I’ve been reading conflicting info about whether an Indian visa might be required for a few-hour layover in Mumbai.
Do we need anything besides the Sri Lankan ETA if we’re just transiting through India without leaving Terminal 2 at the airport? We’re flying from Brussels via Frankfurt and then Mumbai with Lufthansa.
Hi there,
Just a quick post to let travelers heading to Madagascar know not to apply for an eVisa online—the platform isn’t working. We actually submitted an application last Sunday on their official site (provided by the Madagascar embassy in Paris) http://evisamada-mg.com/. The 35 € payment for a 30-day visa was debited from our account, but no document was issued. After emailing back and forth, they admitted there’s a flaw in their system, and we’ll now have to apply for an AD visa on arrival! We thought we’d save time at the airport—nope, that backfired. They claim we won’t have to repay for the visa, but I’ll believe it when I see it…
Luckily, we only applied for my husband’s visa, so we’ll only lose 35 € if that’s not the case! I’ll apply for mine directly on arrival and skip the eVisa altogether!
Today I ended up being denied boarding at CDG. I booked the trip through a physical travel agency with no assistance for the visa application. I applied in plenty of time and got the approval. Except I put the 9th (the day I left France) as the date instead of the 10th, which is the arrival date in India. That’s what caused the denial. I’m guessing I don’t have any recourse? Thanks for your replies.
hi there
since the forum is back up, let’s try to gather some updated info.
first off, arrival formalities are changing—starting January 1st, you’ll need to fill out an electronic form before arrival. This replaces the paperwork you used to fill out on the plane or at the airport (for air arrivals). Here’s the link: https://www.arrival.gov.kh/.
for visas, the same options remain: e-visa, visa on arrival, or visa at the embassy. The standard price is $30 on arrival, but at land borders, be prepared for a small "extra" for "cigarettes or coffee."
don’t forget your passport must be valid for at least 6 months after your return.
regarding airlines, prices are pretty high for carriers like Singapore, Qatar, Emirates, Vietnam Airlines, and Thai. EVA Air is a great Taiwanese airline with slightly lower fares, but ongoing pressure from mainland China and quasi-blockades could cause delays or issues—something to watch.
there are cheaper Chinese airlines, but friends from China advise being cautious with connections. Worth double-checking.
transport is evolving too—there’s now a highway from Phnom Penh to Kampot. Soraya, a well-known bus company, has disappeared. More highway projects are in the works. Buildings are popping up fast, just mentioning this for those who haven’t been to Cambodia in a while.
Starting January 5, you’ll need to arrive at the Mauritanian border with an E.Visa.
To get it, you’ll have to go to the Mauritanian website:
https://anrpts.gov.mr/fr
Hi everyone,
We’re self-drivers planning a trip through Zimbabwe in 2026—our route is Johannesburg, Zimbabwe, Mozambique.
We’ll have a rented 4x4.
We’d like to know about any difficulties at the borders between South Africa and Zimbabwe, and between Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
Also, which park in Zimbabwe is the best?
Thanks in advance for your replies!
I’ve got a one-way ticket to Vietnam. My return flight will be from Malaysia since I’ll be traveling around Southeast Asia overland. To qualify for the 45-day visa-free entry, you need to show an exit ticket from Vietnam. Do you think a bus ticket from Saigon to Phnom Penh would work?
Hi there, we’re spending March in Sri Lanka, and on several blogs travelers mention they’ve rented scooters or mopeds.
On government info sites, it seems they say you need a Sri Lankan license to rent these vehicles. Have any of you run into this kind of issue?
Thanks, Marie
We’re heading to Southeast Asia for several months as a family with two teens (10 and 13). The first country we’re visiting is Cambodia. I’m having an issue with the e-visa—it won’t accept any of the documents I’m attaching. I’ve validated all four e-visas and received the registration numbers, but when I check the application, it shows no attachments. I’ve tried multiple times in different formats (PDF, JPEG, PNG), whether compressed or not, but there’s always a red cross next to the documents.
Has anyone else run into this problem?
Thanks for your help—I’m losing patience, and our departure is in 15 DAYS 😕
Hi,
I’ve read on several forums and blogs that to enter Senegal by motorcycle, some say you need a CPD, others say an ATA carnet, and others say no carnet at all.
