For many, getting a travel visa is almost impossible.

For many travelers, obtaining a visa can be a frustrating experience marred by a variety of restrictions. A criminal record, even for minor crimes, can halt an application process. Countries like China and the United States ban H.I.V.-positive visitors.

Every year about 10,000 Pakistanis are granted student visas to Britain, while up to 20 times as many are rejected. Large scale rejections such as these are also due to fear of fraudulent applications by would-be illegal immigrants and terrorists.

Worldfocus contributing blogger Faisal Kapadia is a freelance writer living in Pakistan. He writes at “Deadpan Thoughts” about the difficulties faced by Pakistanis hoping to qualify for travel visas.

Summer has arrived in Pakistan, and with the advent of the hot blazing sunshine the exodus has begun. No, I do not mean people fleeing for good to azure shores or our politicians who seems to be able to invent any excuse to speak to the concierge at St Regis in D.C. — I mean us ordinary folks going on perhaps a hard-earned summer vacation, or the students who are applying for entry into foreign lands.

All of these poor sods have one thing in common; all of them require a “visa” to give them temporary status as a visitor in the foreign land of their choice. Sounds simple enough? Fill out a few forms attach a photo or two and send it of to the nearest embassy of your choice? Well, it is — for a citizen of any other country except for those with the dreaded green passport. Do not take this scribe’s word at face value; just look at the face of the immigration official when you hand him your passport on your next travel abroad.

The embassies we apply to must have a ball of a time devising the various hurdles that any visa application process for a Pakistani involves, as some of them require pictures with white backgrounds, some of the chin turned left, some without any form of covering or hijab, some with no beards and what not.

It’s come to a point where if you go to a photo center for getting your visa pics done, you find the oddest accessories suggested to “ensure” a smooth application. Most places have clip on ties and the photographer shouts things like “sit up” and to my amazement at the last visit a “do not smile.”

[...] Which brings me to the question, why do we subject ourselves to all this in the first place? Is it because there are no institutions of higher learning available in Pakistan for us to study in or that there is nowhere in Pakistan one can take a vacation to? Personally, I think it is time we showed our “allied” friends something resembling a cold shoulder if they continue to harass us in the myriad of ways described above.

To read more, see the original post.

The views expressed by contributing bloggers do not reflect the views of Worldfocus or its partners.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user photobunny under a Creative Commons license.

Martin Seemungal took to the skies with one of Spain’s budget airplanes.

Worldfocus special correspondent Martin Seemungal writes about what it’s like to be a mobile journalist and vents about his luggage in Spain.

I’m a frequent traveler, but rarely fly on budget airlines. But when I learned an upcoming assignment would be in Spain, a friend told me ”Fly with Vueling!” It’s the Spanish version of Ryanair or Easyjet…and so began my experience with a so-called “budget” airlines.

I had heard many stories about flying with budget airlines: The mad scramble for the elusive seat was a particular favorite and always somehow reminded me of the running with the bulls — only a lot less romantic.

But the crux of this whole matter is luggage. In general, when it comes to budget airlines, it seems you can’t take very much of anything. You can’t take much on the plane and you can’t put much in the plane down below.

When you start the whole process with Vueling, there’s a bunch of rules and regulations — the ones few people read — and somewhere in there is a number 20Kg, which is associated with a word: Suitcase.

You begin the booking procedure, departure and return dates, and then there’s a little box titled “suitcases for check in” which allows you to book/buy a suitcase, should you wish to. If you click on the dropdown you’ll get the option of choosing how many you would like to book/buy.

Now, I’m a television journalist and I travel with two checked bags. So, I chose to pay a small fee for two suitcases. Somewhere in all the warnings, you’re told that if you show up at check-in without paying for whatever it is you’re carrying, you will be charged more. I bought my ticket with two suitcases, confident I had covered all the bases.

Two and a half weeks later, I showed up at the check-in desk in Barcelona with the same two bags, armed with my computer printout. I put my bags on the scale and was immediately told “You have more than 20kg; you’ll have to pay for 25kg excess.”

