South African passport in New Caledonia

[Twosox]

Now here is a challenge!! Four of our group are on South African Passports but are N Z residents. Travelling to New Caledonia they are going to need visas BUT....to get a visa in NZ apparently they have to travel down to Wellington from Auckland as they will not do them via mail etc.

 

Our TA is not having any joy with this and is basically saying it shouldn't be a problem as P & O won't worry and they can probably pay for one when we arrive or even go ashore without one.

 

My experiences make me very wary and basically as tere is no way the girls can afford to take time off work and travel to Wellington after saving so hard just for the cruise, we may well have to cancel...

 

 

HELP!! Has any South African been on a cruise to New Caledonia and had experience WITHOUT a visa.

 

PLease anyone that can help us, this will be much appreciated.

 

My husband and I NEVER take any chances with such things as it's just not worth it

 

 

 

Cheers Linda

[Ela 2]

In Australia, passports are usually taken to Embassies by a courier organised by the travel agent. There is a fee of course. Will the Embassy handle it if delivered by a courier? Is this courier service available in NZ?

 

Evon.

[thied]

we have some in our party that is going on the 28/03/09 to same place, he is germen and is a resident of australia with a germen pass port, yes he had to get a re-entry visa to get back into australia

[Twosox]

Hi Evon

 

No it appears not, we have never had a problem getting visas for anywhere elses, and this is what is so ridiculous....They are insisting that the girls have to go IN PERSON, I think for finger printing but that is so crazy in this day and age when that can be don at any police station, or immigration dept etc.

 

Having been to N C a couple of times before I know they are not overly welcoming to tourists but this is just silly.

 

Thanks Evon for trying to help..It will probably take a Sth African living here who has actually cruised without the visa to answer this..That's why I say it s a challenge.

 

I affects our desire to do the cruise also as the reason we booked was to get a date in School Hols where it worked for all of us.

 

Let's hope we can worl something out.

 

Thansk again Linda

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Hi Linda,

Have you been in touch with P&O direct?

Might be worth a phone call on their 0800 number . The person you speak to may not know , but they should be able to put you through to someone who could help, or take your number and ring back.

[Twosox]

Thanks Thied

 

Unfortunately it's not the reentry visa that will be the problem rather the visa for N C (See my previous reply to Evon)

 

Thanks again for trying to be helpful. This is a great forum

 

Cheers Linda

[Ela 2]

we have some in our party that is going on the 28/03/09 to same place, he is germen and is a resident of australia with a germen pass port, yes he had to get a re-entry visa to get back into australia

Two-sox's group lives in New Zealand, not Australia, so the rules are undoubtedly different. The question relates to a visa for New Caledonia for someone with a South African passport.:):)

 

I tend to agree with Two-Sox's sentiment that things should be done correctly to avoid complications when the ship gets to Noumea. The French authorities can quite justifiably refuse entry to the people on question.

 

Evon.

[thied]

ps he is in brisbane and had go to sydney to get it, they would not do it any other way they use to but sence 9/11 they dont it could be the same for all Embassies i dont now

[thied]

Two-sox's group lives in New Zealand, not Australia, so the rules are undoubtedly different. The question relates to a visa for New Caledonia for someone with a South African passport.:):)

 

I tend to agree with Two-Sox's sentiment that things should be done correctly to avoid complications when the ship gets to Noumea. The French authorities can quite justifiably refuse entry to the people on question.

 

Evon.

yes i now that was only giving this people an idea of what my friend had to go thuogh in oz to go to the same place,

[Twosox]

Thanks Thied

 

So at least this problem is just not in NZ. I was pretty sure it was with the French Embassy. That was tough on your friend and also a costly exercise. They obviously must be wary of German's and SA's

 

My feelings are that if P & O are using New Caledonia on their itineraries they should at the very least warn people of possible problems obtaining a visa or better still come to some arrangement with the French Immigration to make it possible by post/courier as other embassies do.

