearing my hair out, the second was easy. And, I’m always nervous when the passports are in transit, but overall I still do not see it as too difficult to do on your own. I’m fairly certain that VisaCentral requires the same information, but I’m sure some would feel better having someone ‘talk’ you through it and do the paperwork, and the ‘computer’ work. But, you still have to ‘ship’ your passports to VisaCentral, they have to get them to the embassy and back, and then ship them back to you. That sounds like more ‘loss’ opportunities than just ‘shippiing’ to the embassy and back. Personally, I don’t like giving someone around $400 to do something that I can do fairly easily on my own. Now I need to see the Doc and get a malaria pill prescription, and there will be ‘checks’ in all the boxes.

joycesw

Hi Sealord,
I understand that some folks are uncomfortable about completing their own visas and a visa service provides a reassuring safety net. However, I completely agree with you about spending a large chunk of change for something that, with a little research, I can easily do myself (not to mention gathering the same info to send to a service). And, I am not ashamed to add, I do enjoy the adventure of a challenge!
just wanted to add one other possible resource for those attempting to do e-visas. Check out a travel site ( think TripAdvisor) to see if anyone has posted about his/her experience. When I was doing our visas for India I stumbled upon a post where some kind person had posted a step-by-step guide to accurately completing the application ( no small feat). That enabled me to gather all of the needed info beforehand and go through the longggg application easily. It would have been a piece of cake if I had only remembered to clear my debit card with my bank before making the on-line payment and noticed the difference between the number 1 and a lower-case l when I tried to retrieve the application that had timed out! With that said, it was still fairly simple.

SHG

This is just another nuisance to contend with, best left to professionals to expedite for you! I'm just too busy to do this myself.

Sealord

To each their own. I’m sure many feel ‘too busy’ to do this. That’s why VisaCentral and others are in business. And if you need “expedited” service that is probably the way to go. But if you are handy with a computer, and have adequate time before your trip, the point of the issue is that it is not difficult, nor probably more time consuming, to provide the same information to the appropriate embassy and skip the middle man. You got your visas in less than 3 weeks for Vietnam and Cambodia, I got mine for Kenya and Tanzania in 18 days and didn’t pay a middle man. By the way, I went to Vietnam and I didn’t have any visas ... nor a passport ... and I didn’t pay any tour director tips. (;-). So that was probably the deal of a lifetime. (;-)))

AshvEd

Thank you for your service Sealord. I am guessing that you had dog tags and an MOS when you went to Nam.

British

Sealord, thanks so much for all your information. It will be a great help to many of us on this forum.

AlanS

AshvEd wrote:

Thank you for your service Sealord. I am guessing that you had dog tags and an MOS when you went to Nam.

He had dog tags, but no MOS- he had a "designator" which was either 1310, 1315, or a 1317 : )

Bill C

Many helpful observations on the visa issue for the K&T trip. We are going on the 10/13/18 departure arriving 2 days early via the Kiliminjaro Tanzania airport and departing at our end from Nairobi. When in the application window I plan to process visas directly with Tanzania and the E-Visa site for Kenya. Am I correct that both will be for SINGLE ENTRY visas? Thanks in advance.

Virginia Travelers1

We are going on that trip July 14th and spent a lot of time looking at the various ways of getting the VISAS. Since we live 20 miles from DC we thought of simply taking our documents to the Embassies but we read that there have been problems with lost passports and other paperwork so we decided on an alternative. We wanted an intermediary even though it would be more expensive and thus looked at Visa Central and a company called CIBT Visas but the online process for both was very confusing so we looked again for alternatives. Simply googled the top 5 VISA and Passport companies and found the top 5. We looked at each one (they all looked very good) and the one that seemed to have the simplest process, the cheapest price, and was close to our home in Virginia was Passport Visa Express. It is very highly rated. We can drop the paperwork off and 8 working days later pick the VISAS up for BOTH countries. You can also mail in your documents very easily. The web site is easy to understand as is the process. Good luck.

Sealord

Bill C wrote:

Many helpful observations on the visa issue for the K&T trip. We are going on the 10/13/18 departure arriving 2 days early via the Kiliminjaro Tanzania airport and departing at our end from Nairobi. When in the application window I plan to process visas directly with Tanzania and the E-Visa site for Kenya. Am I correct that both will be for SINGLE ENTRY visas? Thanks in advance.