What’s the real deal? My bike is over 10 years old.
Thanks
We're leaving on January 28th for a trip around Rajasthan.
I'm trying to fill out the online form to get our visa, but when I reach the 3rd page and hit submit to move to the next one, everything gets erased and I can't continue.
I've tried from multiple computers, our iPhones, and different browsers—nothing works. Has anyone else run into this issue? Thanks
Hello everyone,
We’re planning a family trip (my wife and our two kids) for 12–13 months in 2026–2027.
The idea is to start our journey by biking across the U.S. from July to December 2026. We’re thinking of leaving our bikes there and then traveling by public transport for 3 months in Central America down to Belize (during the U.S. winter). After that, we’d return to the U.S. and finish our trip by bike for about 4 more months.
We’ll need to apply for a B2 visa, but we’ve heard the conditions are for a 6-month stay.
Depending on the border officers’ discretion, we *might* be allowed to re-enter the U.S. if we’ve left for a non-contiguous country for a while (which would be our case since we’d go as far as Belize).
Has anyone here confirmed this? Have you been in this situation before, and is there a chance we might not be allowed back into the U.S. after leaving at the end of 2026?
Another question about the B2 visa interview. We’ve read it’s best to be transparent with the officer. Should we mention our full plan (including the trip to Belize and return to the U.S.), or should we only talk about the first part?
I’d like to visit Niagara Falls from the Canadian side: is an eTA enough for a French citizen (from Toronto or Ottawa) and then public transport? Which Canadian city is the easiest to get there from?
I plan to spend one night in Canada before seeing the falls on the American side.
Do I need an ESTA to visit the American side for just a few hours and then return to Canada?
Hi everyone, and happy Ramadan to those celebrating.
I wanted to ask—I just submitted my application yesterday for a deferment from military service. Here’s my situation:
I already had a deferment in Algeria that expired last September. I arrived in France just before that to start my studies, got my consular card at the Paris consulate, and yesterday I submitted my application for a deferment on the grounds that I’m a student. I’m 24, turning 25 soon. The issue: the commission has already met this year, and I was told my deferment won’t be available until 2026—that I have to come back again in September to justify the next academic year. When I asked the guy (who was in a hurry) if I could return to Algeria with this deposit receipt without any issues at the border police (PAF), he said yes, no problem. But I’m not sure I trust that answer.
Has anyone here been in the same situation and could shed some light? Thanks in advance!
I hope you're all doing well! I really need your help.
As part of my job here in France (I'm a foreign employee), I have to go to the US in about a month for a one-week assignment. I’ll need a visa, but I don’t know if there’s an express visa option for this? It’s stressing me out, and I don’t know where to start looking for info.
hi, I had to buy flight tickets for the family, but when I picked up the adults' passports, I noticed that one of them had a fold down the length of pages 1 and 2—affecting the photo, info, and even the barcode.
The passport hasn’t been touched since our last trip to the US, and sure enough, the customs officers just shoved the ticket back and didn’t pay attention.
Do you think it’ll be okay with American Airlines? It says no passports with abnormal wear or damage.
I don’t live too far from Roissy—could I go check with the airline if the thing is still readable?
Hi,
I just had a really bad experience leaving for Thailand with Etihad Airways, along with my partner and her 11-year-old son. We were denied boarding because the child’s passport was invalid (by about 3 days), as it’s indeed required to have 6 months of validity. But come on—just 3 days over! On top of that, we were able to check in online for our round-trip flight (just the flights, no extras), entered our passport numbers and expiry dates, and even had to check in online again 30 hours before departure, where we got our boarding passes without any issues. How is it possible that no one called, warned, or even blocked us online? Instead, they waited to tell us at the airport during baggage check-in. I’ve asked the airline for a full refund of our expenses—do I have any chance? Thanks for your help
We’ll be applying for a retiree OA visa by September. For our part, we’ll head back to France for a bit and return a month BEFORE our current OA visa expires to renew it at immigration.
We’ve emailed several immigration offices but haven’t gotten any responses. We’ve searched online for info but haven’t found anything. What we’re really interested in is knowing which documents they’ll ask for at the immigration office in Phang Nga, for example, for our renewal.
