1.4
| c1 | c2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Background key points | ||
| Where? | Why? | Travel issue |
| Ethiopia | One week project meeting. | Tourism visa vs Business visa. |
After a strict lecture on the procedure, considering the type of “business” she was there for, and the fact that she was supported by the Italian embassy, the police eventually decided to close the case with no consequences. Sarah paid the visa fee and received her passport back with no bans on future travels.
She bought a new flight and finally returned back to Italy.
In the next year Sarah had to go one more time to Mekelle for the project, but this time she did it according to the correct procedure, applying for the correct visa (business visa in this case) in due time before the departure.
Doing a balance, Sarah, was it really worth it to go for what seemed to be the shortest and quickest way?
“No, it was not! It was instead stressing, time consuming and quite expensive.
I have already used tourism visa for similar trips in the past and nobody ever questioned, but this time the fate did not assist me.
If I had arrived on time in Addis I would have had enough time to do the tourism visa without problems, I think. I really did not stop thinking that maybe it was not possible to do it in Mekelle. I took it for granted, big mistake!”
According to you which are the risks she incurred in?