Being admitted to a foreign country ranges from very simple to very complicated depending on the case and is a question we are frequently asked by our readers. Visas, vaccinations, time limits, incompatibility with previous stays in certain countries…we often underestimate the number of criteria that must be met in order to visit a country.

In fact, three types of cases normally occur:

-You are travelling within a free movement area. Nothing could be simpler: all you need is an identity document and nothing prevents you from moving from one country to another once you have been admitted to a member country of the zone.

This is the case of the Schengen area in Europe. As a French citizen you can travel freely between the member countries of this area. For the record, the Schengen Area includes some of the members of the European Union (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the Czech Republic) and four countries that are not members of the European Union but are signatories to the agreements (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland). All nationals of the member countries of the Area can go unconditionally to a member country.

Any person who is a foreigner in a Member State of the Area may also travel freely within the Area once he or she has been authorised to enter it. The borders are no longer between states but between the free movement area and the rest of the world.

– You are travelling to a country that has specific agreements with your country. You will often benefit from simplified conditions such as visa exemption for certain stays or the possibility of applying for a visa only once you have arrived at your destination, or even of applying for it and obtaining it online.

For example, French citizens benefit under certain conditions from a visa exemption for tourist stays in the United States (the stamp received at the entrance is not a visa…) whereas for citizens of other countries there is a very long and strict prior visa application procedure.

– You are travelling to a country that does not have an agreement with your country. In this case, the rule that most often applies is to apply for a visa before travelling. In some cases nationals of certain countries are even literally banned from others.

So much for the main principles, and you will tell me that this does not cover health requirements etc. So how do you know all the requirements for travelling to a country?

There is a tool for this and it is provided by IATA, the world air transport association and it is called TIMATIC. It is available through different channels:

– For professionals a website or through their own tools.

– For individuals through a public website, the IATA Travel Center.

Here a certain amount of information must be provided…

To finally get the final result…not encouraging but we are in full COVID.

But as you can see depending on your trip and your passport you will have all the conditions that apply in terms of passport, visa, and health.

And even a little more…like everything related to customs and import conditions for certain products.

Specifically speaking, there is nothing you need to know about the entry requirements for your next trip that is not on TIMATIC! It is extremely reliable as it is used by all airlines and is kept up to date in real time. We recommend it more than what you can find on any travel website…

There is also a page dedicated to COVID-19 restrictions to make it even simpler.

Photo : Immigration at the airport by Tang Yan Song via Shutterstock