I don’t mean the kind you carry in your wallet, I mean the kind that some countries stamp on your passport.  Birders travel to very exotic destinations and visa requirements vary widely from one country to another depending on your nationality.  Here’s a tool you can use to check if you need a visa.

Let’s check some random destinations for birders and eco-tourists.

1.  American traveling to Brazil

You can see the complete result of the query here, but this is it in a nutshell – yes Americans need a visa to travel to Brazil.

2.  Australian traveling to Indonesia

Yes, Australians DO need a visa but check this out – they can get it on arrival at most major airports.  The Brazlian query above didn’t have that so that means they need to get the visa at a consulate.

3.  British traveling to Costa Rica

This is where it really gets interesting!  UK citizens do not require a visa to enter Costa Rica for 9o days but they DO need a visa to transit the USA even if they are only making a flight connection without leaving the airport.  Fortunately, this is very easy to get online and it’s called an ESTA, but it does cost around $15.

If the British traveler finds a direct flight to Costa Rica without transiting the USA, they won’t need the ESTA, nor do they need a visa for Costa Rica in any case as long as the trip is less than 30 days.  Note that they also require you have sufficient funds to support yourself while in Costa Rica but they will accept credit cards as proof.  In real life, you are unlikely to be questioned unless you look really down and out, pretty hard for a birder to do with all the camera gear we carry!

OK, I need a visa, so where do I get one?

Best place to start is by Googling “Country name visa” in either the capital city of your country or the largest city near you.