Gaining entry to another
country is life changing for anyone - you can have the opportunity to work,
visit the nation's amazing national wonders, study in world class universities,
reunite with family members you haven't seen for years, and meet incredible
friends along the way. However, in a lot of countries, you need to have a visa
to be able to do all these things.
In the world of visa applications, most
often than not, it can be an exhausting process. Doing research, paying certain
fees, gathering documents, interviews, getting the services
of a migration agent, the long waiting period - sometimes it can take the
life out of you. In the sometimes grueling process of applying for a visa, a poll
conducted by the website IXPVisas.com shows the lighter side of the whole
process. Having questioned over 1,450 travelers from around the world, the site
revealed a list of the weirdest questions immigration of several countries asks
their applicants to answer. From describing your moustache, to asking where
your wife sleeps on the bed, here are some
of the weirdest visa questions travelers encountered.
One traveler reported
being asked to describe his moustache or beard in an application form in
Mexico, making him scratch his head about how to actually describe it.
Another traveler
reported being asked if he had been to a farm in the last 6 months to be able
to enter Australia.
In a Middle East visa
application, a businessman was asked about how many wives he intends to bring
in his travels.
In the US, applicants
were asked about the side of the bed their wives sleep in.
And for overseas
students in the UK, they were asked whether or not they were involved in war
crimes such as crimes against humanity and genocide.
Other weird questions
asked international students to name three things about a certain topic and in
the US, applicants were asked whether or not they have been involved in any
terrorist activities.
Though most people
would laugh or wonder about these questions, according to IXPVisas.com's Liam
Clifford, these may seem ridiculous, but they are there to serve a purpose,
such as highlighting cultural differences. He also said, that if you joke or
laugh about certain requirements, expect that your application won't go down
well. According to him, the biggest and number one rule of traveling is to
respect other cultures.
Most often, questions are
not mere questions. In interviews, how you carry yourself and how you react can
mean more than the words that come out of your mouth. Nonverbal communication
is just as important as the words you write down on the application forms. So
if you think a country's visa requirements are ridiculous, keep it to yourself,
as according to Clifford, the bottom line is, they're requirements.
There are always social
and cultural differences wherever you may go and something that seems
unnecessary to you may be important to a certain culture. The way you handle
yourself and situations like these are one of the factors that immigrant
officers will look at to evaluate your application.
If you need some help
with your visa application processing, Move Migration’s licensed migration agents can
help you break down the immigration process into simple stages. Visit Move
Migration office at Suite 8, 281 Pacific Highway North Sydney NSW 2060
Australia or visit www.movemigration.com for more information about their
services.
About the Author:
Michael Ma
is working as migration agent assistant at Move Migration, which is an
immigration boutique specialist with migration
agents in Sydney. They are among the leading migration agencies in the
region, specializing in all visa assistance services such as the Australia partner
visa, student visa, or skilled
worker visa.
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