'Hassle' and 'humiliation': What it's like traveling with a weak passport

Alex from South Africa lives successful Singapore and often travels overseas for concern and pleasure. But her passport is simply a large deterrent to free-and-easy question — truthful overmuch truthful that she is consenting to "gladly" commercialized it for another.

"If idiosyncratic offered maine a antithetic passport, oregon my children a antithetic passport, I would drawback it with some hands," said Alex, who asked to beryllium identified lone by her archetypal sanction for privateness reasons.

South Africa's passport is astatine 51st presumption successful The Henley Passport Index, which firmly places it successful the mediate of the planetary ranking that measures the number of destinations holders tin sojourn without a question visa.

People with beardown passports, including friends, typically don't recognize the cost, clip and frustrations of traveling connected a passport that doesn't beryllium adjacent the apical of the list, Alex said.

"Why bash I person to upload each azygous leafage of my passport from 10 years agone to spell connected vacation to Australia? If you're traveling for business, what you person to through... is crazy."

A caller travel to Europe with her spouse required visas to the Schengen Area arsenic good arsenic the United Kingdom, a process that took six weeks. "We had to beryllium precise cautious with timelines," she said.

As she had to crook successful her passport for the visa application, she was incapable to question during the full process. "If you're idiosyncratic similar me, who travels regularly for work, it's an issue," she said.

Preparing a stack afloat of documents tin besides beryllium a frustrating acquisition for those not holding a top-ranked passport.

Alex said a erstwhile visa exertion to Europe required her fiscal statements to beryllium stamped by the slope — a item she learned lone aft visiting the visa center. Unfortunately, she couldn't find a slope subdivision consenting to supply this service. After aggregate rejections, 1 agreed to people watermarks for $10 per page.

In summation to that hassle, each travel to the visa exertion halfway outgo her an further $50.

"I deliberation we dropped astir $600 to $700, if not much ... getting a visa to spell to Italy for six full days," she said.

To debar these problems, Alex present prioritizes visiting visa-free destinations. "It makes a immense quality if you're going to bash a one-week vacation and you got to fork retired $1,000 successful visa fees," she said.

Chinese passport holder Lily — sanction changed arsenic she requested anonymity owed to her employer's strict policies connected nationalist statements — recounted arrogant visa officers who person asked "insulting questions," specified arsenic whether she plans to overstay her visa period.

She was asked to provide criminal records, oregon deficiency thereof, successful her applications, which took further clip and wealth spent connected taxis to obtain.

Alex said determination is simply a level of humiliation successful being taxable to truthful galore question restrictions. People with weaker passports tin beryllium educated, upstanding members of their societies, but they indispensable inactive spell done interviews and leap done different hoops to travel, whereas radical without these credentials tin easy participate countries if their governments person visa-free agreements with 1 another, she said.

Lily, who has faced travel-related difficulties portion studying abroad, said it's stopped her from applying for occupation roles that necessitate predominant planetary travel, she said. "It's not adjacent lone the indignity ... successful getting the visa successful the archetypal place, it's besides past the mode you're treated astatine the border," she added.

"I would deliberation that if I wasn't holding this passport — similar if I had a British passport, past possibly everything would go easier for me," she said.

As to whether radical recognize however hard question tin beryllium for those with weaker passports to travel, she said it's similar asking a antheral to recognize "how hard it is to springiness birth."

Her traveling experiences adjacent made her see getting a Hong Kong passport, but it requires, among different conditions, seven years of living and moving there.

Lily echoed Alex's sentiment, saying that she loves her country, but would "still privation to alteration the passport."

Pantha Roy, a Singapore-based entrepreneur, said traveling arsenic an Indian nationalist has outgo him further money, clip and effort, particularly erstwhile researching the "nitty gritties" of each country's visa requirements.

He described however helium had to program mode successful beforehand portion backpacking successful South America, adding that immoderate countries required him to disclose his nonstop introduction points and mode of transportation.

Having to find retired these requirements successful item takes immoderate of the amusive retired of travel, helium said. "You cannot beryllium that spontaneous."

While traveling successful Europe with friends, Roy recalled however they could question with easiness and publication cheaper flights that departed wrong a week, but helium could not,.

Even for abbreviated trips, "you request to commencement readying similar 3 months before" to guarantee determination is capable clip to get a visa assignment positive support time, earlier the trip.

"Because of the hassle ... I conscionable spell determination else, alternatively than going to Europe," helium said.

Unlike Alex and Lily, Roy said helium isn't looking to commercialized his passport for 1 adjacent though helium finds it a hassle: "I similar having an Indian passport ... I would not springiness it up."