Does travel insurance cover visa refusal?

Are you visiting a country that requires you to get a travel visa? Have you thought about what would happen to your prepaid flights and accommodation if your visa was denied, or didn't arrive in time?

The problem is that in the majority of cases you'll have already booked and paid for flights and accommodation. And insurers expect travellers to have confirmed their visa requirements before these are paid for.

Travel insurance and visa refusal - what's the deal?

Travel insurance covers trip cancellation for pre-paid travel arrangements due to unforeseen circumstances such as airline strikes, natural disasters, accidents, sickness, severe weather or death of a close relative.

But unfortunately it does not cover you if you cannot travel because you don't have the appropriate visa, or if you're at the border and entry is denied.

Visas can sometimes take weeks to come though and you might have to send your passport away to the visa centre too. Don't book your holiday until you're confident your visa's been processed and is on its way to you.

Your airline might reimburse you for your flights, but you should check their refund policies. If you're booking flights and accommodation now, and think your visa might not make it to you in time, make sure you contact your airline or read their refund policies before you buy.

In a nutshell....Be sure you're eligible to travel to your destination before spending any money!

Common reasons for visa refusals:

Criminal Convictions - visas may be refused if you have a criminal record. If the country perceives you as a threat to the general public, it is likely you will not gain entry. This is usually the case for serious crimes like domestic violence, terrorism, drug abuse and more.

False Travel Documents - travelling on fake travel documents is a guaranteed visa refusal. This is also a crime and can have severe consequences.

Damaged Travel Documents - visas can be refused for being water daamaged or for having missing pages. Be careful and purchase a case to protect your important travel documentation.

Passport expiry date - to travel to most destinations you need at least 6 months left on your passport, or you may not be allowed to fly - so keep note of when it expires.

Travel Insurance - plays an important role with any trip. Some countries will turn you away if you are not adequately covered by insurance.

Failure of declaration - be upfront and honest, - if you fail to disclose anything to the immigration department this could be perceived as deception and lead to visa refusal.