The Kenya eVisa is single entry, but I have also read that it is good for re-entry from Tanzania. If you plan on doing that, you should confirm from your own sources. I believe it is on the Kenya Embassy website. The Tanzania visa is a multiple entry visa good for 90 days at a time for one year.

joycesw

Bill,
As Sealord states both are single entry visas, and even if you arrive in Kenya, travel to Tanzania and then return to Kenya, it is a single entry visa. The Kenya embassy site states that when you are returning from certain countries ( Tanzania is one) that a single entry is all that is needed. We did it and live to tell the tale!

Sealord

joycesw wrote:

Bill,
As Sealord states both are single entry visas, and even if you arrive in Kenya, travel to Tanzania and then return to Kenya, it is a single entry visa. The Kenya embassy site states that when you are returning from certain countries ( Tanzania is one) that a single entry is all that is needed. We did it and live to tell the tale!

Sorry. I didn’t say that. The Tanzania visa is a “multiple” entry visa that is good for one year.

VPL

Sealord wrote:

I can now report the ‘do it yourself’ results. We did it ourselves for our first Africa trip whcih required two mailings. This time we did the Kenya eVisa approximately 82 days prior to entry as it is good for 90 days prior, and then they can aurthorize a stay of up to 90 days. We mailed our Tanzania visa request on the same day. The Kenya eViasas were issued in about 3 business days. I had to use my PC to download them as their system did not seem to recognize my iPad. We used Priority Mail, and enclosed a prepaid Priority Mail envelope for their return. We mailed them on April 25, and got them back yesterday May 12 ... or 18 days total. The embassy actually only had them for about ten business days, as they arrived there late on a Friday, and we received them on Saturday. The priority mail is a two day trackable service and the post office should be able to give you tracking numbers for both envelopes. Or you could use Fedex. The Kenya eVisa was a steep learning curve for the first visa request as they ask for much more information than what is on the ‘paper’ visa request. You will need to scan your passport, your visa photo, and your airline itinerary into your compurter and know where those files are in order to upload them to the visa application. You also need to know the name, addrsss, telephone number, and email address of the Amboselli Serena hotel, and the road entry point into Kenya which is Namanga. And, I think strange, they want the full names of your parents. If you have been to Kenya before, they want those dates. If you have all that info in front of you as I did for my wife’s application, it will take about 20 minutes to do the application. If you don’t, the application will ‘timeout’ while you are looking for it or scanning it, and it will take several attempts to get it done ... that was my application.

The first eVisa request had me tearing my hair out, the second was easy. And, I’m always nervous when the passports are in transit, but overall I still do not see it as too difficult to do on your own. I’m fairly certain that VisaCentral requires the same information, but I’m sure some would feel better having someone ‘talk’ you through it and do the paperwork, and the ‘computer’ work. But, you still have to ‘ship’ your passports to VisaCentral, they have to get them to the embassy and back, and then ship them back to you. That sounds like more ‘loss’ opportunities than just ‘shippiing’ to the embassy and back. Personally, I don’t like giving someone around $400 to do something that I can do fairly easily on my own. Now I need to see the Doc and get a malaria pill prescription, and there will be ‘checks’ in all the boxes.

VPL

Thanks sealord for the detailed input. Appreciate anyone can post the link for Kenya EVisa application. There are many ads for Kenya Evisa application and I don't know which one is the official channel. Our KT tour starts August 22 and we are scrambling to get the visas done. Do I need to send my passports to Kenya consulate for EVisa? If that is not required, I can send my passports to Tanzania Embassy now and apply for Kenya eVisa at the same time. Do I need to send my husband and my Tanzania visa applications in two separate envelopes and provide two separate prepaid return envelopes? Thanks in advance for all your help and guidance.

AlanS

VPL wrote:

Thanks sealord for the detailed input. Appreciate anyone can post the link for Kenya EVisa application. There are many ads for Kenya Evisa application and I don't know which one is the official channel. Our KT tour starts August 22 and we are scrambling to get the visas done. Do I need to send my passports to Kenya consulate for EVisa? If that is not required, I can send my passports to Tanzania Embassy now and apply for Kenya eVisa at the same time. Do I need to send my husband and my Tanzania visa applications in two separate envelopes and provide two separate prepaid return envelopes? Thanks in advance for all your help and guidance.

Kenya

All is explained here and at the e-visa link. Google is your friend.

