Get multi-entry visa

My wife and I took a trip in January ’06 that included Brazil, and we got the necessary visas. In January ’08 we returned to Brazil and, while preparing for the trip, I was asked if we had ever been there before and when.

I looked up our old visas, still in my current passport, and noticed that they were good for five years if the initial entry into the country had been within 30 days of the effective date of the visa, so each of our visas was still valid and we saved $100 each.

As we prepared for our March ’08 trip to Egypt, I noticed that the visa form offered the option of either a single- or multi-entry visa at no extra charge. Since we would reenter Egypt from Jordan to fly home, we needed a multi-entry visa.

The lesson here is that a multi-entry visa may save you money and time, so check it out when applying.

SKIP SIEGEL

West Bloomfield, MI