Visa Run and Border Run: Advantages and Disadvantages of the Practices

Would you like to stay for an extended period in Serbia, Thailand, Mozambique, Argentina, or some other country without applying for a permanent residence permit? If so, there is an option that you may want to consider and this is ‘visa run’. Many countries allow foreign nationals to stay on their territories for a limited time (30 or 90 days, for example) without visas or on temporary (tourist) visas. In some places, foreigners can leave the country for a while and then return thus setting the time of their legal stay in the country to zero again. This method can theoretically extend your legal stay in a foreign country infinitely if visa runs are allowed there. Below we discuss the difference between ‘visa run’ and ‘border run’ and point out the main advantages and disadvantages that these practices have.

Visa run and border run: What’s the difference?

A visa run allows extending legal stay in a foreign country by leaving it and then returning after a short while. Sometimes the term ‘border run’ is used to describe the practice but there is a slight difference in the meanings of the two terms.

When you cross the border thus leaving the country and then immediately return there by simply changing the lanes, you do a border run. When you leave the country, spend a weekend or a few days in the neighboring state and return afterwards, you do a visa run. Thus, the purpose of a border run and a visa run is the same but the time spent in another country is different. Both visa running and border running allow relaunching the countdown of the days legally spent in a foreign country.

For example, a foreigner arriving in Maputo, Mozambique can easily acquire a 30-day visa to the country. Extending the visa, however, is going to be highly problematic. For this reason, many foreign visitors to Mozambique take short trips to South Africa (that gives visa-free access to citizens of many countries), go shopping there for a day or two, and then return to Mozambique on new 30-day visas stamped in their passports.

Sometimes you also have to visa-run in order to ‘activate’ a new visa or to change your immigration status. Consider the following example: you come to a foreign country on a tourist visa and then acquire a working visa there. Now you have to do a visa run to activate your working visa.

Visa run and border run: the weak sides

How many times can you visa run/ border run? In case the country’s legislation allows these practices, the number of times is theoretically unlimited.

However, the immigration authorities do not normally approve of these practices even if they are legal. It must be admitted that their feelings are quite understandable. Foreigners have to pay for permanent residence permits or for working visas and the amounts can be substantial at times. When foreigners do visa runs or border runs, they extend their legal stay in the country without paying anything or paying only small sums of money. Are visa runs legal? In some countries, they are. Are they welcomed by the immigration authorities? No, they are not.

The border guard may refuse to stamp a new visa in your passport if he/ she sees that you have been living in the country for quite a while using the visa run opportunity. The officer may invent some legal grounds for the refusal. For instance, he/ she may claim that you are unable to provide evidence of having ‘the center of your vital interests’ in the country (you don’t have a job, property, or relatives there, etc.).

Legislations of some national states have clear instructions on how much time the foreigner has to spend outside the country to be able to restart the countdown of the days of his/ her legal stay there when he/ she re-enters the country.

For instance, the Schengen zone countries set the following time limits for those foreigners that visit the area on tourist visas and those who have the right to visit it without visas: a foreign visitor can stay in the Schengen zone for 90 days within any 180-day period.

Some other countries do not allow restarting the countdown after a short visit to a neighboring country. The United States of America is one of such countries. If you go to Canada, Mexico, or any of the Caribbean countries while visiting the USA and then return, you are not going to have any additional days for legally staying in the US after you return.

Besides, some countries give a visa run opportunity only to those foreigners who arrive by a certain means of transport. For example, a visa run can be possible if you arrive by car and impossible if you arrive by plane. Thailand will serve as an example of the country where such regulations apply.

Visa run abolishment

Sometimes the national authorities can abolish visa runs even though they used to allow this practice before. This is exactly what happened in Kazakhstan in January 2023. Now it has become impossible to visa run in the country because the new regulations are similar to those applied in the Schengen zone. The new rules are as follows in Kazakhstan:

• Visitors eligible for visa-free entry to Kazakhstan shall leave after they spend 30 calendar days in the country; their total stay in Kazakhstan shall not exceed 90 days within any 180-day period.
• Citizens of the EAEU member countries shall leave after 90 days; their total stay in Kazakhstan shall not exceed 90 days within any 180-day period.

While it was possible to stay in Kazakhstan for as long as you wished using the visa run opportunity, it has become impossible to do so now.

