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Visitor Permit

TuvaluShort stays and visits

Explore the five recorded questions, answers and sources for this pathway.

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Explore pathways in Tuvalu Read the five questions ↓

For the relevant traveller scope, is a visa, electronic authorisation, visa on arrival or no advance visa normally required?

No one may enter Tuvalu without a valid permit unless exempted under section 7 of the Act. A visitor who is a citizen of a country listed in Schedule 1 of the Regulations pays no fee; a visitor from any other country pays a $100 fee unless the Minister waives it. The official source does not state whether the permit is obtained in advance or on arrival.

See recorded sources
Limits of the record
  • The source does not say whether the visitors permit is obtained in advance or on arrival.
  • Schedule 1 is a fee-exemption list, not a visa-exemption list.

What short-visit purposes does this route cover?

The Regulations define the visit by its restrictions: subject to the business-endorsement exception in regulation 2(3), a visitor permit allows no employment or business activity, no study and no proselytising. The Act defines a visitor as a person arriving for an intended stay not exceeding 4 months.

See recorded sources
Limits of the record
  • No positive list of permitted purposes (tourism, family visit, etc.) is stated; only prohibitions.
  • The 4-month figure is the Act's definition of 'visitor'; the permit itself is capped at 30 days (see R3).

What maximum stay, rolling-period rule, validity and entry rules apply?

A visitor permit is issued for a maximum stay of 30 days; the Act caps a visitor's permit at one month. The Act also lists a rule that the person has not been in Tuvalu for more than 3 months in total in the 12 months before the permit or extension would take effect.

See recorded sources
Limits of the record
  • The 3-months-in-12 rule is one limb of s.9(3): it applies where the officer acts on his own satisfaction, and not where he has a written instruction signed by the Minister (s.9(3)(a), cited in R5).
  • Extension rules are in R5.

What important funds, accommodation, invitation, insurance, onward-travel or passport evidence may be required?

Where the officer issues the permit on his own satisfaction, he must be satisfied that the person has a valid ticket or other means of travelling from Tuvalu to another country they can enter. A person who at entry cannot show means of supporting himself and his family and dependants, or definite employment awaiting him, or who is likely to become a charge on the public, is a prohibited immigrant. The official source does not state accommodation, invitation or insurance evidence.

See recorded sources
Limits of the record
  • The onward-ticket test is one limb of s.9(3); a written instruction signed by the Minister (s.9(3)(a), cited in R5) is an alternative.
  • No accommodation, invitation or insurance evidence is stated.

Where/how is permission obtained when required, and under what important circumstances can a stay be extended or changed?

The Principal Immigration Officer may extend a visitors permit for up to 30 days on payment of $100 where no employment or business is permitted. The officer may issue or extend a visitor's permit only on the Minister's signed written instruction or if the statutory conditions are met. The official source does not state where or how the permit is applied for.

See recorded sources
Limits of the record
  • The source does not say where or how the permit is applied for (in advance or on arrival).

These are the answers currently recorded in the catalogue. A missing or partial answer is not an eligibility decision.

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