EU travellers should beware of VISA problems

[John Rinn]

Hi here from Denmark.

You have a great site, with a ton of information about Tobago, however the crucial VISA bit for the comming months was hidden here in the forums.

After readng alot about the isle and planning/booking a vacation there, it took me by suprise to find out that not only would a VISA for my spouce and i cost in the area of 2-300$, but it would also require us to be without passport for a month or more.

Our conclusion has been to cancel our trip.



As a service to other travellers, you really should put a warning on your front page about the current VISA issues.



It took a massive amount of long phone calls and onlineresearch to find out that a Scandinavian needs to:

1: Find and fill out a blanket.
2: Obtain a passport photo less than 6 months old.
3: Use a courier service to send his passport to London!
4: Wait for initial processing.
5: Pay 100$ online for each passport. (in my case 200$)
6: Wait as much as 4 weeks for processing.
7: Hire a courier to transport the passport home to Denmark again.

Being without passport for 4 weeks seems uhmm.. I don't even know what to say.

Many of us are in jobs where you travel every once in a while, and being without passport makes this tough indeed.


The conclusion is, that we aren't going.
We have contacted our travel agency and they'll research the issue (they didnt know about it), and hope to obtain a refund.

I sincerely hope that alot of people choose to cancel their trips like we just did, since that is the only way to get things changed.

PS: We planned travelling to Tobago late Marts.

[Roland Siebenhorn]

Hi John,
I fully understand your annoyance and the decision to cancel the whole trip to Tobago. I'm not sure if the responsible people know exactly which
effects this visa rule has to the tourist industrie of the Caricom countries.

The simple reason that this information came so late into this forum is
that nobody was aware of! I found a message about this by accident in a German forum and noticed surprisingly that there was nothing written in the myTobago forum.

As you wrote by yourselve, even the travel agencies did not have the foggiest idea about the new visa rules!

I hope that you only postpone your visit to Tobago and it's not out of your mind completely! It's such a beautiful place and well worth a visit!

[Steve Wooler]

Hi John

I totally understand your frustration and feel quite angered by the entire situation myself. However, please note that this site has no official connection with the tourism authorities on Tobago. The latest press release that we managed to obtain told us very little. We are reliant upon readers, like yourself, to obtain and/or confirm the neccesary information.

With all due respect maybe you ought to have used a responsible travel agent/tour operator/airline - after all, they are the people sending you to Tobago and it is their responsibility to notify you of any special requirements. If they did not do so, then they are not fit to do their job.

[John Rinn]

Hi Steve,

It is exactly because you'r independent (and showing up very very high on google when doing a tobago search) that you should put such a warning on your front page.

It would be helping alot of europeans out, so they do not have to spend the time i just did, to find out what's going on.


I have spent some effort trying to find out why the caribean region have implemented this, security doesnt really seem to be the issue when they put countries like Denmark on the list.



Since Tobago is a small island and fighting to keep international turism (despite the crime warnings popping up here'n there), a site like yours can have tremendous impact.


Thus, a warning to travellers here, will be raising red flags everywhere.
- I can think of no better way to get the visa requirement removed than websites posting warnings and travellers cancelling their trips.

/John

[Steve Wooler]

What - and then get sued by someone like you for warning people off when there might not be a problem? I don't think so!

The information is plainly here for all to see; available to all but those who need to be spoon fed. If a subject is of great concern to visitors, it will be clearly visible in the latest Forum listing on the Home page.

The whole point is that I have found it virtually impossible to get accurate information on this subject. Remember, it's not a Tobago problem - it is a CARICOM problem. Believe you me, the authorities in Tobago are apparently just as angry about it as everyone else. After all, they won't even get any benefit from the World Cricket Test - it's not being played on Tobago.

[Lina Mallon]

I think the information you get on this site is excellent.
i wouldn't have found out about the Visa at all if it wasn't for the information everybody on this forum got.

It only takes seven working days and although it seems a bit strange to me too to send off my passport I can live without it for 7 working days. How often do you really use it?

I would never dream of cancelling my trip, of course I, like everybody else, feel like I could have spent them money better in Tobago, but cancelling? Never!

