A visa is not automatically given to everyone. The official purpose of visas is to check out travelers' credentials. Most countries issue (or give) three types of visa; tourist, business and transit visas. A transit visa is for people who will be traveling through the country but not staying. Some countries only issue a business visa if the visa application is attached to a letter of invitation from a business in the country. The usual method of applying for a visa is to contact the Consulate of the country to be visited well in advance. You'll usually find the Consulate attached to an Embassy and mostly based in capital cities. They have different requirements for things like number of forms and photographs, the length of application and the fee. Although some visa applications can take several weeks or longer, most countries issue visas at short notice, even though you may spend a few days queuing in the Consulate! Some Travel Agents offer a visa service - for a fee. You can also use independent visa companies to organize visas for business travelers. It is often well worth the cost to rely on an experienced service to get the visa. If you plan to obtain the visa without help, make sure you contact the Consulate of the country to be visited in good time. A good start would be the Consulate's websites. When the visa application is made, the business traveler's passport is usually included with the forms and sent to the Consulate. If the application takes a month the traveler will be without a passport, which isn't particularly convenient. Therefore, many travelers have two passports.
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