Visa requirements for crew members
Visa requirements for crew members are administrative entry restrictions imposed by countries on members of the crew during transit or turnaround.
These requirements for permission to enter a territory for a short duration and perform their predefined duties in the given areas are distinct from actual formal permission for an alien to enter and remain in a territory.
The validity of transit visas for crew members are usually limited to short terms such as several hours to 10 days depending on the size of the country and the circumstances. Visa policies for crew members are set by the country and apply during transit or when joining the vessel or aircraft. It is usually illegal for crew members to perform repairs or do similar work without work permits when either in port, or when travelling in territorial waters. A few countries offer a visa waiver program or do not issue a crew visa, but allow entry for a limited time with mandatory clearance documents.
Overview
An application for a crew visa in advance of arrival may afford non-citizens clearance to enter a country and to remain there within specified constraints and regions without a prohibition on employment. They are usually required to enter or exit the country with the aircraft, train or ship they work with.[1] Many countries require crew to obtain relevant crew visas, so crew often carry second passports allowing the first to be submitted for visas, while the second passport is a backup held ready in case of a trip at short notice. Crew can obtain visas directly from embassies; however, many companies have a 3rd-party provider that shorten the application process for multi-entry visas. Pilots, seamen, air hostesses, flight attendants, stewards, or employees on board a ship whose services is required for normal operation.
Visa requirements
Country | Visa requirement | Notes |
---|---|---|
Visa required | Australia offers a Transit visa, Subclass 771 that crew member and their dependents transit through the country for 72 hours.[2] The crew members are also required to produce a police certificate from each country they have lived in for 12 months or more during the last 10 years after turning to 16 years of age.[3] | |
Visa not required[4] | A transit visa is not required through Rio de Janeiro Galeao International or Sao Paulo Guarulhos. The crew member must carry a valid passport with a validity of at least 6 months with 2 blank visa pages and all necessary documents for the next destination.[5] | |
Visa not required | Flight crew flying into Canada while on duty do not require a visa- or an eTA, in case of visa-exempt nationalities other than the US- to enter the country.[6] The length of stay for commercial aircrew is a maximum of 48 hours. | |
Visa required | A crew member employed on board in China needs a crew visa, C Visa.[7] The visa is issued to foreign crew members and their family members engaged in cross-border transport activities. They are required to enter into or exit from China with the aircraft, train or ship they are crew for. They are required to complete one visa application form V.2013 per person, and produce their actual passport, photograph, an introduction letter from the employer on business letterhead, a copy of employee ID and other relevant documents. A five-year multiple-entry visa is only issued to US passport holders. Otherwise, the multiple entry visa is valid for a period of 2 years.[8] | |
Visa required | Visa on arrival if holding a valid visa or permanent resident card for the US or Canada. France has free visa policy for all countries except Albania, Mongolia, Belize, Samoa, Bhutan, St Kitts & Nevis, Dominica, Tuvalu, Hong Kong, Israel and United States of America. The crew members from these countries require a circulation visa valid for one year and American and Israeli crew members visa is valid for five years with respect to reciprocity. During the time of application, the passport validity must exceed by at least 3 months.[9] | |
Visa required | The crew member who has Schengen visa is free to transit from Germany. The German Embassy can receive visa applications from accredited shipping agencies and airlines, where crew member need has to establish his identity as a traveler and declare the purpose of his visit.[10] | |
Visa required[11] | The Embassy of India does not issue a crew visa directly, however it is issued by Indian missions and posts. Pilots and crew members are required to needing prior clearance from authorities in India which includes, landing permit issued by the DGCA, ICAO issued by the FAA, Certificate of Incorporation of the airline or cargo operator, Letter of Invitation, business letter and address proof.[12] A landing permit facility, up to a maximum of 72 hours, can be given to a foreigner who enters India by Air or Sea, without a valid visa, under emergent condition connected with or relevant to an event or action.[13] | |
Visa not required | Passport holders from Visa free countries who wish to enter Indonesia for the transit can do so without visa through all air, sea or land crossing points. | |
Visa required | The crew members are required to present a business letter from their company mentioning purpose of the trip, a financial guarantee statement, specify applicant's position, annual salary and employment term. A letter of invitation from the Japan’s company office is also required to visit in Japan.[14] | |