Specially after all the information and tips for restaurants and excursions you get here!

And in the end of the day it is up to you as a traveller to check with the High Commission about the visa rules not Steve's. He is only providing a brillant service for all of us.

[Steve Wooler]

Hi Lina

Thank you.

I'm sorry if my impatience and frustration shows, but readers would just not believe how many hours I have spent writing letters and emails to officials and tourism industry authorities since before Roland first raised this issue in the forum.

In the absence of any solid information or understanding of what was involved, etc., I decided that it was best to keep quiet, rather than alarm visitors. To be honest, my feelings are still the same. I STILL don't know the full implications and it is totally apparent that nobody else - including the authorities in Tobago, I suspect - know either.

I think it ludicrous that anybody should need to send their passport away for this visa. I think the charge of US$100 is a rip-off (I could say more, but will hold my tongue). The whole situation is a slap in the face to visitors and simply makes CARICOM, and the officials of the governments’ involved, look like a bunch of hopeless amateurs.

However, I remain convinced that the Immigration authorities on Tobago will NOT turn away any visitors requiring this visa. Yes, you may have to fill out a few forms on arrival and pay the US$100 per person, but I am 100% convinced that you won't be refused entry or in any other way inconvenienced.

Given these factors and the total confusion surrounding the matter, I am certainly not going to be the one to publicise it and scare visitors unnecessarily.

[Erik W]

I agree with Lina and Steve!

Our family will arrive February 3, and we will NOT cancel our trip, nor will we send our passports to London.

If we can enter Tobago for free, that´s fine. If we have to pay the visa on site, we will do that.

John relax.

Don´t worry, be happy,
Erik

[Johanna Y.]

John,

I can understand your anger and frustration because I have also struggled with this visa issue myself. But I also agree with Steve not putting a warning on this site. Like he said it's impossible to keep up with the facts since they seem to change every other day! So I think it's better to stay quiet than give people information which may be wrong.

It's my opinion also that whatever you read (and don't see)in the internet is your own responsibility. There are fake-sites about this caricom visa issue for example and a whole lot more junk. So my advice is to be careful what you see and believe in. Like my husband said a while ago if you put "girl" as a search word on google don't expect all the first ten pages of porn to tell the truth about women .

Anyways, it's up to you John to cancel your trip but like Lina said it would the last thing I would do. I guess the point is figuring out what matters to you most. I wish you all the best.

Johanna

[Hilary Goldberg]

i leave uk and arrive with uk passport for 2 weeks break in tobago on 13.01.07, this is the first ive read about any visa. will i have to fork out 100 dollers at the airport or am i except?

[Johanna Y.]

Hi Hilary,

No, you don't need the visa. They require the special visa starting from first of February and besides, UK is on the list of countries who don't need it. You can read more on http://www.caricomimpacs.org/

Johanna

[Hilary Goldberg]

thanks johanna for that informative link, i was just about to empty my piggy bank and panic.
thanks
hilary.

[Roland Siebenhorn]

Oh my goodness, gradually I think it would have been better not to have mentioned the new visa regulation here!
On the other hand - this visa story is fact and should be discussed in a Tobago forum, even only to find out that nothing is as bad as it looks.

[Brian Taylor]

good thing you did roland! we warned all our guests in the affected countries and they all applied already now!

this thread here is exactly the reason why steve did not say anything, it puts all europeans in panic again, although in the other topic it was already cleared what countries we are talking about.

it does not seem fair to denmark, sweden, austria and all the others, but these just seem to be countries that did not travel to tobago much in the past and do not have direct flights.
still an outrage, but please don't make the tobagonians who live from tourism suffer and loose money by cancelling your trips. CARICOM does not care how we feel here, so a boycott would not do any good

enjoy your holidayand imagine you made a donation to the "poor" caricom states

STEPH & ALI

[Jakob R Jensen]

Hi. Another voice from Denmark. I, too, just realized that there are new VISA regulations. I'm amazed that I actually missed this. In that way I must agree with John, because I've used your great site a lot (donations are on the way, I may add ) but had no idea that the visa-rules are changing.

