Category Archives: visa

The Importance of Having a Passport and a Visa

For those who are first time international travelers like us, two of the very important documents which are the Passports and Visas are necessary to travel to various parts of the world, no matter how long you plan to stay. Without them, you will not be able to go abroad.

Many people understand the difference between the passport and visa confusing, but in fact these two documents serve different purposes. Visas have been issued travel documents that in some countries to allow certain persons to enter the country while a passport allows a person to go from one country to another.
If you want to work or study you need a visa. A passport allows you in  and a visa allows you to stay for a specific purpose.A passport is issued by your home country and it is a proof of who you are and that you are a resident of that country. A visa is issued by the country which you are visiting with and it gives you the permission to enter and stay in that country for a certain amount of time.

Passports and visas are indeed two of the essential documents when traveling. I  hope that this information has given you a better idea of what these documents and how they work so you can be ready for your trip abroad.

Our New Passports

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Finally after 35 working days of waiting patiently, we got our new passports today! Whew, it took us more than a month of waiting since we applied for our lost passports. The lost ones was one of the unfortunate things that was flooded when typhoon Sendong came and devastated our place three months ago.

I never thought that applying for a lost passport is such a hassle thing to do. Aside from getting an affidavit of loss which must be duly notarized by an Attorney, we need to go to the police station and make a blotter report. DFA’s requirement is also the same when you apply for a new passport plus we need to pay for a penalty charge for the loss.

We waited for 15 days for the clearing period and another 20 days for the processing since we just choose the regular processing fee. Well, it took so long but its okay. Now we are preparing for our travel to Manila so we could apply for a tourist visa.

My hubby and I together with our daughter was invited by my mom to spend a summer holiday for three months in her working country in Switzerland. Woot! were all excited for this holiday! We hope and pray that our visa will be approved immediately by the Swiss embassy.