Visa not required | Crew members of flights & ships do not require a visa in Sri Lanka. It offers free visa policy to the crew members for all countries.[15] | |
Visa required[16] | A crew member serving on board in the United States needs a crew visa C-1, D, C1/D or a modified B-1 visa. To apply for a crew visa, the crew members must demonstrate purpose of your trip is solely for transit or crew purposes, not to be paid by a U.S. source, stay for a limited period of time and evidence of funds to cover all expenses during the stay.[17] | |
Visa required[18] | UK Visas and Immigration department offers CRM01 for seafarers and CRM02 for Aircrew. The immigration act 1971 cover seafarers under Section 8(1) and aircrew under Section 33(1).[19] The aircrew members must have a valid passport, authorized crew member certificate or a pilot’s licence.[20] The security guards, trainee crew members and loadmasters in the country are not considered as operating crew and they need applicable visa to work as a crew.[21] EEA nationals coming on a short term visit are not subject to restrictions, they need only either a National Identity Card or a passport. | |
Visa not required | The Embassy of Vietnam also does not issue a crew visa, the crew member needs to provide a letter on the company letterhead describing the purpose of their trip, dates of entry and exit and providing a financial guarantee, signed by a company representative.[22] Vietnam has visa exemptions policy for the flight crew members of 12 countries including United States, Qatar, Uzbekistan, Japan, Australia, Russia, Hong Kong, South Korea, France, Kazakhstan, Poland and Luxembourg.[23] The Visa exemption policy for flight crew members was first put into force in 2002. | |
Non-visa restrictions
Blank passport pages
Many countries require a minimum number of blank pages to be available in the passport being presented, typically one or two pages.[24] Endorsement pages, which often appear after the visa pages, are not counted as being available.
Vaccination
Many African countries, including Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Uganda, and Zambia, require all incoming passengers to have a current International Certificate of Vaccination, as does the South American territory of French Guiana.[25]
Some other countries require vaccination only if the passenger is coming from an infected area or has visited one recently.[26]
Passport validity length
In the absence of specific bilateral agreements, countries requiring passports to be valid for at least 6 more months on arrival include Afghanistan, Algeria, Anguilla, Bahrain,[27] Bhutan, Botswana, British Virgin Islands, Brunei, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Curaçao, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Fiji, Gabon, Guinea Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel,[28] Jordan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Laos, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mongolia, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Oman, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Qatar, Rwanda, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tokelau, Tonga, Turkey, Tuvalu, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Vanuatu, Venezuela, and Vietnam.[29]
Countries requiring passports valid for at least 4 months on arrival include Micronesia and Zambia.
Countries requiring passports valid for at least 3 months on arrival include Albania, Honduras, North Macedonia, Panama, and Senegal.
Countries requiring passports with a validity of at least 3 months beyond the date of intended departure include Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Nauru, Moldova, and New Zealand. Similarly, the EEA countries of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, all European Union countries (except the Republic of Ireland) together with Switzerland and the United Kingdom also require 3 months validity beyond the date of the bearer's intended departure unless the bearer is an EEA or Swiss national.
Bermuda requires passports to be valid for at least 45 days upon entry.
Countries that require a passport validity of at least one month beyond the date of intended departure include Eritrea, Hong Kong, Lebanon, Macau, and South Africa.
Other countries require either a passport valid on arrival or a passport valid throughout the period of the intended stay. Some countries have bilateral agreements with other countries to shorten the period of passport validity required for each other's citizens[30][31] or even accept passports that have already expired (but not been cancelled).[32]
Criminal record
Some countries, including Australia, Canada, Fiji, New Zealand and the United States,[33] routinely deny entry to non-citizens who have a criminal record.
Persona non grata
The government of a country can declare a diplomat persona non grata, banning their entry into that country. In non-diplomatic use, the authorities of a country may also declare a foreigner persona non grata permanently or temporarily, usually because of unlawful activity.
Israeli stamps
Kuwait,[34] Lebanon,[35] Libya,[36] Sudan,[37] Syria,[38] and Yemen[39] do not allow entry to people with passport stamps from Israel or whose passports have either a used or an unused Israeli visa, or where there is evidence of previous travel to Israel such as entry or exit stamps from neighbouring border posts in transit countries such as Jordan and Egypt.