Some recommendations for those who want to visa run

If you want to employ the visa run opportunity and simultaneously avoid problems at the border when you return, you should spend at least one day in the neighboring country. The longer you stay there, the more benevolent the border guard is going to be.

Try to find some things to do in the other country: go shopping, see the local tourist attractions, and so on. If you can show photographs of some monuments to the border guard and/ or if you have something that you bought in the other country, you will make an impression of a tourist traveling back and forth. You can at least pretend to be such a tourist.

In addition to that, keep track of the news related to the visa run regulations in the country where you are staying. Join Internet forums and Facebook groups where expats discuss relevant issues and describe the problems that they have encountered when visa running.

Familiarize yourself with the official information about the visa run regulations. The information that you can find at the Immigration Department website or at the Foreign Ministry website may be ambiguous sometimes but understanding at least something is better than knowing nothing at all anyway. The more you know about the issue, the easier your conversation without the border guard is going to be.

Visa run opportunities in some particular countries

• China: The Chinese authorities make it possible for foreign nationals to stay on the territory of the country without visas for 15 to 90 days depending on the country where they come from. Some nationalities do need visas to enter China but they can overcome this barrier. If a citizen of the USA, for example, acquires second citizenship of Grenada by investment, he or she will become entitled to stay in China for 30 days without a visa (Grenada has the corresponding agreement with China). Visa run opportunities are available in China too. Hong Kong and Macao are two popular jurisdictions for those people who reside in the Southern part of China. If you live in Beijing, a visa run to Mongolia may be an option for you. If you live in Shanghai, you can consider Taiwan for this purpose. For those residing in Yunnan or Guangxi visa running to Vietnam is a possibility. If you are thinking of using visa runs instead of acquiring a working visa to China, we recommend that you abstain from this practice. It used to be rather popular before but today the Chinese authorities take serious measures against illegal workers in the country.
• Argentina: Citizens of dozens of countries enjoy visa-free access to Argentina. Visa runs are possible. Colonia-del-Sacramento (Uruguay) and Santiago-de-Chili are popular destinations for visa runners from Argentina because the cities are easily accessible from there. For instance, a ferry runs between Buenos Aires and Colonia-del-Sacramento.
• Georgia: Citizens of a great number of countries can stay in the Caucasian country for up to one year without visas. Visa runs are possible.
• Mozambique: A visa-free visit to the country may last for up to 30 days. Visa runs and border runs are allowed.
• Serbia: Your visa-free stay in the country can last for up to 30 days. It can be extended with the help of a visa run or a border run to Montenegro or Albania. Both of these countries sit on the Mediterranean coast so you can spend a nice couple of days there. A useful tip for those visa-running in Serbia: if the border guard refuses to let you in when you return, say that you are going to call your embassy in Serbia. This strategy usually works.
• Uruguay: Citizens of many countries are allowed to stay in Uruguay for as long as 90 days without visas. You can easily visa run to Argentina or Brazil. We have mentioned the ferry running between Buenos Aires and Colonia-del-Sacramento above. Another ferry connects Colonia-del-Sacramento with Montevideo. One more option is to visa run to Santana do Livramento across the Brazilian border. There are plenty of things to do both in Buenos Aires and Santana do Livramento: malls, craft shops, barbeque restaurants, and so on.

Professional assistance in avoiding visa runs

A visa run (or a border run) is a possible method of extending legal stay in a foreign country. However, it is rather burdensome. You have to cross the border back and forth every month or every quarter and these are going to be time-consuming trips unless you live near the checkpoint. Besides, the visa-run opportunity can evaporate at any point in time. Acquiring a long-term residence permit in the foreign country where you like to live would be a wiser thing to do without doubt. Moreover, several second citizenship-by-investment opportunities are also available.  

Take Serbia, for example. You can purchase residential accommodations in the country thus qualifying for legal residence there. The value of the property is not specified in the Serbian legislation, which means that you can buy the cheapest place that you can find. Buying or opening a company in Serbia will also make you qualified for legal residence there. There are several ways of acquiring legal residence/ citizenship in a foreign country and our consultants will be happy to help you choose the best of them.

Please request a free personalized consultation with Q Wealth experts if legalizing your stay in a foreign country is your goal. You are welcome to contact us by any means of communication that you prefer.