"Letter of Introduction" question
 

Hello -

I'm planning on driving down to South Africa from Europe, mostly following the classic Cairo - Cape route. I have read much on the need for a 'letter of introduction' from my embassy in order to satisfy visa requirements in Egypt and the Sudan etc. What does such a letter include, and where should i get one? I'm a belgian citizen, currently still in belgium.

Is a council letter stating my date of birth, address etc here sufficient (the only 'letter of introduction' i can get here), or would i for example need to visit the Belgian embassy in Syria to get a letter in Arabic for Egypt? Or will a home-made scribble with an official looking stamp sufficient?

Thanks in advance,
Martin.

letter of introduction
 

Martin,
you need to get a letter of introduction, where required for Sudan for instance, from your embassy in the city which you apply for the visa. It is just a letter on headed paper stating in flowery, diplomatic language, that your are a citizen of that country and giving your passport number. It says no more than is already stated in your passport, is a complete waste of time and money but is essential for getting some visas.
Mark

Based on my experiences, Mark is right on the money. A couple things: Sudan wanted my letter of intro to include my full name (as it appears in the passport), passport #, and date of birth. When I was in Windhoek, the US embassy wrote me a nice intro letter for Angola. The woman in charge of things in the US Embassy knew the woman in charge at the Angolan embassy- she therefore addressed the letter to this Angolan woman. Seems like a nice thing to do, right? Wrong, the documents are faxed to Angola- where they were refused do to the name issue. I had to re-submit a new letter of intro- this one addressed: "To whom it may concern." All part of the fun. Also, I've never been charged for a letter of introduction. Good roads! H.