Visas & Paperwork
Travelling while an application is pending is a separate decision
Having applied for something is not the same as holding it, and leaving the country in the interval can affect the application, the return journey or both, depending entirely on the system.
By Varun Krishnan3 min read
Two permissions, not one
A great deal of confusion in this area comes from treating permission to be somewhere and permission to enter somewhere as a single thing. They are separate in most systems, they are frequently evidenced by different documents, and the state of one does not determine the state of the other.
A person waiting for a decision is in a defined position, and what that position permits is set out by the country concerned. In some systems the previous permission continues while a timely application is being considered. In others it does not. In others again it continues for some purposes and not for others, including travel.
That is a general description of the possibilities, not a statement about anywhere in particular. The only reliable source is the current official guidance for the country you are in, and anybody with a decision pending and a reason to travel should take qualified advice before booking.
What a pending application can do to a journey
The risks fall into recognisable groups, and they are worth understanding as categories even though the specifics are national. Leaving may be treated as withdrawing the application in some systems. Returning may require something you do not currently hold. Being outside the country may mean missing a request for further information with a short deadline.
The last of these is underrated. Applications frequently pause while an authority asks for a document, and the period allowed to respond can be short and can begin from the date the request was sent rather than read. Somebody travelling with limited access to their post is exposed in a way they had not considered.
There is also the practical question of the document itself, which brings us to the part people discover too late.
Your passport may be in somebody else’s drawer
Some systems require the physical passport to be lodged while an application is processed, which straightforwardly prevents travel regardless of what the rules otherwise permit. Others take biometric data and return the document. Others work entirely from copies.
Where the passport is held, the length of time is not usually something you control, and requests to have it back mid-process may or may not be possible. This alone is a reason to think about the year ahead before submitting an application, particularly if there is a wedding, a funeral or a fixed commitment abroad in it.
It is also a reason to keep copies of the document, since a copy is often accepted for domestic errands that would otherwise stall while the original is away. Not always, but often enough to be worth having.
The emergency you can’t plan and should still think about
The hardest version of this is a family emergency at home during a pending application, and it is worth having thought about it in advance rather than during. What the system permits, what any exceptional route exists for, and who you would ask are all things that can be established while nothing is wrong.
People in this position sometimes travel anyway, accepting a consequence they have understood, and that is a decision a person is entitled to make about their own life. What causes real damage is travelling without knowing there was a consequence at all.
If there is any prospect of needing to leave urgently, raising it before applying is sensible, since the timing of a submission is often the one variable genuinely under your control.
Ask before you book, and ask the right body
The question worth asking is narrow and specific: given the application I have submitted and the documents I currently hold, what is my position if I leave and return during the processing period. Vague questions produce vague answers, and a general enquiry about whether travel is allowed invites a general reassurance.
Put it to the authority handling the application or to a qualified adviser, rather than to a community forum, an employer or a helpful acquaintance who did something similar last year under different rules. This is one of the areas where confident second-hand information is most abundant and least reliable.
And where an answer is given, get it in a form you can keep. Written guidance, a reference number, a note of who said it and when. Not because it is a guarantee, but because a documented enquiry is a much better position than a remembered conversation.
Common questions
Can I travel while waiting for a residence decision?
Sometimes, and it depends entirely on the country, the type of application and what documents you hold, so it is not something to infer from another person’s experience. Ask the authority handling it or a qualified adviser before making arrangements.
What happens if the authority writes to me while I am away?
Requests for further information often carry short deadlines that run from the date of the letter, so an absence can cost an application even when travel itself was permitted. Arrange for post to be checked and monitored while you are away.
Will I get my passport back if I need it urgently?
Where a system holds the document, some allow a request for its return and some do not, and the process can take time. Establish the position before submitting rather than assuming flexibility exists.
Editor, Globetrotter Talks
Varun has been reporting on arriving, visas & paperwork, money abroad since long before it was fashionable and is happiest when a piece answers the question completely.