Kenya Embassy: http://www.kenyaembassydc.org/

FRAUDULENT e-VISA APPLICATION WEBSITES

The Embassy of Republic of Kenya wishes to alert all potential e-visa applicants to Kenya of the existence of scam sites " http://www.kenya-evisa-online.com and https://www.kenyaonlinevisa.org". These sites which are designed in such a way that can be mistaken for the official Government of Kenya e-visa website, charge USD 120 and USD 99 respectively for normal e-visa cases as opposed to the USD 50 charged by the Government of Kenya.

This is therefore to encourage prospective Kenya e-visa applicants to make their application through the official Government website http://evisa.go.ke/evisa.html

Note: the Government of Kenya will not be responsible for any loss of monies or extra charges occasioned through the use of the unofficial scam site.
For further enquiries contact the Embassy of Kenya in Washington DC.

http://evisa.go.ke/evisa.html

You don't send in your passport- that is why it is called an e-visa.

Tanzania

https://tanzaniaembassy-us.org/?page_id=76

It is not addressed anywhere, but I would put each application, passport, supporting documents, payment, and prepaid self-addressed trackable mail or courier service return envelope, in its own manila envelope and put both envelopes in a large trackable postal service or courier mailer. That makes it easier for both to be worked on at the same time, both can be tracked if mailed back separately. It is what we did. We got our passports and visas back one day apart the following week.

Sealord

I’ve done this a couple times, and I’ve always used the same envelope for both passports and the required documents. I enclose one return envelope. Make sure to get tracking info for the return envelope as well. The first time I did this I called the embassy to ask if one envelope is OK, and they said yes. So we received both passports back at the same time in one envelope.

I did use paperclips to keep the paperwork for each passport separate and organized.

VPL

Thanks AlanS and Sealord for all your help. I have tried to call the Tanzania Embassy for the past three days and no one ever picked up. Their voice mailbox is always full and can't leave any messages. I also emailed them but received same automatic replies with links to their website so I still have NO answer if I can mail my visa applications in and where to mail them. I am concerned about mailing the application package to the embassy myself without going through visacentral because a Tauck representative told me that he is NOT sure if visa applications will be accepted by mail to Tanzania DC embassy. I live in San Francisco and there is no Tanzania consulate here. Can I just mail my visa applications to the DC Tanzania embassy address on their website? There is no answer on their website regarding this. Many thanks.

AlanS

VPL wrote:

Thanks AlanS and Sealord for all your help. I have tried to call the Tanzania Embassy for the past three days and no one ever picked up. Their voice mailbox is always full and can't leave any messages. I also emailed them but received same automatic replies with links to their website so I still have NO answer if I can mail my visa applications in and where to mail them. I am concerned about mailing the application package to the embassy myself without going through visacentral because a Tauck representative told me that he is NOT sure if visa applications will be accepted by mail to Tanzania DC embassy. I live in San Francisco and there is no Tanzania consulate here. Can I just mail my visa applications to the DC Tanzania embassy address on their website? There is no answer on their website regarding this. Many thanks.

Did you check out the links I posted? The address where you mail it is in right at the top of the application!

THE EMBASSY OF THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA
1232 22nd St. NW, Washington DC, 20037

VPL

Alan, I did. That was the address I plan to send my visa applications. However, Tauck representative statement that applications may need to be submitted in person alarmed me. Also, getting no response from the Tanzania embassy made me uncomfortable too. Sealord, did you submit the Tanzania applications by mail to the same address this May? My package is all ready to go. Thanks again.

Sealord

Yes. That is the address I used four years ago and last month ... still works. (;-). Not all Tauck reps are equal. You do not have to go in person. I had the same experience this year trying to call them on the phone, but I did get prompt responses to several email type messages. I think I sent them from their website.

Small world. I am 9 miles north of you in San Anselmo.

VPL

Sealord, thanks again for your help. I am reassured that your Tanzania visas were approved only last month by mailing the passports in. I will send my package in tomorrow. Dear fellow Tauck travelers are real helpful and I really appreciate everybody help. Our KT Classic Safari tour starts on Aug 22.
When are you going? Have fun and share your experience. May be we will cross path one day )

Sealord

It sounds like you are on track now. We are going July 14, actually leave home July 11. We go to an airport hotel a day early and leave our car there mostly because of the “bridge”. We last did K&T July 5, 2014. I know the visa thing can be daunting. When I was a non-sked pilot I used to spend a day in Hong Kong just getting visas. You could get visas to almost anywhere in the world within about a three block radius. It is a strange thing, but there are places in the world where pilots need visas but tourists do not. France was one of them. ??? I also flew on an Air India contract as an Air India Captain, but if I flew into India as a passenger to work a trip, I needed a visa. ???