Journal
Reports, analyses and features from all 195 countries - the journalism behind the journeys.
Which Passport to Show
Two passports is not a free choice at every desk. Enter and leave a country on its own document; use whichever you like for third countries; and check very carefully before travelling to a country that does not recognise dual nationality at all.
Thirty Units and a Closed Window
Most of the world folded departure tax into the ticket. In the places that did not, a small cash payment at a specific window in a specific currency stands between a passenger and their flight — and the desk closes before the gate does.
The Country You Never Entered
Changing planes is usually nothing. The exceptions — airport transit visas, baggage that is not checked through, a terminal change that puts you landside — are why passengers get refused boarding for a country they were never going to set foot in.
The Road Is Not the Crossing
Air routes fail visibly. Land borders fail quietly — closed for years while the map still shows the road, or open to the two neighbouring nationalities and to nobody else. The four kinds of closure, and how to check before you commit.
The Window Moves With You
Ninety days in any hundred-and-eighty. Not per visit, not per half-year, and it does not reset when you leave. The rolling window is stated in one line and miscounted by almost everyone who relies on it.
The Stamp Becomes a Database
Europe is replacing the passport stamp with a biometric record of every external crossing. The short-stay rule has not changed at all. The probability of the rule being noticed has changed completely.