Getting An Oman eVisa Took Three Minutes

RHODES, Greece- I responded to a question on our YouTube channel about getting travel visas, saying how incredibly easy it has become:

“You just get on their web page, fill out a form, make a payment, and your visa is emailed to you.”

eVisas are the new thing in travel. Many countries who once required travelers to physically go to a consulate (or use an expensive courier), stand in line, submit physical paperwork, pay in a money order, submit their passport, and then return on some specified day to pick up their newly visa-emblazoned passport are transitioning to offering e-visas. For the traveler who likes to spend their time in the lesser-traveled spheres of the world where governments still like to issue (and get paid for) visas, this is a revolution.

There will probably come a day when going to a consulate to get a visa will seem archaic — younger travelers will probably soon never experience this inconvenience. We will probably forget that this travel movement ever existed …

In my day we used to have to go all the way to big cities, find the consulate, stand in line, kowtow to big men in uniforms with shiny pins, and hand over our passports for a week just to get a visa.

Getting a visa to Oman couldn’t have been easier. What is interesting is that Oman once offered visas on arrival at the airport and some land crossings but, as of like … the day before yesterday, they are trying to phase this option out. Why? They feel that the evisa is easier and it streamlines the immigration procedure at the airport. Apparently, standing in line for a visa on arrival was holding things up.

So I went onto Oman’s immigration website, clicked on the apply for visa link, filled out the form, submitted a photo of my passport, submitted a photo of my mug, paid the equivalent of $50, and pushed “apply.”

Almost instantly I received a confirmation email.

Three minutes later — literally three minutes later — I received an email containing the visa.

It couldn’t have been any easier.