 |
|||||||
|
Contact Mr. Burgies and Get your ticket at the Placencia Terminal is locate at the water Taxi Gas Station
|
|||||||
Hokey Pokey Captain (we think).
While still in Minnesota, we researched the possibility of getting our visas for Belize based on our extended stay of two and a half months.
As indicated in the post regarding disembarking in Belize City on January 29, 2013, the immigration officer that boarded our ship would only provide us with a 30 day visa, ending on February 28, 2013.
In Belize, it’s only possible to get one 30 day extension per personal visit to an immigration office, resulting in the necessity of our going twice to immigration, once good until March 30th and another good until April 9th, the date we depart on our upcoming cruise out of Belize City.
From what we’ve heard from expats, they will not make an exception for the extra 10 days and give us a visa from February 28th to April 9th. We understand the necessity of such rules applying to everyone and surely, we have no right to an exception.
Tomorrow morning at 9:30 am, our trusty cab driver, Estevan will arrive to take us the five mile drive to the village of Placencia to the pier to hop a ride at 10:00 am on the Hokey Pokey Water Taxi to take us the relatively short distance across the lagoon from Placencia to Mango Creek/Independence, located on the mainland. The cost per person is US $3 per person each way.
Once we arrive in Mango Creek, it will be necessary to take another taxi for a ride to the immigration office at an unknown address which apparently is too far to walk. Both Tom and I looked online for an hour for an address finally giving up looking. From comments we’ve read online, most taxi drivers know where it is.
In order to be granted a visa extension, a number of documents must accompany our passports. Here’s the list copied directly from their form:
The application form MUST be FULLY completed, signed and dated, then submitted with the following: 1. Your passport
2. One recent passport sized photograph
3. Proof of Travel Arrangements: Copies of Tickets or a Confirmed Travel Itinerary
4. Proof of Accommodation: Copies of Confirmed Hotel Reservations or Full contact details of family/friends in Belize
5. Proof of Financial Means: Copies of most recent bank statement or Letter from Financial Officer (for Business travel only)
6. Purpose for Trip: Educational – Letter of Introduction from University or Educational Institution Business – Letter of Introduction from Company or Organisation and supporting documents Tourism – see number 3 above.
7. Payment of Fees: Single Entry $50 per person, per extension
Our equally trusty Planon PrintStik, printed all of the above and we’re ready to go. Providing a bank statement is a bit unnerving but, if asked (and we may not be) we’ll be prepared. It would be a shame to go through this process and not have the necessary documents in one’s possession.
We could have applied to the immigration department in the UK. However, we are unable to send or receive mail here in Placencia in a timely fashion to ensure we’d get our passports back in time for departure. We have two US passports but, feared it would be returned long after we’ve left.
Another option was to rent a car and drive the two hour winding Hummingbird Highway to get to Belmopan, the capital city and apply in person. This surely would be a full day’s outing.
We opted for the trip to Mango Creek/Independence, hoping we can get done in time to return to Placencia Village on the 12:00 PM Hokey Pokey. This would give us time to have lunch in Placencia at one of the highly recommended diners, grocery shop in the larger grocery store, the fresh fish market and the vegetable stands, having Estevan pick us up when we’re done around 2:30.
This choice gives us an opportunity for a fun outing as opposed to a long drive up and back. It all made more sense to us. If the time at the immigration moves quickly, all could go as planned. We shall see how it goes, reporting back here tomorrow with photos and a rundown of our day.
Have an enjoyable evening watching the Academy Awards! Much to our delight (mine more than Tom’s) we’ll be able to watch it in HD on the flat screen TV in our little villa. Oh, we’re getting spoiled. Expectations will be reduced considerably after we leave this fabulous spot!