What Documents Do I Need for International Travel? (Part One)

Adventure is a State of Mind

When traveling internationally, it is important to be familiar with the paperwork you need before sitting down to make your reservations. I said “to be familiar” with the documentation rather than having it all in hand because you will not actually need much of it until the day you leave on your trip, although having it with you certainly can make the reservations process go more smoothly.

What Do You Need?

A passport is required for any individual traveling outside of their home country, with a few exceptions. For example, a U.S. citizen can visit Canada with either a passport or an approved passport card. For most countries, however, assume that you will need a passport and possibly a visa. A passport is issued by the country of which you are a citizen, regardless of where you may be living.

A visa is a document that is issued by the country you want to visit and indicates the maximum length of time you can remain in that country and the reason you are visiting. If you are reading this blog for guidance in planning your travel adventures, you are most likely only going to apply for tourist visas. There are other types of visas, however, such as student visas and work visas. Those types of visas will often allow you to be in a country for a longer period of time. Not every country requires a visa for entry, but more on that later.

When Do You Need Your Passport?

When you book international plane tickets, for example, the airline will ask for the date of birth, proper name, and passport number of each of the individuals traveling together. If you are booking the tickets, you will absolutely need each individual’s legal name (as it appears on their passport) and date of birth. It’s also helpful if you have the passport number at that time as it will save you the hassle of having to go back and enter it at a later time, although that is usually an option. (If you by any chance have a touch of OCD in your personality, this is where that trait will serve you well!)

Occasionally you may also need to provide your passport information when booking a hotel or home rental, although this does not occur very often when making reservations. It’s more likely that you might need to show your passport at the time that you check into your lodging than when you make your reservations.

Once you’ve used your passport for making plane reservations (and possibly reservations for where you’re going to stay), you likely won’t need it again until the day you depart on your trip. Make sure you put it someplace safe that you can remember. Not having your passport on the day you plan to leave the country is a guarantee that you are not going to be allowed to get on a flight!

Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.

Gustave Flaubert

Do I Need a Visa?

Once you have decided on a country to visit, it is important to research whether a visa is required. Don’t take your friend’s or neighbor’s word for it. It is crucial that you look up the legal requirements to visit a country. You can do this by visiting your country’s state department website (travel.state.gov for Americans), or you can also do an internet search of “What countries require visas for __________ citizens?” or “Does __________ require a visa for __________ citizens?” Just make sure any websites you visit with this method have updated information.

As you can tell from how I phrased the searches, the necessity of a visa is deterimined not only by the country to which you are traveling but also by the citizenship of the traveler. If a visa is required, look up the process and get started as soon as possible. Often you will be required to send or take your passport to the appropriate consulate or embassy to have the visa affixed to your passport (for a fee, of course). Before mailing your passport, make sure to take a photo or make a copy of it so you have the number available when making plane reservations. (And to get a replacement passport if it is, God Forbid!, lost in the process of getting a visa.)

How Difficult Is It to Get a Visa?

The process of obtaining a visa can be somewhat complicated. It may require extra documents or even an interview, depending on the country. At other times, the process can be relatively simple. For example, Japan requires that your passport be valid for at least six months and will require that you be photographed and fingerprinted upon arrival. If you meet those requirements when you arrive, however, your 90-day tourist visa will be issued when you arrive at the airport. Easy peasy compared to needing to send your passport off to get a visa.

Additional Considerations

Something to be aware of is that if you are flying to one country “in transit” to another, you may still need a valid visa for that country, even if you plan to only stay long enough to board a plane to your final destination. It sounds complicated, but just remember to check every country where you will have feet on the ground, even if only in the airport. Again, you can find most of the information you need online with your country’s state department — travel.state.gov for Americans.

While you are checking on visa requirements, also check the requirements regarding passport expiration dates. Some countries will not even let you in to visit for a day if your passport is less that six months from its expiration date.

Changes Coming Soon

If you subscribe to my weekly newsletter (yes, this is a shameless promotional comment!), you already know that there is a new visa-like requirement for traveling to many countries in Europe from the U.S. and Canada and other previously “visa-exempt countries.”

In 2024, how we travel to Europe from the U.S. and Canada (or any other “visa-exempt countries“) is changing. We will need to apply for an ETIAS (European Travel Information and Authorization System) authorization before traveling to participating European countries. A start date for the requirement has not yet been released, and applications are not yet being accepted, but you can keep up with updates here. It sounds like it will be a fairly simple procedure, but it is one added piece of documentation that you will need to obtain if you want to travel to most European countries.

How organized are you when it comes to paperwork? Do you need to create a system to help you keep track of your travel paperwork? What can you do to make sure you obtain the needed documents by the date you need them as well as to keep track of them when traveling? To read more about managing the documents you need when traveling internationally, make sure to check out Part Two of this post.