 

I'm sure you can sense my frustration, but we'll keep at it fora little time and see if we can resolve it...It may be worth a call to P & O but somehow I doubt it.

 

 

Thanks again Linda

[thied]

Thanks Thied

 

So at least this problem is just not in NZ. I was pretty sure it was with the French Embassy. That was tough on your friend and also a costly exercise. They obviously must be wary of German's and SA's

 

My feelings are that if P & O are using New Caledonia on their itineraries they should at the very least warn people of possible problems obtaining a visa or better still come to some arrangement with the French Immigration to make it possible by post/courier as other embassies do.

 

I'm sure you can sense my frustration, but we'll keep at it fora little time and see if we can resolve it...It may be worth a call to P & O but somehow I doubt it.

 

 

Thanks again Linda

yes it can be costly and yes i agree they should warn people before they book

[Ela 2]

Hi Linda,

I don't know if P & O will be able to help much. Unfortunately the people at the call centre don't have the answer to everything. :D:D:D P & O will probably just say that it is your responsibility to get the necessary visas. I think it says that in the P & O brochure. :):)

 

Cheers,

Evon.

[celle]

Hi Evon

 

No it appears not, we have never had a problem getting visas for anywhere elses, and this is what is so ridiculous....They are insisting that the girls have to go IN PERSON, I think for finger printing but that is so crazy in this day and age when that can be don at any police station, or immigration dept etc.

 

Having been to N C a couple of times before I know they are not overly welcoming to tourists but this is just silly.

 

Thanks Evon for trying to help..It will probably take a Sth African living here who has actually cruised without the visa to answer this..That's why I say it s a challenge.

 

I affects our desire to do the cruise also as the reason we booked was to get a date in School Hols where it worked for all of us.

 

Let's hope we can worl something out.

 

Thansk again Linda

 

Linda, everywhere I've looked on the Internet says that you have to apply in person at the French Embassy in Wellington. I can't see any way around that. It does not seem to give any option for appointing an agent to go in the place of your friends, or else you might have been able to get someone who is already in Wellington to go for them.

 

Unfortunately, while New Caledonia has a visa waiver programme with many countries (including NZ), this does not include South Africa.

 

You might get some more information by phoning the French Embassy - at least they might be able to tell you if visas can be obtained when you arrive in New Caledonia.

[Twosox]

Thanks Celle

 

I too have had a look around and can't see any way to resolve it...I am going to talk to one of the girls on the weekend and as a last resort maybe ring the Embassy.

 

I never thought about using an agent, as I have a niece in Wellington. Maybe we can get confirmed fingerprints done here and see whether the Embassy will allow her to be there as agent.

 

Cheers Linda

[jessie2009]

Just wonder how it turned out in the end.

 

We have a very similar situation for one in the group. And the worse part is it takes at least 15 working days (about three weeks) to process a visa but when she got the cruise ticket it is only four weeks away. Even if she can prepare all the documents right this minute and fly down to Wellinton, it says the french will courier the passport back once it is done. (They particular say if they are busy, it will take longer than 15 days.) But what if there is some complication and can't receive the passport back before sailing time!:(

 

Twosox, I just wonder if the girl you mentioned had any luck?

- Did she go to apply for the visa in Wellington?

- If she hadn't go for the visa, did she get onto the cruise ship on March 2009 ok?

- Did she have any luck at New Caledonia? Or did she deny entry?

 

Thank you.

[Twosox]

Hi there Jessie

 

No iot hasn't resolved itself as yet.ur cruise is not until July. At the moment they are talking about going to Wellington but are you saying they need the tickets first to apply for the visa and can't they get it straight away whilst they are there

 

Cheers

[jessie2009]

I am not quite sure. On the website it says a letter from TA will be fine. I guess payment confirmation will do too. But for processing time it is said to be 15 days, which I assume 15 working days. And the funniest thing of all is it states if lots of applications received at the same time, it will take more time than that. And you have to give them a prepaid courier envelope for them to send your passport back once it is approved (or rejected).

