Thanks to COVID and its many variants, travel today is even more complicated than it used to be. Fortunately there’s a simple way to uncomplicate it.
Here’s the challenge: In addition to getting yourself from point A to point B, arranging accommodation, passports, and visas, you also need to be aware of quickly changing COVID-related travel restrictions, which vary widely from one country (or even one state of the United States) to another.
It’s a lot to keep track of.
And then, of course, there’s the bureaucratic process of obtaining the right travel documents.
Fortunately, there’s help available, and it’s only a click away. It’s a website called iVisa.com.
The site will show you exactly what travel documents you need, and will help you with the forms and bureaucracy to make a relatively seamless experience (for a fee).
Navigating iVisa
When you first arrive at iVisa, you’ll see a form that asks where you’re traveling from and to. Just to test it out, I said I’m from the United States, traveling to Portugal.
After I clicked the big green Get Started button, I saw this.
Documents you’ll need
It told me I need a Health Declaration to enter the country. I set my passport nationality to US, and clicked Apply Now.
The next thing I saw was a page with a form on it, and a prominent notice at the top of the page that filling out the form would take five minutes, and cost me $20 for standard delivery. Good to know.
After filling out the form, I had two additional delivery options available and a choice to register my travel with the US Embassy ($12.95) and purchase iVisa Fee Protection ($4.95), which waives future fees if I can’t travel on the dates I selected and have to reapply later.
After that, I had a chance to review my information and pay.
Now, can I fill out the Health Declaration some other way? Of course I can. I think. I turned to Google and searched for “how can I get a health declaration to enter Portugal from the US.”
The results told me I needed a Passenger Locator Form.
What is a Passenger Locator Form?
Passenger Locator Forms (PLFs) are used by public health authorities to facilitate contact tracing in case travelers are exposed to an infectious disease during their travel by plane, ship (cruise/ferry), rail, bus or automobile.
I didn’t find anything that told me how to go about getting one. Not terribly helpful, is it?
Getting a Visa
If you’re traveling to a country that requires a visa, like India, you’ll choose from three different visa types. You’ll also select either an electronic or paper visa.
A sidebar shows you what you need to know about COVID-related requirements.
This is reassuring, to know that I don’t have to search all over the web to find information and hope it’s up to date!
About iVisa
The company’s been in business for over eight years, has a 4.5 star rating on TrustPilot, and tons of testimonials. They’ve also provided documents for more than 300,000 travelers.
One of the features I like is that they have their own team of immigration experts review documents before they’re submitted to the appropriate government, to ensure that you’ll get your approval quickly and easily.
In short, spending a few extra dollars can save you a ton of time and aggravation and get you to your destination country with a lot less hassle.
Some of the links on this page may be affiliate links. That means, if you click and purchase, you pay exactly the same amount and I’ll earn a small commission. These fees help me to keep the free information flowing.