Passports & Visas

Passports are required for all overseas holidays or as identification when boarding a UK domestic flight, a Eurostar train or a cruise ship. Many countries now require that your passport be valid for 3-6 months beyond your stay. Please check the expiry date of your passport (and if travelling to or through the US, the type of passport required) before you travel.

We also strongly recommend that you carry a photocopy separately from your main travel documents in case of loss or theft.

If you do not hold a British passport, please check visa regulations and application procedures before booking.


UK Foreign Office travel advice

The UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office maintains details of the passport and visa requirements for British Citizens travelling overseas together with up to date travel advice relating to your destination.

Holidays for which UK citizens require visas are marked with a ‘v’ icon alongside the pricing, and details of any visa requirements will be sent to you with your confirmation of booking. If you do not hold a British Citizen passport, you may require a further visa(s). Please check with us or the appropriate consulate before booking and don’t obtain an expensive visa more than 3 months before departure without reference to us.

Visa costs and procedures are liable to change without warning, so are not included in charges, with the exception of holidays to Bhutan, Cape Verde, China, Cuba, Indochina, Jordan, Syria, Russia and Vietnam.

Please note that in all cases, we will require your passport details in good time to enable us to process your visa. Should we assist you with visa arrangements that are not included in the holiday cost, we may levy an additional charge to cover visa fees and processing costs.

If your holiday requires you to obtain a visa, we will often process this for you, however visas are not included in the tour charges unless otherwise stated. We will send the paperwork for visas to you where necessary with the confirmation of your booking. When we ask you to fill in a ‘Personal Details Form’ please do so as soon as possible and please ensure that the details you provide agree exactly with those printed in your passport.

Where visas are not included in the holiday charge, you can obtain your own visa or in some cases you can ask us to obtain it for you, for which we may charge a fee.   Please don’t obtain expensive visas more than three months before departure without reference to us.

On holidays involving the party travelling on a group visa, should you be making your own travel arrangements and not checking-in for travel with the main party, it will be necessary to make your own independent visa arrangements which may involve additional cost and lengthy application procedures. It is also essential that you arrive at your UK departure airport in time to travel with the main party; if you arrive too late you may not be permitted to board a later flight or gain entry to your destination country!

Please note that we will be unable to process visa arrangements without additional charge should you fail to provide us with your passport details in sufficient time. Please also note that, should we assist you with visa arrangements not included in the holiday charge, we may levy an additional charge to cover visa fees and processing costs.

 

Due to the complex nature of the passport and visa rules relating to the United States, the principal requirements are highlighted below.

Please note that US visa and security rules are regularly reviewed and revised. Requirements for entry in to the United States, and transit through US airports, may be subject to significant change at short notice and without warning.

You should be aware of the three principal requirements relating to entry into the United States.

(The US does not recognise the concept of the transit passenger; even if arriving in the United States and immediately departing on a different flight without leaving the airport you will still need to comply with the requirements for entry into the US).


1) Passport validity (for UK Citizens entering the US):

Official advice on passports and passport validity is available from the website of the US Embassy in London: http://london.usembassy.gov/faq-passports.html


2) US Visas and the Visa Waiver Programme:

Official advice on visas and eligability for the US Visa Waiver Programme is available from the website of the US Embassy in London: http://london.usembassy.gov/nonimmigrant-visas.html


3) The Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA)

Information for obtaining and ESTA is available from the official US government ESTA site at: https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov

The following link provides additional advice and answers to Frequently Asked Questions about ESTA applications: https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/list/kw/esta/p/0/c/0

The ‘Being charged for submitting an ESTA application’ section of the official ESTA site provides further advice here:

https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/1164/kw/esta/session/L3NpZC9fRWhNZ2M3aw%3D%3D/p/0/c/0

You can check your status of your ESTA application on the official site by following the advice on this page. https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/1127/kw/esta/related/1/p/0/c/0


Unofficial or fraudulent websites purporting to process ESTA applications

Warning: The official US government Customs and Border Protection ESTA website highlights that unauthorised third party websites may charge unnecessary fees, fail to properly complete the ESTA application on your behalf or may be fraudulent. You may also find yourself a victim of identity theft by using an unofficial or fraudulent ESTA application website as in the application process you will have provided your passport information, full name, date of birth, address and full credit card information. More information can be found here:

https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/1164/kw/esta/p/0/c/0

If there is a problem, you might like to contract your credit card company as suggested in the The ‘Being charged for submitting an ESTA application’ section.

If typing the above website into your PC’s web browser, please ensure that you do so accurately!


UK FCO Advice for visitors to the US.

The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office maintains travel advice for British Citizens visiting or transiting the US.