Sounds about right, an interesting breakdown on stupid, and in the “I need a drink” department…
A couple of days ago, I noticed that the powers that be are adding a extra $250 fee for those needing a visa to visit the US of A. Apparently, with USA tourism spiraling the ceramic bowl, that extra $250 fee will entice folks to visit and spend money.
Anyway, the first thing that came to my mind when I read about it was reciprocal charges. Yeah, cruisers clearing in to affected countries could be hit with extra fees as a result..
Fair, as they say, is fair.
Take Brazil for instance, they recently added the USA to their E-Visa program. A visa which costs $80 dollars and change. Adding another $250 to the mix would be something like $662 bucks which would adversely affect our monthly budget in a big way. I won’t even touch on the fact that the resulting paper chase would be a real bummer as well.
Brazil states on their E-Visa website that you should expect up to two months for your E-Visa to be processed. When you think about all the cruising destinations where a $250+ dollar “visa integrity fee” might be a factor, it really boggles the mind. Hopefully, a lot of those countries have more sense than our current powers-that-be.
That said, considering how badly the USA is currently treating some Caribbean countries I’d expect some serious push back in the not too distant future.
Yep, politics don’t have anything at all to do with sailing and cruising… Ya think?
It took four months for Border and Immigration to respond to an enquiry of arriving in the US by plane, and then leaving on a vessel. Except the response did not even answer my query in any way.
18 months later, that boat is still for sale…… who was it who said “come to the US and do business” ?