"Border Crossing Fee"

[wayman]

I can think of half a dozen countries where you have to pay for a Visa to enter. I think my dad had to pay $150 for his visa to enter India.

He was robbed!

Huh? The US charges Indians $150 to give them a visa to enter the US too. So I guess it is equal opportunity mutual robbery then, no?

I once had lunch -- on Amtrak, natch -- with a woman who worked in the Moscow office of the State Department. We talked about visa costs (it's about $200 for a visa allowing Americans to enter Russia). Her explanation: the US has long charged that much for Russians to obtain a visa to enter the US, because something like 5% of Russians who enter the US with a legal visa overstay their visa (which costs the US a lot of money, because we try to find them and, er, encourage them to leave the country). Because we charge, they charge. (And that's the only reason -- it's not like there are many Americans who overstay their visa in Russia.) In theory, if the rate of Russians overstaying their visa in the US drops below some level -- 1% maybe? -- we'll drop the fee, but if and only if the Russians agree to drop their fee at the same time. And she thought the odds of the overstay rate dropping to that level within the next few decades was approximately zero, and thus that the visa fee would never go away.

Presumably similar reasoning is behind visa fees with other countries. It's unfortunate that these tariffs wind up punishing individual travelers who in almost all cases do absolutely nothing wrong, and presumably also deter many individuals from visiting (and spending spending spending) which sort of shoots each country in the foot, but that's the way it is.

 

[transit54]

I agree pretty much with what you say, however that can work two ways. Ever since the US government dropped federal taxes from railroad and bus tickets way back in the 1960's I believe, only airline passengers have continued paying a tax ever since, including as mentioned extra taxes for border crossing fees.So it can be argued that railroad and bus passengers should not only now have to pay border fees, but also other taxes as well.

Bottom line....be careful what you wish for.

Yes, but I think the bus/train product is much more similar to driving than it is to airlines. I don't have a particular problem with the high taxes and fees on airlines, namely because buses/trains are more fuel efficient ways to travel and thus there are some external benefits to society to encourage people to use them. If buses/trains need to pay fees, I think road traffic needs to pay them too. Maybe in a world of HSR where trains are doing 200+ MPH there's more comparison to an airline and the fee situation may be more analogous, but presently I don't think they can really be compared as far as a form of travel.

 

[Shanghai]

I lived and worked overseas for nearly 20 years in Asia and in Europe. In Asia, I traveled to many different countries that required visas for entry.

I think all countries charged for the visa plus most agencies (American Express, etc.) imposted a service charge for their efforts. I know when my

US Passport expired, it was expensive and time consuming to have new visas issued for my new passport.

Also in Asia, most countries had an airport tax which was payable in cash (local currency) upon departure. I don't think there was a similar charge

when we lived in Europe.

 

[jis]

Also in Asia, most countries had an airport tax which was payable in cash (local currency) upon departure. I don't think there was a similar charge when we lived in Europe.

Yeah in the past the Airport Tax had to be paid separately at the airport. Now it is collected at the time of ticketing as part of the overall price of the ticket. In Europe generally all airport fees have been collected as part of the price of the ticket for a long time. I don't know if there was a time when they were collected separately at the airport.