Lifestyle Don't miss out on the headlines from Lifestyle. Followed categories will be added to My News. Escape's Doc Holiday, Dilvin Yasa, answers your travel-related questions.
Do we need a visa for Senegal? We are cruising with Norwegian Cruise Line and have been told we need to send our passports to Japan (the nearest country to us that has representation) and arrange for them to be sent back to us. Is that correct? Wow, what a strange situation. I can understand your reluctance to be parted with your passport so I checked in with NCL and they confirmed advice on their website (that passport holders from Australia will receive a visa on arrival at no cost to go ashore) is accurate.
You don’t need to worry about a thing, and should anything change before your cruise, NCL will be in touch. The confusion has arisen because the Consulate-General of the Republic of Senegal in Australia advises that, in most cases, Australians visiting Senegal must apply for a visa well in advance of their visit. As the consulate-general is headed by an honorary consul they are not authorised to issue visas so Australian (and New Zealand) nationals must apply for a visa through Senegal’s nearest representation, which for us is Japan.
They recommend Australians apply for their visa one to two months ahead of their visit. The visa is free of charge (except for the cost of postage), but the passport does need to be sent to the embassy in Japan for it to be stamped. You’ll find all the details.