At that point, I whipped out my printout and pointed to the fact I had already paid for two suitcases. I was prepared to pay for 5kg extra but an additional 20kg was outrageous.

It had no effect. I was told that each passenger is only allowed 20kg of checked baggage. “But I paid for two suitcases — surely that means another 20kg,” I argued.

But I was told that the number of suitcases has “nothing to do with the weight you are allowed.”

I was stunned. “You can’t be serious,” I said. But she was.

“Did you check the FAQs?” she said. “It’s all there.” I went to the relevant bit of the FAQs and came away no further ahead. Passengers can check in up to 20kg of luggage at a cost of 10 euro per flight and suitcase it stated. It then goes on to say that the maximum checked-in weight per passenger is 50Kg. I found it all ambiguous at best, misleading at worst.

I asked to see the supervisor. Despite my protests, he confirmed that, yes, that was the rule — 20kg per passenger, and you have to pay extra for every kilo above that. In the heat of our discussion, he then came out with a line I will never forget: “Sir, you can buy six suitcases if you want, but you’re still only allowed to take 20kg of checked luggage.”

I waited a moment before saying anything, hoping the silence would help amplify the insanity of his remark.

“Well, who would do that?” I said quietly. “Who would buy six suitcases to carry 20kg?”

“Sir, you’re not the first person who has had this kind of problem. Technically you’re supposed to fly back on your return flight under the same conditions as your outward flight. Of course, if you want to fly with the extra weight you’ll have to pay, but if you contact the airline maybe you’ll get a refund.”

I had no choice but to pay the equivalent of about $260 U.S. I later went online and filed an official complaint stating the process is misleading and asking for a refund.

It seems it wouldn’t take much to clear up the ambiguity. Somewhere near the part where you have the dropdown to buy one or two or FIVE suitcases. There should be a clear explanation that in fact: “The number of suitcases has no relation to the amount of checked luggage you are allowed.” Something like that. Or “You can buy all the suitcases you want but we strongly advise you not to put anything in most of them.”

I think if people saw that, they’d make sure to buy one suitcase and one suitcase only and fill it with 20kgs and only 20kgs.

I still haven’t heard back from Vueling, but I did get one of those automatically generated survey things telling me I was a valued and esteemed customer and asking me to comment on my recent flight with Vueling.

They can’t be serious!

- Martin Seemungal

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Dr. Jaus under a Creative Commons license.

The view of Cuba from a plane.

Worldfocus editorial consultant Peter Eisner recently reported on the signature series Cuba After Fidel. He describes encountering young Cubans leaving behind loved ones and heading to the U.S., knowing full well that they may never return to their homeland due to U.S. travel restrictions.

One day in Havana, I had to go down to the state tourism office to change my travel arrangements back to the States. As most people don’t realize, there are a number of charter flights daily between Cuba and the United States carrying Cuban-Americans, journalists, members of non-profit organizations, students and educators who, among others, are in some cases exempt from U.S. prohibition from traveling to Cuba.

At the tourist office, I started chatting with a young Cuban woman who told me she was flying to Miami that Friday and was to be married to her Cuban-American boyfriend and remain there.

Three days later at the airport, by chance, I bumped into the woman, who I hardly recognized — she’d spruced up for the 45-minute flight to Miami. She was weepy, having just said goodbye to her parents and friends, not knowing when she would see them again.

It was the first time she’d ever left Cuba, the third time she’d ever been on an airplane — she’d once taken a domestic flight from Havana to Santiago de Cuba to the east. A number of other people on the plane were similar: Young, single women who had obtained visas to go to the United States.

A flight attendant asked for a show of hands: “How many people on the plane are leaving Cuba definitivamente?” (a dramatic word in Spanish which could be translated as “permanently” or “for good”). The young women raised their hands.

It is hard to describe the emotions running through the plane, a lifetime of feelings compressed into a short jet hop across the Florida Strait. When the plane took off, there was applause, and the Cuban woman I’d met was crying as she craned her neck to see the Havana shoreline disappear under the clouds.

