You may also opt to obtain a border-crossing passport card from the State Department. Please contact us to find out how and allow at least 48 hours for processing.

A VISA is a consulate-issued stamp on a traveler’s passport.

This stamp is issued by the consulate or embassy of the country being visited by the traveler as a permission, or acceptance, of the traveler’s request to visit their country.

A VISA is not a right. It is a request for permission to go visit a certain country. If granted, it is only the green light to board a flight to that country. The entry permission will be confirmed by the immigration officer, or authority, at the port of entry.

To obtain a visa, you must:

Find out what you need to APPLY for your visa (Check out Arista’s VISAS page, or the consulate/embassy websites of the country you are about to go visit)

Submit your passport along with the required documentation

Pay your visa fees directly to the consulate

Wait until your passport is released by the consulate with your visa stamped on one of the pages

PLEASE NOTE:

Without an entry VISA, you will not be allowed to board a flight to those countries that require you to obtain one.

It’s the traveler’s responsibility to obtain his/her own visas, and no one else is legally liable or responsible for the traveler’s failure to obtain a visa to travel for his/her international destination.

Airlines are in charge of enforcing that requirement at the check-in counter and will not let you check-in to board your flight if you don’t have a valid entry visa

The reason why: because they will have to accommodate you on an emergency return flight when immigration denies you entry at your port of destination. Even if the airline makes a mistake and allows you to board your flight without a visa, or with an improper or expired one, you will not be allowed past the immigration counters at the international airport of your destination.

Long story short: you will only need an entry visa – or approval – issued by the country you are about to go visit IF that country requires you to obtain one prior to boarding your flight. EVERY TIME YOU TRAVEL INTERNATIONALLY, you must check that country’s embassy or consulate websites to establish if their government requires you to obtain a visa. It is the traveler’s responsibility to arrange to obtain his/her own visa.

Please consult our VISAS or CONTACT pages for more information.

Short answer: it’s called RECIPROCITY. The U.S. requires the citizens of the country you are about to visit a VISA to come to the U.S. even as tourists. Ex.: Brazil requires U.S. citizens to obtain a VISA to enter into Brazil because the U.S. requires Brazilians a VISA to enter into the U.S., and vice-versa. The international agreements between countries determine that, and it doesn’t necessarily apply to all countries.

In other words, if the US requires the citizens of a certain country (for example: Brazil, China, India, Russia, etc.) to obtain an entry VISA to visit the US as tourists, then that country will also require a US citizen to request permission – an entry VISA – to visit their country. All travelers MUST obtain this entry VISA PRIOR to boarding a flight into those countries. All entry VISAS must be applied for in advance at the nearest consulate or embassy of the country you about to visit. Visas can take anywhere between 1 day and several weeks to be issued by a foreign consulate.

HOW IT WORKS:

Visas are actual stamps placed on a blank “VISAS” passport page by the consulate, or the embassy, of the country you are about to go visit PRIOR to your departure.

To obtain an entry visa:

You must comply with the visa requirements for each country you are planning to visit.

Find out what you need to APPLY for your visa consulting our VISA pages, or the consulate/embassy pages for the country you are going to visit.

Submit your VALID US passport to the consulate, along with the required documentation.

Pay your visa fees directly to the consulate.

Wait until your passport is released by the consulate with your visa stamped on one of the pages.

Without an entry VISA, you will not be allowed to board a flight to those countries that require you to obtain one. The airlines will enforce that at the check-in counter and will not let you check-in to board your flight if you don’t have a valid visa (Reason why: because they will have to accommodate you on an emergency return flight when immigration denies you entry at your port of destination). It’s the traveler’s responsibility to obtain his/her own visas, and no one else is legally liable or responsible for the traveler’s failure to obtain a visa to travel for his/her international destination. Even if the airline makes a mistake and allows you to board your flight without a visa, or with an improper or expired one, the immigration authorities at your port of entry will deport you and place you on the next flight back to your country of residence on the same airline. You will not be allowed past the immigration counters at international airports.

Long story short: you will only need a visa – or approval issued by the country you are about to go visit – IF that country requires you to obtain one prior to boarding your flight. EVERY TIME YOU TRAVEL INTERNATIONALLY, you must check that country’s embassy or consulate websites to establish if their government requires you to obtain a visa. It is the traveler’s responsibility to arrange to obtain his/her own visa.

Please consult our VISAS or CONTACT pages for more information.

Yes.

PASSPORT AND VISA PHOTOS: We are also able to take ANY passport and visa photo you need. We have a professional photographer on staff and can provide you with just your passport photos if that is all you need.

CANADIAN PASSPORT PHOTOS: We are experts in Canadian photo requirements. We are listed on the Canadian consulate’s website as one of the only photo services in Los Angeles that can actually comply with the strict Canadian government specs. Our success rate is 100%.

ALL OTHER INTERNATIONAL PASSPORT AND VISA PHOTOS: We have the templates with all international photo specs and measurements.

Please click the PHOTOS link on the menu at the top of our home page.

We Accept All Major Credit Cards!

Yes.

Everyone needs a passport from the minute they are born. All international flights and border-crossing will require a passport. A passport is the only acceptable international ID that is acceptable all over the globe.

Yes.

However, the State Department or foreign consulates general instructions can be very confusing and processing requirements can vary drastically from person to person. We have worked very hard to put our experience at your disposal and make the process a lot faster and efficient. There’s an invisible cost (time, learning curve and mental toll) to doing this on your own and we are here to eliminate or alleviate that for you. All you have to do when you hire us is to follow our advice and customized instructions so that you can produce the proper documents to you and your circumstance. If you choose to go through the requirements, procedures, and decide to expedite your US passport or visa on your own, you may find that saving yourself the perceived cost to our services will probably not be worth your time, and possible additional cost overall, by the time it’s all said and done. Not to mention, depending on how sophisticated your situation and request is, you may not even be able to obtain your travel document without professional help in the first place. In addition, the document issued to you might not be the one you expect, and/or you may end up not being to obtain your passport within the time you require to board your flight. In essence, hiring a truly professional agency like Arista may be the most sensible choice you could make, one that could be the difference between being on that important business trip, or even more importantly, that vacation flight you have been planning for all year.

Unfortunately, no.

We can only help you renew or process a US passport. If you are a non-US citizen living in the US, you must contact your local consulate or embassy to process your passport.