Visa Types & Access Levels, ExplainedThe Plain-Language Glossary Behind Every Badge on Earth Visa

What every access-level badge on Earth Visa actually means - Visa-Free, Visa on Arrival, eTA, e-Visa, Visa Required, Freedom of Movement. For what applies to you, check a specific passport and destination pair or browse the passport index.

Visa-Free vs Visa on Arrival vs eTA vs e-Visa: The Difference

All four mean you skip the embassy. What differs is whether a visa is issued, where, and whether you must apply before flying.

Which column applies is nationality-specific: the same destination can sit in a different one for every passport.

The simplest entry there is: show up with a valid passport and cross the border. No application, no fee, nothing to prepare in advance - though an officer may still ask to see a return ticket or proof of funds. You get a stamp (or, inside a shared-border zone, nothing at all) authorising a stay length the destination sets. It is nationality-specific: the same destination can be visa-free for one passport and require a full visa for another - check a pair on the visa requirement tool.

You file nothing before you fly, but this is not the same as visa-free: you queue at a dedicated counter, pay a fee in person (commonly cash, sometimes card), and receive a visa sticker or stamp at the airport or land border. The officer can still ask for a return ticket, hotel booking or proof of funds first, and the fee, accepted currency and required documents are set per destination - so check the specific requirement rather than assuming a flat rule.

An eTA is not a visa: it's a security pre-screening layered on top of an entry you already qualify for visa-free. You apply online before travelling, usually get an automated approval within minutes to a few days, and it is linked electronically to your passport number - no document to print, no sticker, no embassy visit. Kenya's eTA, Australia's ETA, Canada's eTA, the UK's ETA and the United States' ESTA all work this way. The EU's version is ETIAS, applied across the Schengen Area.

An e-visa is an actual visa, just applied for and issued online instead of at an embassy. You fill out a form, upload scanned documents (photo, passport bio page, sometimes a hotel booking or return ticket), pay online, and receive an approval letter or electronic record tied to your passport. It replaces the embassy visit, not the visa requirement.

The distinction from an eTA: an eTA is pre-screening for travellers who are already visa-exempt; an e-visa is the visa itself, for travellers who would need one anyway. Australia runs both - its ETA for visa-exempt passports, its eVisitor / e-Visa for the rest.

Everything else: you apply in advance at an embassy, consulate, or an authorised application centre such as VFS Global, TLScontact or BLS International. You complete a form, assemble supporting documents (passport, photos, proof of funds, travel and accommodation details, sometimes an invitation letter), and often attend an appointment for biometrics. Processing runs from days to months depending on the destination and your nationality. No single fee, document list or timeline applies everywhere - check your own corridor on the visa requirement tool.

A broader right than visa-free entry: the right to live, work and reside in another country, not just visit it. It comes from membership of a shared legal union rather than a bilateral visa waiver - most clearly the European Union, whose 27 member states' citizens can move to, work in and reside in any other member state.

Not the same as Schengen, which is about crossing internal borders without passport checks for short stays. They overlap but don't match: Ireland is in the EU but outside Schengen. See the Schengen guide for how the travel side works.

For passing through a country on the way somewhere else. Stay airside - inside the international transit zone, never clearing immigration - and many countries require no transit visa at all, whatever your nationality, because you never legally enter. Go landside to leave the airport, collect checked luggage or change terminals outside the secure zone, and some countries require one depending on your nationality and layover length, while others still let you through visa-free. It varies by airport as well as by country, so check your exact routing before booking - and see the transit visa guide for the products each destination publishes.