To my absolute relief (I was panicking there for a moment; leaving for tobago in 4 days!) the rules don't apply untill feb 1st. Thank goodness!

I'm sorry for you, John and hope you find a great vacation elsewhere.

Relieved regards,
Jakob Jensen, Denmark

[Kelly S]

Hello,
My partner is danish and we have had this problem. We were quite annoyed as we had checked arlier and it had said people from Denmark did not need a special visa. Luckily my partner rechecked (I cannot imagine what would have happened if we had not done so and only found out at the airport). We fedexed his passport to the embassey in london and it was returned to Denmark a week later so all was well although it was annoying to suddenly have the extra cost (equivilent to several tours). The annoying thing is that neither of us even like cricket or want to island hop-I think this has been done as a money making exercise really.

[Kelly S]

I was also told on the embassy website that the visa was required from the fifteenth of jan. not the first of feb.

[Jakob R Jensen]

Thank you for the reply.

I've now double-checked and initially the date was january 15th but they pushed it back for some reason. The date is feb 1st.

More here:
http://www.caricomimpacs.org/

I had not realized that this was a temporary solution for the Cricket World Cup. It ends again in may.

Regards,
Jakob Jensen

[Josephine]

Mr Rinn

I am a Trinidadian/British national, who came to the UK as a teen and have lived here for almost 20 years.

Sorry to hear about the problems you experienced. Have you completely cancelled? Any chance you may be able to salvage your trip? I ask because it would be a shame if these experiences stopped you from ever wanting to visit Tobago (or the Caribbean again).

I understanding about your not wanting to be apart from your passport for a long period of time. I have known various senior (and some not so senior!) professionals who have to carry their passports with them 24hrs, as sometimes, they have to literally cross London and catch a plane at three hours notice.

I have never had dealings with the Barbados Embassy, only the Trinidad & Tobago one, in the time I have been here on a number of occassions. The staff in the T&T Passport Section I have found to be extremely helpful and if I explained the circumstances and asked them "Can you help me please? Could you tell me what may be possible?" in my opinion, they appeared to work miracles for me. I would like to think that the staff at the Barbados Embassy operate in a similar way.

I have also had dealings with the German and a few other embassies. There was a time when I didn't need a visa to visit Germany and than that changed. Even when I got my UK residency, had a job with a well known company AND a letter of invitation from my aunt (a German National), I still needed a visitor's visa and had to produce all manner of documentation to 'prove' I intended to return to the UK. So, I completely understand your frustrations. As a T&T national I also cringe at hearing about yours and others experiences, particularly when there is no need for it - it is not as if T&T is a financial poor country.

In all my dealings with the visa section of embassies, my mantra has been "Can you help me please? Could you tell me what may be possible?" and remembering that the staff are also human beings who have to enforce regulations that they may not have received much information. Oh and it goes without saying about being polite and if you can demonstrate some sort of flexibility in your plans, then maybe, just maybe you may get what you need and perhaps even more!

[Steve Wooler]

I know it doesn't help, but it would be a shame if Tobago suffered because of the incompetent handling of these visa requirements by pathetic officials in other islands. Remember, Tobago plays no part in these cricket matches and so it seems ludicrous that the island should be affected.

Anyway, I was just reading a report in Tobago News concerning the fact that Caribbean Airlines, who have taken over as the T&T National Airline, do not include Tobago in their list of destinations...

Secretary for Tourism Neil Wilson, who appeared on Tobago Channel 5 last Tuesday, didn't seem concerned when he was questioned about the situation. Wilson had been lamenting bitterly over how Visa-requirements for all visitors to the region during the period Cricket World Cup 2007 was impacting negatively on the islands tourism industry.

He had even quantified the loss in business to the tune of $25 million resulting from the loss of the Scandinavian market, which the THA had carefully nurtured over the last four years, due to the visa requirements.

He took great pains to stress that the airline Martinair that serves the route would be pulling out its flights as travellers choose other destinations over Tobago due to the visa restrictions.

I mention the article here just to show that officials on Tobago feel just as strongly about this visa situation as those affected.