passports and visas

     If you live in the United States and want to leave it, even to go on vacation, you may need a passport and a visa. You don't need these to travel to Canada, Mexico, or some parts of the Caribbean. For travel to any other country, you will have to get a passport. A passport identifies you--it's a kind of international I.D., that you can use in other countries to show who you are and where you are from. Your passport will be an American or U.S. passport. The passport is not optional--foreign countries will not permit you to enter unless you have one. You may also need a visa--not the credit or debit card, but the original item for which these were named. A visa is granted by the foreign country you wish to visit. It gives you official permission to enter the country, and specifies how long you may stay, and perhaps where you may stay and what you may do while you are there. Our country ( the United States of America ) issues visas to foreigners who come here to visit. They may have to leave when the visa expires. If they come here as visitors, there are things they aren't supposed to do--for example, get a job.