Only 30 minutes later, the attendants were announcing the final descent into Miami. There was no single emotion, just bits of emotion tossed together. At wheels down, the flight attendant came on the air again, using that same word. “For those of you who have left Cuba definitivamente, bienvenidos a los Estados Unidos!”

Welcome to the United States.

For me, that bittersweet moment summed up the contradictions of the situation. These were young people leaving everything they knew and loved behind, cheered by the possibilities that the United States seemed to offer, frightened by the unknown. One could only wish them well, hoping that politics and ideology on both sides give a chance to the people who have been suffering all along.

- Peter Eisner

Photo courtesy of Flickr user yosemitewu56 under a Creative Commons license.

Jan. 1 marked the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution, when the nation’s U.S.-backed government was overthrown and Fidel Castro took power. A few years later, in 1962, the U.S. instituted a trade embargo against Cuba designed to pressure the communist government.

President Barack Obama has said he plans to ease travel and remittances restrictions for Cuban-Americans, but will keep the embargo in place.

Half a century after the Cuban Revolution of 1959, Worldfocus looks back to the roots of U.S.-Cuban relations and forward to the potentially changing relations under President Obama. Worldfocus.org and anchor Martin Savidge discuss what Americans don’t know about Cuba and the history of American policy.

Martin Savidge hosts a panel of guests to discuss U.S.-Cuban relations:

Peter Eisner is the editorial consultant for Worldfocus and a long-time Latin American foreign correspondent. Peter is a 30-year veteran of international news and has held editorial positions at The Washington Post, Newsday and The Associated Press. Peter is also working on a book about the history of Cuba.

Arturo Lopez-Levy is a lecturer at the University of Denver and the University of Colorado. Born in Cuba, Arturo served in the Cuban army and graduated from the Higher Institute of International Relations in Havana. He then worked as a political analyst for the Cuban government, but resigned after two years and later moved to the U.S. He holds a master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University and is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Denver.

Wayne Smith directs the Cuba Program at the Center for International Policy. He is a visiting professor of Latin American Studies and director of the University of Havana exchange program at Johns Hopkins University. During his 25 years with the U.S. State Department, Wayne served as executive secretary of President Kennedy’s Latin American Task Force and chief of mission at the U.S. Interests Section in Havana. In addition, he served in Argentina, Brazil and the Soviet Union.

Associated thumbnail courtesy of Flickr user trailofdead1 under a Creative Commons license.

Credits:
Host: Martin Savidge
Producers: Lisa Biagiotti, Katie Combs and Stephen Puschel

At Worldfocus, we cover the world. But Denis Belliveau and Francis O’Donnell literally covered it — on foot. Here’s a preview:



In celebration of Marco Polo’s 700th anniversary in 1993, Denis and Francis were inspired to walk in the explorer’s footsteps — a mere two years and 25,000 miles — through war zones, vast deserts and across mountain ranges.

Fast-forward 15 years later, and their epic journey is packaged in a 90-minute film that’s a hybrid experience of adventure, culture and camaraderie.

They crisscrossed through some of the most remote places on earth, traveling by boat, camel, horse, truck and on foot.

In a Tajik village, they met residents who had never seen westerners. In Sumatra, tribesmen wore tattoos as clothes. In Iran, anti-U.S. protests filled the streets.

Perhaps the most memorable moments are the anecdotes that would be monumental lifetime stories for many. For Denis and Francis, those moments were incidentals along the way.

While in Afghanistan, Denis and Francis ask a warlord for help when crossing the most dangerous region in the country. The general says, “This part of the country is very dangerous. I’m going to give you a helicopter and you can pick up Marco Polo’s trail after that.”

Denis and Francis kindly decline the offer. After all, Marco Polo didn’t fly in helicopters. The general furnishes the duo with 25 bodyguards and eight jeeps to make the trek “safely.”

My only complaint is the tone of the narration, which sounded suspiciously similar to my Kindergarten teacher — a little spoon-fed and unnecessary at times.

Other than that, I highly recommend it. The people they meet along the way remind me of all the voices and places I don’t hear about on a daily basis.

So, at Worldfocus.org, we’re searching for bloggers who are writing and talking about these places.

- Stephen Puschel