Hello all,
we are new here and are in the early stages of planning the "Big Trip" our initial planned route is easy enough into Spain and Portugal before heading up to the Nordkapp. We are looking then to head down through Russia and covering Kazakhstan , Mongolia before moving down either through China or Vladivostok. looking at all the info on Visa's seems to be a lot of conflicting information, has anyone used a company to sort all this out for them or is it easier to go DIY? Many thanks Neil and Steph

Hello Neil, Steph:

First of all, welcome to the HUBB community.

As for visa agencies, my experience (in my working life as an aircraft pilot, not so much in my recreational life riding motos) has been that if a country requires an 'invitation' from a local resident or organization as a condition of issuing a visa, or if a country requires confirmation of hotel arrangements, etc., it can be worthwhile to use a visa agency. This is because the visa agency - if they specialize in that particular country - can obtain the necessary invitation and/or hotel documents more easily than an individual who has no connections within the target country can.

Other than that, I don't think visa agencies add a lot of value, unless you live a long way from the embassy that you need to apply to and cannot submit your own application by post.

Visa agencies are totally unregulated - some are quite competent, and others are hopeless. So, before selecting one, carry out some due diligence, get references or see reviews from others who have used that particular agency.

In my experience, I have found that it is useful to use an experienced agency that specializes in Russia to obtain Russian visas, this because of the rather complex and onerous requirements that Russia has for granting visas. I have not needed to use an agency for any other countries.

Michael

Michael is dead-on correct (IMHO). Russia is the perfect point of comparison; easy using a Russia specialist agency, arduous if not.

I have used agencies from time to time when in a genuine hurry or otherwise pressured. Certain countries are famously slow and persnickety, and sometimes I can't afford to be without my passport while they do whatever it is that they do for weeks and weeks. Sometimes that makes a US$100 agency fee look like a bargain.

Hope that's helpful.

Mark

Thank you both, we have two years to go before we can pack the jobs in but wanting to get some real planning done in the mean time, some of the things we had looked at was getting a little overwhelming.

Do be aware that the validity periods of visas are not at all consistent from one country to another.

For example, one country might say that their visa is valid for xx days from date of issue of the visa. Another country might say that their visa is valid for xx days from date of entry into the country.

Some countries will let you specify the date you would like the visa to become valid (in other words, the date you plan to enter the country), other countries give you no choice and make the validity date the same as the date of issue of the visa. This means that the clock starts running down the day you get the visa put in your passport.

Finally, some countries have quite strange and unusual rules, for example, Russia will not issue a visa with validity beyond 6 months prior to the expiration of the passport. I learned this the hard way - I had a passport with 13 months of validity remaining, and paid a fortune for a one year multiple entry business visa for Russia, only to find that the Russian visa ended 6 months prior to the expiry date of my passport. That meant that it was only good for 7 months.

So, make a big spreadsheet that lists all of the constraints from the different countries that you plan to visit, and be aware of those constraints when you begin to apply for visas.

Also be aware that some countries want you to send in your passport along with the visa application (this means your passport might be out of your hands for perhaps 2 weeks), other countries such as Russia take a very long time (about 5 weeks) to process visa requests, but only want you to present the passport for one day at the very end so they can put the sticker in it.

I suggest that you get new passports prior to beginning to collect the visas you need. I also suggest that, if you are planning to visit quite a few countries, that you get 48 page passports (commonly referred to as 'business' passports) rather than the more common 24 page 'tourist' passport. Your home country might charge you a little bit more for the larger passport, but you will be glad you have it when you discover - way down the road - that some rat-ass little country won't issue you a visa unless you have 2 blank pages remaining, and you are running out of blank pages because frequently the border officials put one entry stamp in the middle of a blank page, thus disqualifying that page from being used in the future for a visa.

Michael

thanks for the very informative reply. We are at the early stages but we are becoming aware why you need at least two years of planning.

The spreadsheet is an excellent idea.

We just need to confirm our initial route, where we want to end up and if we like life on the road, look at where to go from there.

We will have no time constraints, no house in the uk, no bills outstanding, will own our bikes outright, have small amount put aside for the trip and another for emergencies as well as a monthly income from a pension, which should give us enough to live on the road without dipping into saving all the time.

We have completed a few European trips as work and money allows and so have most of our camping kit sorted, just need to cut down on the amount we take.

Its a little scary and so far out of our comfort zone, but if we don't do it as planned we never will and we couldn't live with ourselves for not at least trying.

Thanks again

Neil and Steph.

Neil, Steph:

The best suggestion I can offer you is to not attempt to do your "world tour" in one big gulp.

You might want to consider (for example) riding south and spending a month or so exploring Spain and Portugal, and perhaps going down into Morocco for another month. You could easily do a couple of months riding on that itinerary without getting bored or running out of interesting places to visit. Then, head back home to relax, review the trip, determine what you should have taken but didn't take and what you did take but should not have taken.

For the last 15 years, I've spent a month or so each year riding around various countries in Western & Central Europe. When I first started, I had two panniers stuffed and a big waterproof bag on the back. Now, I can happily live for a month on the road with only what I pack in one pannier of my ST 1100.

During my working career, I was an aircraft pilot, and I visited many remote and lesser developed countries. I've been all over Russia, China, etc. delivering new aircraft from the factory, or staying in those countries for months training pilots. There are a lot of countries that I would not choose to visit on a motorcycle, Russia & China being two of them.

I suggest that you "break yourselves in" to lesser developed countries rather gently - perhaps do a second tour that includes Romania, Bulgaria, & all over Turkey - before you consider heading further east.

Do not forget that the suffix '-stan' on the end of a country name means 'f*cked up country full of headaches'.

Also, be aware that 'camping', as we know it in the Western world, is not a common recreational pursuit in lesser developed countries. If you go 'camping' in some areas of Russia or China, you may be perceived to be indigent, or undesirable transients.

Michael

Thanks again for al the advice. I have been doing euro trips since 2008 and Steph since 2010.

So far we have done most of western Europe and I have done Poland , Slovakia and Hungry on a bike, together we have done Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, some of Holland, Austria, Top part of Italy, Slovenia ( which we love been there 5 times ) and we fancy going a little further.

Rough Plan is ferry to Spain and Portugal ( as you suggest, did you read our minds), setting off in March2019 and slowly working our way upto the Nordkap end of June beginning of July, from there into Russia the stans and possibly China, our aim is to make it to Japan, its a country we have always wanted to visit.

After that its all a bit vague, Thailand and Vietnam and then Australia.

If that sounds like a wish list to the more well travelled, well we suppose it is.

I will be 50 and Steph 49 when we leave and if we don't go then we never will.

Thanks again for all the tips and help so far.