hi pylon
nice to meet you here again

have you seen my pictures on Flickr: ursulazrich's Photostream

Ursula

Bartosz if you want some details about our trip please write to prv.


Very nice photo galeries Ursula, not only from Algeria I didn't brake throught 6GB of photos. But soon...

sz

Thanks for all the inputs!

To add to the discussion, the Algerian embassy in Lisbon states in the website that visas are issued in 8-working days and cost 60 euros.

I'll dig around concerning the viability of doing Tam-Djanet.

Cheers,
José

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Hello José!

I’ve sent you a PM

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bernardo feio (Portugal)
2.5 Land Rover Lightweight / BMW R80 G/S PD / Toyota HZJ 78

"I would not take it personally. I suspect it's all down to the diplomatic relationship a country has with Algeria - how easily Algerians can visit your country, politics, trade deals - and quite possibly the individual ambassador."

Well, the emabassy or the ambassador himself cannot really do anything to speed up things or even to find out what's going on. They say their hands are tied as after they send your 'dossier' to the Ministry of F.A. those guy send it over to the Ministry of I.A. (their bureaucrats really hold the threads in their hands). Until they get a feedback a yes or a no they don't know more then we do.

We are the ones who applied for visas on December 8.... what is it today... Jan 20? Still no answer. Not even a bloody rejection. Not a word saying "wait a little bit more guys, we're working on it".

We met the ambassador and some other diplomats in Budapest last week to ask for their opinion and hints for speeding up things or at least to get an answer for the massive delay as we're not sure it's a common practice to make people wait 7 weeks without even saying a word.

I'm impressed reading about 1-2 weeks delivery time in other parts of Europe. Since the decision is made in Algiers I see no reason for differentiation.
Especially that EU laws regulate the immigration in Belgium, Poland, Hungary and elsewhere so I see no reason to "punish" this country and favour another.

One thing is sure - if you fly in, meet a guide and participate in a local trip you have no problems and get your visa without a hitch. If you want to drive your own car there - hard times.
This is really a joke.
I think we rather turn our heads to Libya as compared to Algeria it's a travelers' paradise.

g.

Maybe it is in Hungary, but in Brussels I applied for my visa on friday and they told me it would be ready on tuesday (2 working days!). I can't see that the dossier has to pass all these ministries in this short period, and the consulate clearly stated I would get my visa when I applied with the necessary documents.

For the records, what did I exactly need in Belgium for a 30-days single-entry visa?
- a "certificat d'hébergement", in my case just a fax from a hotel with no end date of my stay. The "certificat" wasn't even stamped or signed by anything official.
- the AC-43 application document filled in
- a proof of medical insurance (B-ALG8)
- passport
- 2 ID photos
- 60€ costs
That's it. No difference if I would go by car, as they didn't ask anything about my plans, transport, route, arrival etc.

It is clear now there's a huge difference even between EU countries, e.g.:
- the difficulties in Hungary, Poland
- the easy procedure in Belgium, Portugal
- French nationalities have to pay 100€, Belgians and Portuguese 60€, etc.

I feel sorry for the difficulties some of us have and wish it will turn out fine in the end.

Now let's see how it turns out on the ground. I'll try to go as far south as I can with public transport. It can also be a 30-days visit of Algiers...

Raf

Raf,

there are some embassies / consulates which have the right to issue visas themselves without sending the dossier to Algiers.
A few, especially in France and Belgium - for obvious reasons.

I guess the majority of the countries are in the other 'hat'.

Yes, the visa fee can be slightly different just like the number of passport photos, the difference is the process. If you your papers hit the road to the bureaucracy you're lost.
You were lucky to apply for a visa in Brussels but since they have a pretty strict territorial restriction (you can apply for visa in another country than your passport if you're a resident) I cannot do the same.

Needless to say - if you use public transport, they don't care but as soon as you stop by the border with your car they ask for your local 'guide' and if you don't have one, you simply turn back.

I can get a visa with a simple hotel reservation like I did last year, just got a fax from Algiers.
A SAME DAY VISA!
But that's not the issue now...

g.

I was planning to visit Algeria with Bartosz (Polish group waiting for visas since 26th Dec). In seems to me that making a trip using our private cars is what makes this huge delay. We were told in Algerian consulate that if we intended to travel in Algeria in guide's car they would'n have to send our 'dossier' back to Algeria and therefore the whole process of getting visas would be shortened to two weeks.

T

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