To circumvent this Arab League boycott of Israel, the Israeli immigration services have now mostly ceased to stamp foreign nationals' passports on either entry to or exit from Israel (unless the entry is for some work-related purposes). Since 15 January 2013, Israel no longer stamps foreign passports at Ben Gurion Airport. Passports are still (as of 22 June 2017) stamped at Erez when travelling into and out of Gaza. Also, passports are still stamped (as of 22 June 2017) at the Jordan Valley/Sheikh Hussein and Yitzhak Rabin/Arava land borders with Jordan.
The Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage claims that having an Israeli stamp does not disqualify someone from visiting Saudi Arabia.[40]
Iran refuses admission to holders of passports containing an Israeli visa or stamp that is less than 12 months old.
Armenian ethnicity
Due to a state of war existing between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the government of Azerbaijan not only bars entry of Armenian citizens, but also all citizens and nationals of any other country who are of Armenian descent, into the Republic of Azerbaijan.[41][42]
Azerbaijan also strictly bans any visit by foreign citizens to the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh[43] (the de facto independent Republic of Artsakh), its surrounding territories, and the Azerbaijani exclaves of Karki, Yuxarı Əskipara, Barxudarlı, and Sofulu which are de jure part of Azerbaijan but under the control of Armenia, without the prior consent of the government of Azerbaijan. Foreign citizens who enter these territories will be permanently banned from entering the Republic of Azerbaijan[44] and will be included in their "list of personae non gratae".[45] As of 2 September 2019, the list mentioned 852 people.
Upon request, the authorities of the largely unrecognised Republic of Artsakh may attach their visa and/or stamps to a separate piece of paper in order to avoid detection of travel to their territory.
Biometrics
Several countries mandate that all travellers, or all foreign travellers, be fingerprinted on arrival and will refuse admission to or even arrest travellers who refuse to comply. In some countries, such as the United States, this may apply even to transit passengers who merely wish to quickly change planes rather than go landside.[46]
Fingerprinting countries include Afghanistan,[47][48] Argentina,[49] Brunei, Cambodia,[50] China,[51] Ethiopia,[52] Ghana, Guinea,[53] India, Japan,[54][55] Kenya (fingerprints and photo),[56] Malaysia upon entry and departure,[57] Paraguay, Saudi Arabia,[58] Singapore, South Korea,[59] Taiwan, Thailand,[60] Uganda[61] and the United States.
Many countries also require a photo be taken of people entering the country. The United States, which does not fully implement exit control formalities at its land frontiers (although long mandated by its legislature),[62] [63] [64] intends to implement facial recognition for passengers departing from international airports to identify people who overstay their visa.[65]
Together with fingerprint and face recognition, iris scanning is one of three biometric identification technologies internationally standardised since 2006 by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for use in e-passports[66] and the United Arab Emirates conducts iris scanning on visitors who need to apply for a visa.[67][68] The United States Department of Homeland Security has announced plans to greatly increase the biometric data it collects at US borders.[69] In 2018, Singapore began trials of iris scanning at three land and maritime immigration checkpoints.[70][71]
References
- "Crew Member Visa". US Embassy in Iceland. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
- "Transit visa (subclass 771)".
- "Transit Visa (Subclass 771) - Checklist" (PDF).
- "5 Things Business Aviation Operators Should Know About Flight Crew Visa Requirements".
- "Brazil (Flight Crew) - G3 Visas & Passports" (PDF).
- "Find out if you need an Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) or a visitor visa".
- "Chinese Visa".
- "China Crew Visa - C Visa".
- "Airline crew member visa".
- "Visa Types".
- "Yes - A visa is required for travel to India".
- "Obtaining Crew Visas and Temporary Landing Permits for India – Process Has Been Streamlined".
- "Temporary Landing Permit".
- "Visa Requirements JAPAN" (PDF).
- "Visa General Information".
- "Crewmember Visa".
- "Transit/Ship Crew Visas".
- "Crew members (entry clearance guidance)".
- "Seafarers: CRM01".
- "Aircrew: CRM02".
- "Aircrew - Gov.uk" (PDF).
- "Vietnam Visa Info DC" (PDF).
- "Vietnam visa exemptions for flight crew members".
- "Country Information". Bureau of Consular Affairs, U.S. Department of State. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
- Agence régionale de sante Guyane (2 September 2018). "Fièvre jaune" (in French). Retrieved 27 August 2019.
- Country list - Yellow fever vaccination requirements and recommendations; and malaria situation; and other vaccination requirement
- Bahrain government website
- "PASSPORTS AND VISA | GoIsrael - the Official Website of Tourism to Israel".
