visa and/or passport?

[dancingqueen]

hello, all! this may seem like an obvious question, but as a first time traveller, i'm wondering........................
i'm an american going to italy---i know i need a passport, but do i need a visa, also? for some reason, i was thinking that visas were only needed for extended stays, (as in a few months). i'm only gonna be there a couple weeks. what's the scoop?

[Canadian Dude]

Citizens of some countries (e.g. Argentina, Brazil, Canada, United States, Japan etc) do not require an Entry Visa for tourism or business trips of 90 days or less.

So you have no worries!

[omisan]

I know this applies to the Netherlands and some other countries - dunno about Italy, BUT - Even if you only plan on staying a short while, you're often required that your passport doesn't expire for at least 90 days from your time of entry. I guess this is just in case you get stranded or whatever, but you can look at the various requirements for Americans at

http://state.gov/travel/

...just to be sure!

[tecia]

If you are only going for a few weeks then you don't need a visa!!
"Residents of the USA...son't need a visa for stays of up to three months."
Hope this helps!!!
have fun and let us know how it goes!!!!
when are you going?

[dancingqueen]

thanx for your help, everyone! i'm planning on going in november. absolutely cannot wait!

[Sam UK]

Does the 90 day rule mean that you can only leave your country without a visa for 90 days, or tht your only allowed in that particualr country for 90 days???? (hope somebody makes sense of this)

Im asking because im planning on leaving for longer than 90 days, but going through different countries, didnt know if its 90 days total or 90 in each country.

Heres another thought......thecountires im going to, like the Uk are Eu countries. does this mean i dont need a visa at all?

Cheers, Samo

[omisan]

Does the 90 day rule mean that you can only leave your country without a visa for 90 days, or tht your only allowed in that particualr country for 90 days????

Once you enter via an EU country, your stamp is good for 90 days within the EU. (Hence, when you go country-to-country within the Union, your passport will not be stamped again.) You don't need a visa at all, but you'll be under that 90-day limit. Since you plan on staying in the EU longer, I would recommend calling a consulate or embassy and obtaining a visa - or you can always leave and return to an EU country at 90 day intervals, but that could get costly

[space virgin]

Originally posted by omisan@Jun 7 2004, 05:13 PM
Once you enter via an EU country, your stamp is good for 90 days within the EU. (Hence, when you go country-to-country within the Union, your passport will not be stamped again.)

I had my passport stamped a couple of times while traveling within the EU, i.e. from England to Spain and from Austria to England. This doesn't *always* happen though. It seems like customs within the EU is a little bit random. My friend who met me in Spain at the same airport only 2 hours later, arriving from Germany, didn't go through customs at all because the desk was closed during the lunch hour.

[omisan]

Yeah.. it's a bit whacky... I begged for stamps in Ireland and France, but they wouldn't give them to me, since I'd come in via London.

I just wanted more stamps in my passport for bragging rights - it looks kinda pathetic that I have a bunch of Heathrow stamps in a row