[Twosox]

Thanks Jessie

 

What are you going to do..are you going to Wellington? When is your cruise?

 

The truoble is the French are not particularly welcoming of tourists in New Caledonia so they don,t really care but the fact that you have to rely on them sending it back makes me very nervous

 

Where do you live in NZ?< I believe the embassy is also not open normal hours either which will not help if you need to fly there. We are in Auckland so it will be quite a performance

 

Linda

[jessie2009]

Hi, Linda,

 

We are in Auckland. Our cruise is in June so she is probably running out of time by now. I know sometimes things could be very bureaucratic. Our agent said that it was quite extreme for such an interview. And yes, the Embassy only opens a few hours in the morning so that means you have to stay one night there. The agent said something like if it were him he would just leave the visa thing out and let the port of call decide. If he was not so lucky, he would rather just stay onboard and enjoy all the freebies. But of course he said he was not going to be held responsible for what he said. :) My friend feels it totally not enjoyable at all for a trip if she has to go through things like that and she'd rather staying in Auckland instead!

I will let you know how it goes...

 

Jessie

[Twosox]

Hi Jessie

 

What would concern me more ids that it states quite clearly in the Terms and Conditions that you may not be allowed to board in the first place without the relevant visas.

 

An elderly friend of mine has just returned from a 42 day cruise and they were not allowed off in one asian port as the date of the visit on their visa was one day out. They were told that if it had been picked up when they were boarding they would not have been allowed to board...so they obviously do enforce it sometimes

 

Is your friend still going to go ahead or not??

 

Linda

[jessie2009]

Yes, I heard about those stories. If it were me I would have felt very worried. But my friend thought it not worth to have a holiday with all these hassles. She'd rather not go to those countries at all. Staying in Auckland can still be a good choice for a relaxed holiday. She's going to let another friend go...:o

[steve1970]

Hi

We have first hand experience here.

You will need to go to Wellington in person. They are open to 1.00pm (from memory) and yes, you are required to go in person, so they can sight you. No exceptions and the visa takes about 10 days.

You will be let on the ship without a visa, you may not be allowed off the ship in Noumea or Ouvea.

We were let on the ship without a visa on one trip, but did no go to New Caledonia, we got diverted.

Second trip we did not try our luck, we got a visa (it is only about $17) but the flight to Wellington was about $100 and the taxi was $60 return.

The ship will take your passport off you before you get into Noumea and only return it to you after you leave their waters. They take all non-NZ and Australian passports. They do say it’s random............ but it is not.

My advice, if you are a family either fly or drive and make a weekend of it. Maybe I would have risked it - but my wife was denied entry to Thailand as the T/A said we didn’t need a visa and we took their word for it, but the T/A did look after us with a large credit.

Think carefully, is it worth not being able to go to 2 stops on a cruise for the sake of less than 10% of the trip cost?

Steve

[Ela 2]

hi Steve,

I think you make some excellent points re getting a visa.

 

I'll make the comment that P & O also take Australian passports. On one cruise ours had to be handed in prior to our arrival in New Caledonia, and at least one other member of this forum (Kym - Skyrules) had to hand his in on one cruise. Maybe they ask for all non-NZ/Aust passports as well as the random NZ/Australian ones.:)

 

Evon.

[Itachi]

I hope something gets sorted out for you, would be a shame to miss out!

[Twosox]

Thanks Itachi for your sentiments

 

Thanks also Steve...Whilst it is heartening that you were allowed on board once without the necessary visa I'm still not confident that will be consistent.

 

Two of our party are considering taking the risk and just not going ashore but it makes me very nervous...The third one has already decided to go to Wellington which is good so I am crossing my fingers that the other two also do.

 

Their TA is taking the usual approach of "it'll be fine" but he won't put it in writing of course so as far as I'm concerned it is no contest, and I cannot imagine going on a cruise ( even if one was allowed on board) without getting off at 3 of the 5 ports.

 

Thanks for all your help. I will let you know just before we go if they have got visas or not.

 

Cheers Linda