- Timatic
- "Foreign Affairs Manual, 9 FAM 403.9-3(B)(2) f". U.S. Department of State. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
- "How long should my passport be valid when traveling to the United States?" (PDF). U.S. Department of State. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
- "Countries whose citizens are allowed to enter Turkey with their expired passports". Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Republic of Turkey. Archived from the original on 8 October 2015. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
Countries whose citizens are allowed to enter Turkey with their expired passports: 1. Germany – Passports expired within the last year / ID’s expired within the last year, 2. Belgium - Passports expired within the last 5 years, 3. France - Passports expired within the last 5 years, 4. Spain - Passports expired within the last 5 years, 5. Switzerland - Passports expired within the last 5 years, 6. Luxemburg - Passports expired within the last 5 years, 7. Portugal - Passports expired within the last 5 years, 8. Bulgaria – Valid ordinary passport
- Government of Canada -- Overcome criminal convictions
- "Travel Report - Kuwait". Voyage.gc.ca. 16 November 2012. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
- Travel Advice for Lebanon - Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Archived 2008-12-24 at the Wayback Machine and Lebanese Ministry of Tourism Archived 2009-03-27 at the Wayback Machine
- "Travel Advice for Libya - Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade". Smartraveller.gov.au. Archived from the original on 22 June 2013. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
- "Travel Advice for Sudan - Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade". Smartraveller.gov.au. Archived from the original on 5 July 2013. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
- Travel Advice for Syria - Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Archived 2008-12-19 at the Wayback Machine and Syrian Ministry of Tourism
- "Travel Advice for Yemen - Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade". Smartraveller.gov.au. Archived from the original on 20 August 2011. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
- "It is possible to visit KSA with an Israeli stamp on the passport?". Visit Saudi. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
- Azerbaijan Country Page Archived 2009-03-08 at the Wayback Machine. NCSJ: Advocates on behalf of Jews in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States & Eurasia. Accessed 23 May 2010.
- Azerbaijan doesn't allow Armenians in the country. - Panarmenian.net
- "Azerbaijan Country Page of the NCSJ (advocates on behalf of Jews in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States & Eurasia) accessed 23 May 2010". Archived from the original on 8 March 2009. Retrieved 26 May 2010.
- "Warning for the foreign nationals wishing to travel to the occupied territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
- "List of foreign citizens illegally visited occupied territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Archived from the original on 10 July 2017. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
- Calder, Simon (24 April 2017). "Airline lobbying for a relaxation of draconian rules for London-Auckland travellers". The Independent. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
Travellers heading west from the UK to New Zealand may soon be able to avoid the onerous requirement to clear US border control during the refuelling stop at Los Angeles airport (LAX). Unlike almost every other country in the world, the US insists on a full immigration check even for travellers who simply intend to re-board their plane to continue onwards to a foreign destination. Air New Zealand, which flies daily from Heathrow via Los Angeles to Auckland, says there are currently “strict requirements for travellers” in transit at LAX. Through passengers to Auckland on flight NZ1 or Heathrow on NZ2 must apply in advance for an ESTA (online visa) even though they have no intention of staying in the US. They also have to undergo screening by the Transportation Security Administration.
- "How to enter Afghanistan. The Entry Requirements for Afghanistan - CountryReports". Countryreports.org.
- Nordland, Rod (19 November 2011). "In Afghanistan, Big Plans to Gather Biometric Data". Nytimes.com.
- "Argentina strengthens migratory control". Archived from the original on 2 December 2013.
- "Cambodia Foreign Entry Requirements". Us-passport-information.com.
- "China to Start Fingerprinting Foreign Visitors". Air Canada. 31 January 2019. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
Effective April 27, 2018, border control authorities at all of China’s ports of entry, including its airports, will start collecting the fingerprints of all foreign visitors aged between 14 and 70. Diplomatic passport holders and beneficiaries of reciprocal agreements are exempted..
- "Äthiopien: Reise- und Sicherheitshinweise". Auswaertiges-amt.de.
- "Japan fingerprints foreigners as anti-terror move". Reuters. 20 November 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2017 – via Reuters.
- "Anger as Japan moves to fingerprint foreigners - World". Theage.com.au. 26 October 2007.
