Post: #1

So in prepping for an upcoming trip to Africa (contemplating Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Ghana), I will have to apply for some visas in advance.

A frequent requirement for getting these pre-arranged visas is being able to show the air arrangements are sorted before the visa is actually approved. I'd rather just get the visa AND then make air arrangements in case I don't get approved, plus I don't want to commit to certain dates this far out.

What hacks work to make this process less onerous and risky? The YouTube link below shows how to make a dummy reservation seems like it would satisfy the requirements of the embassy bureaucrats. I can't imagine the Ghanaian Embassy will take more than a cursory look at my visa application and then rubber stamp approve it, but I could be wrong.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsgDqGNS_-8

Post: #2

Interesting thread on the visa issues as I run into issues when traveling with girls or meeting them in a place.
I usually make reservations (air/ hotel) using my points which are easier to cancel sometimes without any penalty even. That way I have the visa and can change mine or her's travel dates.

The difficulty you have is that certain countries require to travel during original dates were listed on the visa application (unless you have multi entry visa).

Post: #3

Just get fully refundable tickets and cancel them later. I don't think there is any reason why you wouldn't be approved for a visa to these countries, why is that a concern?

Post: #4

(10-29-2015 12:40 PM)Akwesi Wrote:  Just get fully refundable tickets and cancel them later. I don't think there is any reason why you wouldn't be approved for a visa to these countries, why is that a concern?

Being approved for the visa is not the issue, really. This is my first applied-for visa and want to get an understanding from the experiences of veteran travelers on the forum on just how much African embassies scrutinize the contents of visa applications. I am inclined to think that as long as the fee is paid, it will for sure get approved. I don't know....maybe these embassies employees check the PNR with airlines to see if a ticket is genuine. Akwesi, if some repped RVFers like you have said that have done the dummy ticket reservation thing with embassies and it's worked, it would be good intel for all of us.

I just rather not temporarily go through the hassle of buying a refundable ticket if I don't need to do it. I am sure buying a refundable ticket is easy enough and I'm smart enough to figure that out, but I have never done that before either.

As an aside to all this: I've made dummy tickets in lieu of buying a "throw-away" ticket when going to Cebu City from Singapore. The ticketing agent in the Changi airport wanted to see proof of onward travel before issuing my boarding pass. It must be a policy to ask for proof of onward travel if going to the Philippines. I gave her a doctored-up email confirmation from a previous Air Asia flight complete with easily researched flight numbers and timings. She took a three-second glance at it and that was good enough for her. So for the others reading this, I wouldn't waste money on a $50 ticket for onward travel out of the Philippines; just buy that one-way ticket into the Phils and show the airline agent something official looking and you should be good.

Post: #5

(10-30-2015 01:04 AM)popeyearms76 Wrote:  

(10-29-2015 12:40 PM)Akwesi Wrote:  Just get fully refundable tickets and cancel them later. I don't think there is any reason why you wouldn't be approved for a visa to these countries, why is that a concern?

Being approved for the visa is not the issue, really. This is my first applied-for visa and want to get an understanding from the experiences of veteran travelers on the forum on just how much African embassies scrutinize the contents of visa applications. I am inclined to think that as long as the fee is paid, it will for sure get approved. I don't know....maybe these embassies employees check the PNR with airlines to see if a ticket is genuine. Akwesi, if some repped RVFers like you have said that have done the dummy ticket reservation thing with embassies and it's worked, it would be good intel for all of us.

I routinely apply for visas with refundable tickets as 'proof' that I later cancel. However, I don't just make a fake reservation, or cancel before the visa has been issued by the embassy.

In my experience, it's just a low-wage worker that checks the documents at the embassy desk, so there's nothing to be extremely worried about. The real strict countries would probably be more interested in seeing a legitimate bank statement or access to credit anyways.

Post: #6

In my experience African civil servants work as little as possible, and to be honest, nobody in these countries really cares who comes and goes anyway. As long as your application looks complete, you should be good to go.

If you still haven't made all the arrangements by the time you start your trip it might be a different story, you could get hassled by the airline or by the immigration people at the airport (the latter are, of course, eminently bribable).