Who to speak with about visa needs

[WaterGirlCruiser]

I have a friend that would like to cruise with his family from a US Port. They are Saudi Arabia citizens, but here in the US on visa for school. I can't seem to find any customer support of what they will need to board ship or get off in ports. Can anyone help me or direct me to get the answer to this question?

 

Thanks, Stacey

[Clarea]

I'm not sure this will entirely cover your situation, but I have friends that have used this site before: http://visacentral.com/visas.

[jenfromjersey]

I would also have them contact their DSO at their school who might be able to guide them in the right direction.

[Clarea]

Another important point is to ask Royal what type of US visa is needed to cruise from (and re-enter) the US. On a recent cruise, we had a Chinese national in our group. She had a Chinese passport and initially showed the check-in agent a US work visa. This caused a problem until she produced a US tourist visa. I don't know if this situation would also apply to Saudi nationals.

[WonderousBlue]

I apologize for delay in reply... I appreciate your help. When I call Royal though they are completely clueless, which I don't understand. I feel they should atleast be able to tell me what this family needs to board their ships and what they will need to get off in ports. If they don't know, and it's their ships being boarded, then who else would...

[setsail]

Look under non US citizens

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/customersupport/faq/details.do?pagename=frequently_asked_questions&pnav=5&pnav=2&faqType=faq&faqSubjectId=329&faqSubjectName=Cruise+Documents&faqId=2814

 

Be sure to click the link ar the bottom for more info on visas

 

A travel agent would be a good source to use

Edited December 28, 2015 by setsail

[jmf123]

Stacey, you could check with a visa service, such as http://visacentral.com/ who may be able to answer your questions. :)

[JVilleGal]

Stacey, you could check with a visa service, such as http://visacentral.com/ who may be able to answer your questions. :)

 

 

I ditto this advice! Well worth it to have experts deal with Visa requirements.

[JVilleGal]

I apologize for delay in reply... I appreciate your help. When I call Royal though they are completely clueless, which I don't understand. I feel they should atleast be able to tell me what this family needs to board their ships and what they will need to get off in ports. If they don't know, and it's their ships being boarded, then who else would...

 

 

Do NOT trust anything the Cruiseline says!!!! This is a complicated situation and needs to be dealt with by experts. Your Saudi friends being able to leave and then ReEnter the US is an issue. The need expert assistance.

[paulh84]

I apologize for delay in reply... I appreciate your help. When I call Royal though they are completely clueless, which I don't understand. I feel they should atleast be able to tell me what this family needs to board their ships and what they will need to get off in ports. If they don't know, and it's their ships being boarded, then who else would...

 

Not quite. The cruise line doesn't control customs and entry processes. They have limited info available to point you in the right direction as someone posted above, but they are not going to take responsibility if the correct documentation was not secured ahead of time. That's always the responsibility of the passenger in any travel situation (cruise, land, air...) that I have ever been in.

 

Stacey, you could check with a visa service, such as http://visacentral.com/ who may be able to answer your questions. :)

 

I've used this site twice with success. Easy to deal with and no issues. I would highly recommend going through a service like this - especially since it's dealing with a Saudi passport.

[JVilleGal]

Because they are in the US on Student Visa's there are additional restrictions, it will be very important to know what exact visa every member of the Saudi family has (all Student Visa's and what specific visa # it is) there are likely a variety of types of student visa's.

 

What cruise are they looking at? Some countries may be easier for them to enter than others? This will take some time to arrange with Each country on their itinerary.

[Merion_Mom]

I apologize for delay in reply... I appreciate your help. When I call Royal though they are completely clueless, which I don't understand. I feel they should atleast be able to tell me what this family needs to board their ships and what they will need to get off in ports. If they don't know, and it's their ships being boarded, then who else would...

 

The United States Government.

 

http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/study-exchange/student.html

[Docker123]

Because they are in the US on Student Visa's there are additional restrictions, it will be very important to know what exact visa every member of the Saudi family has (all Student Visa's and what specific visa # it is) there are likely a variety of types of student visa's.

 

What cruise are they looking at? Some countries may be easier for them to enter than others? This will take some time to arrange with Each country on their itinerary.

 

This is very important advice for international students. There is a lot of complexity with student visas, and accompanying family visas.

 

As jenfromjersey has posted, they have to go through the school's DSO. They will know the details, or know where to get the specialist information etc. they may need to issue additional documentation to support the trip.

 

When I was an international student in the US, visa requirements and side travel were ongoing concerns. I knew several who got in difficulties because they did not check requirements with the international office before travelling.

 

https://studyinthestates.dhs.gov/2014/04/students-what-is-a-dso

[paulh84]

The United States Government.

 

http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/study-exchange/student.html

 

I would still seek some professional guidance. I've found even the state dept's website not accurate. For instance it will say a US citizen needs a Visa for Thailand, when in reality as long as you can produce a ticket that shows you're leaving the country within X number of days, a visa is not required. They can get very expensive especially if it's a port-intensive cruise so I wouldn't risk it.

Edited December 28, 2015 by paulh84

[JVilleGal]

First stop:

https://studyinthestates.dhs.gov/2014/04/students-what-is-a-dso

 

This website published by the US Govt is the starting place for International Students. They can not just leave the country and expect to keep that Student Visa.

[zeridan]

I apologize for delay in reply... I appreciate your help. When I call Royal though they are completely clueless, which I don't understand. I feel they should atleast be able to tell me what this family needs to board their ships and what they will need to get off in ports. If they don't know, and it's their ships being boarded, then who else would...

 

Cruise line representatives are actually disallowed from advising you on visas. They will refer you to the sight that Bob linked to above, if you are a US citizen (to my knowledge visa central can not advise those with alternate citizenship, but other countries have their own 3rd party agencies).

 

It as and always has been the responsibility of the traveler to verify this type of info. I wouldn't trust anyone from a travel-provider to advise me. They will need to do their homework or use a Travel Agent that they trust to advise them.

 

They simply need to contact the consulate or other government agency that handles this in each port of call. A basic Google search of "X citizenship traveling to X country visa requirement" will provide the information you need in the first few links.