- "Immigration & Visas FAQs". Kenya Airports Authority. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
Will visitors still have their digital photo and fingerprints taken at the immigration desk on arrival? Yes, the need to have photos and fingerprints taken upon arrival is to authenticate that the person who applied for the Visa is the same person at the port of entry
- "Malaysia". CountryReports. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
- "Saudi Arabia mandates fingerprints and biometrics for foreigners - SecureIDNews". secureidnews.com. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
- F_161. "S Korea to scan fingerprints of suspicious foreign visitors - People's Daily Online". peopledaily.com.cn. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
- "National News Bureau of Thailand".
- AfricaNews (14 January 2019). "Gemalto awarded Uganda's new e-Immigration solution with fast-track border crossing eKiosks at Entebbe Airport". Africanews. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
- Brown, Theresa Cardinal (9 May 2016). "Biometric Entry-Exit Update: CBP Developing Land Border Process". Bipartisan Policy Center. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
While a requirement for a biometric entry-exit system has been in law for over a decade, it is not yet a reality. Many reasons for the long gestating development have been documented in BPC’s 2014 report Entry-Exit System: Progress, Challenges, and Outlook, including the technological, operational, and cost challenges of creating exit systems and infrastructure where none exist today. However, many critics, especially in Congress, simply accused the Department of Homeland security of dragging its feet... the major operational, logistical, and technical challenge in implementing exit capability at our ports has been the land borders. Unlike airports and seaports, the land border environment is not physically controlled, there is no means to get advance information on who is arriving, and the sheer volume of travel—both vehicular and pedestrian—creates challenges in any system to not further exacerbate delays. While biometric exit for land vehicular traffic is still in the “what if” stage, CBP is moving ahead and piloting systems and technology to use with the large population of pedestrian crossers at the U.S.-Mexico border.
- Lipton, Eric (21 May 2013). "U.S. Quietly Monitors Foreigners' Departures at the Canadian Border". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
Long demanded by lawmakers in Congress, it is considered a critical step to developing a coherent program to curb illegal immigration, as historically about 30 percent to 40 percent of illegal immigrants in the United States arrived on tourist visas or other legal means and then never left, according to estimates by Homeland Security officials.
- LIPTON, Eric (15 December 2006). "Administration to Drop Effort to Track if Visitors Leave". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
Efforts to determine whether visitors actually leave have faltered. Departure monitoring would help officials hunt for foreigners who have not left, if necessary. Domestic security officials say, however, it would be too expensive to conduct fingerprint or facial recognition scans for land departures.
- Campoy, Ana; Campoy, Ana. "The US wants to scan the faces of all air passengers leaving the country". Quartz. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
- "ICAO Document 9303: Machine Readable Travel Documents, Part 9: Deployment of Biometric Identification and Electronic Storage of Data in MRTDs, 7th edition" (PDF). 2015. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
- "Iris Scan Implemented at Doha International Airport". Archived from the original on 8 January 2012.
- "Iris Scanner Could Replace Emirates ID In UAE". SimplyDXB. 11 June 2017. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
The breach of privacy is probably the biggest threat to the biometric technique of iris recognition. Secondly, a device error can false reject or false accept the identity which can also have some heinous consequences. Lastly, the method isn’t the most cost-effective one. It is complex and therefore expensive. Furthermore, the maintenance of devices and data can also be relatively burdensome. However, thanks to the oil money and spending ability of Dubai, they are economically equipped to effectively embrace this system.
- Roberts, Jeff John (12 September 2016). "Homeland Security Plans to Expand Fingerprint and Eye Scanning at Borders". Fortune. Fortune Media IP Limited. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
Unlike with documents, it’s very hard for a traveler to present a forged copy of a fingerprint or iris. That’s why the U.S. Department of Homeland Security plans to vastly expand the amount of biometric data it collects at the borders. According to Passcode, a new program will ramp up a process to scan fingers and eyes in order to stop people entering and exiting the country on someone else’s passport.
- "Singapore tests eye scans at immigration checkpoints". Reuters. 6 August 2018. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
Singapore has started scanning travellers’ eyes at some of its border checkpoints, its immigration authority said on Monday, in a trial of expensive technology that could one day replace fingerprint verification.
- Lee, Vivien (6 August 2018). "5 Reasons We Prefer Iris Scans To Fingerprint Checks At Our Borders In Singapore". Retrieved 24 April 2019.
The iris technology could potentially scan irises covertly, as opposed to the scanning of thumbprints which necessitates active participation from travellers.