Travel blogging.
Sounds glamorous enough and usually conjures up images of great landscapes and exotic adventures while globetrotting round the world no doubt.
Not always.
One of the big headaches for me in getting my family organized is, no.1 packing, no.2 immunisation, and no.3 getting Travel Visa’s organized if we need them. With changing policies who can keep track of which country needs a visa and which doesn’t. I am a mom of a TWO year old.. time is not on my side. If you know what I’m saying!
Well the good news now is, I don’t actually feel overwhelmed anymore. With Traveloka Malaysia‘s latest travel guide for Malaysians it’s all laid out, plain to see, on an incredibly easy to use website. I love it because instead of being ridiculously wordy, & confusing, giving you a ton of information to waddle through, the guide that I’m talking about here, uses pictorials and colorful flow charts which are intuitive to use and easy to understand.
If you follow the flow chart, you will have a logical progression of how the process should go. It reduces human error and the possibility of missing something out which would be disastrous to say the least.
From the landing page, you will notice drop down tabs that state, which countries can be visited without a visa and also some country-specific guides for top destinations, such as Australia, USA and Canada. Something as simple as information on whether you can apply for a visa online, can be obtained here. Some countries (e.g., Australia) have an online visa application system, while others (check out the China Visa Guide) allow you to fill in your application online, but you’ll still need to visit the visa center to submit your application.
China is one country that will soon be on our cards again. So, take for example if you want to visit China, the information is laid out plainly for you. Where the visa centers are – Kuala Lumpur and Penang you will immediately be able to narrow that down. Also the center’s opening hours, how much the visa will cost, whether you can hire someone to apply for the visa on your behalf, if the visa can be obtained online, how long the process will take, what you need to bring for the visa application process etc. Still taking China as an example, I love the insider tips!
On the website, note Pro tips / Insider tips…
Check these out ( some of the points I didn’t know prior!)
You don’t need a visa to enter Macau and Hong Kong. Also, China is pretty strict about the passport photos, so make sure that…
– The background is white.
– The picture quality is good.
– Your spectacles do not cover your face in any way. Wire-rimmed or frame-less ones are acceptable.
– You look straight ahead without tilting your head.
– You do not wear any head accessories of coverings that are not required by religion. If you wear a tudung make sure your forehead is not obscured.
– Your face is fully visible, including the forehead (I did not know this – you shouldn’t have a fringe).
– Try not to smile ( I did not know this either.. I am the smiley sort!)
– You’re not wearing heavy makeup
Yes very informative indeed.
And we Malaysians, we can actually travel to more than 160 countries without having to get a visa.. not bad at all. Again, it’s not just about Visas alone. If you’re not sure whether the country you’re traveling to requires a visa, check out the list of countries that allow Malaysians to enter visa-free (as well as those that provide visa on arrival) under the Visa-Free Countries tab. It lists the Asian countries, including middle east – it show the thorough list of countries, visa type and length of validity of stay for travelers. So don’t waste time or another sleepless moment wondering if you’ve got to go apply for one with these countries!
Anyway, I’ll leave you to explore the rest for yourselves. It’s definitely the complete guide to Travel Visa’s for Malaysians.
