If you are obtaining your own tourist visa, here are a few things to bear in mind:~ The majority of tourist visas last for between three to six months and they are usually
valid from the date of issue. This means you need to think carefully about when you
obtain your visa, particularly if you are volunteering for a couple of months.
~ Visa requirements can sometimes be affected by the transport you’ve used to enter a
country. For instance, if you fly into Cambodia or Laos you can get visas on arrival but
if you go overland you must arrange them in advance (usually in Bangkok).
~ In some instances, you can get a visa for a longer period of time if you apply before
you travel. For instance, Romania will give you six months if you apply in your home
country but only 30 days if you rock up at the border.
~ If you’ve got an Israeli stamp in your passport from earlier travels, it can cause problems
when entering countries like Syria and Lebanon (Jordan and Egypt are OK). If you are
volunteering in the Middle East and have evidence of a visit to Israel in your passport,
then consider getting another passport.
~ If you need to extend your visa while you’re volunteering, remember that many over-
land border crossings are open for a relatively short time during the day, so try
to find out the ‘opening hours’ in advance. Also, they are often closed during
religious holidays.
~ If you want to travel after your volunteer placement and plan to obtain visas on the
road, take lots of passport-sized photographs with you. Many countries require two to
four photos to process a visa and it’s a hassle finding photo booths abroad.
Travel Insurance
Obtaining travel insurance for international volunteering is not the same thing as getting
it for your annual vacation. For starters, you will probably buy a different insurance policy,
because it must cover the specific activities and tasks that you will be performing.
If you volunteer with a sending agency, they will advise which insurance companies to
approach. However, it will also be made clear that your travel insurance is ultimately your
responsibility. As such, you need to ask the right questions and be aware of the
main issues.
When discussing with an insurance company which policy you need, be upfront about
what you are doing and where you are going. They need to be left in no doubt that you
are volunteering and that you need to be covered for anything that happens to you while
you are doing this. Also be aware that if your volunteer position is regional in scope, you
may be asked to travel to other nearby countries. If you intend to volunteer in a develop-
ing country, medical cover up to £2 million/US$4 million/A$5 million should suffice but
if you volunteer in Canada, the USA or parts of Europe then it is wiser to opt for a policy
with up to £5 million/US$9 million/A$12 million or more.
On the subject of medical cover, check that the policy includes repatriation: in some
cases evacuation to your home country might be safer than to being taken to the nearest
regional medical facility. Also, if you are volunteering in the developing world, note how
large the medical excess is. This is relevant because treatment in a first-class hospital in-
country will be significantly cheaper than in other parts of the world: look at policies with
an excess of around £50/US$100/A$125, rather than £150/US$300/A$370 or more.
Mark Jacobs, CEO of Azafady (p133), advises:
When taking out travel insurance, it is a good idea for volunteers to provide a couple
of hypothetical scenarios to ensure they’re covered for full medical costs and transport to
an appropriately equipped hospital. I advise volunteers on our projects to give the
following scenarios:
Would I be covered if...
1) I was crossing a ‘bridge’ (often a slippery log), two hours away from the nearest hospi-
tal, and inadvertently broke my leg?
2) I got malaria in a rural village and the standard methods of dealing with it did not get
my temperature down to a safe level?
3) I was working with local communities making a beehive on an income-generating
project and accidentally sustained some injury?
Explaining to your insurance company exactly what you’ll be doing when volunteering is
key. It is particularly important to tell them if you expect to do manual labour, because you
will probably need to pay an extra premium per day for this activity. And, even then, you
will probably be covered only for manual labour at ground level and for the use of hand
tools only. In most cases, you will not be covered for the use of heavy machinery or for
anything that requires a licence to operate.
If you are volunteering on a project involving animals, make sure you grill the insurance
company on what you are covered for. Monitoring, surveying and observation are usually
fine but close contact with wild animals is in a class of its own.
When asking your travel insurance company volunteer-specific questions, it is also wise
to bear in mind some of the following more general travel insurance points:
~ Ageism Many policies are unashamedly ageist – often the price of travel insurance will
double if you’re 65 or over and on some policies restrictions apply even below that age.
~ Repatriation Ensure this means you’ll be flown home and not to the country where you
bought the travel insurance (if these differ).
~ Pre-existing medical conditions If you’ve got high blood pressure, diabetes, asthma etc,
make sure you are covered. Usually you’re OK if your condition is diagnosed and stable
but all policies vary.
~ Activities If you are working with children (or even if you’re not) look at the list of
sports you’re allowed to play. Also, if you plan to travel at the weekends, switching from
volunteer to tourist, you may want to be covered for a few adventure activities. Often
you’ll be allowed one or two bungee jumps within a policy but have to pay twice as
much if, for instance, you want to go gliding. If you want to try snowboarding or scuba
diving, ask about these activities, because often they’re not included.
~ Geography Make sure that you and your insurance company are talking the same
language when it comes to geography. What do they understand by ‘Europe’, for in-
stance? Are Turkey and Russia included? Cover for Europe, Australasia and most other
destinations is reasonable. Premiums go way up when you are volunteering in Canada
and the US.
~ Extending cover Most travel insurance policies cover you only for one year. However,
you can purchase some policies for longer periods of time. If you are volunteering
abroad and want to extend your placement, ensure that you can: a) extend your policy
while you’re away; and b) only pay for the difference between the two periods rather
than needing to buy a fresh policy for your additional time away.
~ Baggage and personal effects Keep receipts at home for anything you might lose or
have stolen while volunteering.
~ Government travel warnings/advisories If you go to a country that your government has
advised against visiting, this will usually invalidate your travel insurance. Make sure you
understand your insurance company’s exact policy on this. Some insurance policies will
still pay out if your claim is within seven days of your destination being named and others
won’t. This means you need to regularly check your government’s relevant website when
you’re away: the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (www.fco.gov.uk) for UK volunteers,
the US State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs international travel page
(http://travel.state.gov), Canada’s Consular Affairs Bureau (www.voyage.gc.ca), or the Austral-
ian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (www.smartraveller.gov.au). This is particularly03: The Practicalities:Passports, Visas & Travel Insurance