We’ve seen all the paperwork needed for the initial OA visa on the official online visa application site... but for the renewal, do we need to provide ALL the same documents? Thanks in advance
Hi,
I’m planning a trip to Thailand from April 1st to 24th. I’m flying with Qatar Airways.
My passport is valid until October 7th, 2025.
My question:
For entry into Thailand, my passport is valid for more than 6 months (6 months and 6 days).
For my exit, my passport’s validity will be 5 months and 14 days.
Do I need to renew my passport, or is it okay?
Thanks for your answers!
Due to unforeseen circumstances—a earthquake in Bangkok—I couldn’t get my visa for Indonesia in time, and my Thailand visa exemption expires on April 13. I’d like to extend my stay in Thailand by 30 days so I have time to apply for an Indonesian visa, as the procedures are on hold until April 8 due to the end of Ramadan celebrations and Nyepi (Bali).
I’m currently in Prachuap Khiri Khan and would like to know which is the nearest immigration office that can extend my visa exemption?
Just to note, I’ve heard conflicting info: it seems there’s an office in Dan Singkhon and another in Hua Hin.
The first one is much closer—could someone confirm if it’s still operational for this kind of procedure, or do I have to go all the way to Hua Hin?
Hi everyone, I’d like to travel to Senegal with my two dogs—an Amstaff and a French Bulldog (who can’t fly). I’m wondering if you think it’ll be complicated or if the formalities are easy to sort out.
I’m giving myself a year to prepare for this trip.
So happy the forum is back—I’ve been part of it since 2012! ☺️
After lots of twists and turns with Sri Lanka’s visa (called ETA) over the past few months, here’s a quick recap of the current situation for travelers:
- It’s valid for 30 days and costs $50 online or $60 on arrival.
- It was supposed to be free starting October 1st, but due to the elections and Parliament being dissolved, that didn’t happen. Stay tuned in December in case the topic comes up again.
- The online ETA is recorded in your passport, so you don’t need to show any documents, but I’d still recommend traveling with the confirmation.
- If you didn’t receive the confirmation email, you can check the status on the official ETA website.
- The only official site is eta.gov.lk.
Watch out for agency websites pretending to be the official one.
- Avoid filling out your ETA on the French version—it’s buggy. Use my guide and do it in English instead. 😅
Hi,
Currently in Thailand, I was supposed to return to Bangkok to apply for a visa at the Indonesian consulate. Given the state of emergency in Bangkok following the earthquake, I’m looking for a way to apply for my 2-month tourist visa (renewable once) online. I only have about 10 days left before my Thai visa expires.
Can anyone give me the correct website address and let me know the required documents and procedures?
Thanks in advance
I’m heading to Barcelona next week and wanted to know if I need to register my vehicle beforehand on the website and get a permit to drive around Barcelona. I saw that it has to be done online.
Thanks for your help!
Hi,
Has anyone used the online visa application site for Indonesia recently? https://evisa.imigrasi.go.id/
For the past two weeks, I haven’t been able to log in... Wondering if the site is still up and running...
Thanks for your feedback!
Hi, we’re heading to Laos for 3 weeks from December 12 to January 1, 2025. We land in Bangkok. We’d like to know if we need a visa for a very short stay in Thailand since we’ll just be passing through. I read that since July 2024, a visa isn’t required for stays under 30 days. Is that correct?
Hello everyone, and especially to the regulars of the MADA forum that I read every day.
This time, I’m asking you not to argue and to try to help me with my problem.
A week ago, I submitted a visa application for France where I was supposed to meet a family who was going to help me with medical exams and host me on a short-stay tourist visa.
My application was put together with the help of my friends over the past two months, and we checked everything multiple times—nothing was missing, and everything was in order.
Last Friday, I picked up a visa refusal from the embassy in Tana with the reason: your intention to leave the territory of the member states before the visa expires could not be established.
Yet, I had handwritten a letter committing to return to my country.
I went to the embassy twice because the first time they couldn’t find my file, and the second time I still wasn’t registered in their computer. After a while, the person came back from another room with my passport and this refusal slip. I’m starting to wonder if my application was even reviewed.
I’m completely desperate, and even though my friends in France have filed an appeal in Nantes, I’m forced to leave Tana because my savings are running out fast. We have very little hope for the appeal in France since there must be hundreds of applications.
So I’m open to any information or advice, but please "HELP ME".
