Looking for digital nomads or frequent travellers to test out my MVP
http://www.openvisa.co
Hey all,
I recently relaunched OpenVisa after 3 dramatic pivots about a week ago. The aim of my product is to make the visa process seamless with simple questions, tips on answering questions and advice from certified migration agents. OpenVisa also stores your details and documents, for the next time you apply for a visa – making the process no more than a click of a button.
The vision is much bigger than this, but we all have to start somewhere ;)
If you have any feedback on the following, it would be amazing:
- the pain points you have experienced as a traveller in the visa process
- anything you would like to see on OpenVisa in the near future
- any challenges you are having with the landing page
Hello Cory,
I hope all is well.
I traveled quite a lot, and I am french living in the US, where I also helped process visas for our team.
First, I am curious about your vision ? What do you have in mind ? Visa application is a MAJOR pain points for tech startups and no-one figured how to make the process better yet.
To come back on your website.
Some challenges I have :
Who is it for ? Is it for the travelers planning on spending 6 months in SE Asia (like I did) and have to handle multiple visa applications, ? Is it for single trips in countries like Russia or China where getting the visa may take more time and effort ?
What's the solution? It's not really clear to me. It saves my documents and my answers to some questions. How is this translated in the actual visa application ? Do I need to refer to openvisa for my answers ? Is it filled on my behalf ?
How much does it cost ? When I read try it free, it means that it will have to be paid at some point, and I personally would like to have an idea of the pricing.
Some pain points we have when travelling :
Pain : Not knowing if you need a visa.
Pain : Delay in getting the visa / document. Some countries you can get the visa at the airport but for some you need to process documents online, (for Instance, if you're from Europe, you don't really think about processing a visa for countries like Australia or Canada..)
Pain: In some countries, getting a visa on arrival (especially at a land border) is subject to scam, you always have to pay extra.
Pain : Renewing a visa when you're planning to stay longer than the first period indicated on the visa.
Ibrahim
Hi Ibrahim,
Thank you for the feedback, this is extremely helpful.
The vision:
To become a platform which holds you travel identity and allows you to apply for a visa anywhere in the world with no more than 2 taps of a smartphone. Over time, by applying for visas the platform constructs a traveller's identity allowing you to apply for visas without having to re-enter information. I also want to move into the third world market where visas are much harder due to additional supporting documents.
Currently the app provides instructions on how to answer questions and a panel of certified migration agents are behind the scenes to check and lodge your visa application.
It is for travellers planning on spending 6 months in SE Asia and handling multiple visa applications.
I will fix the landing page to relay this message better.
OpenVisa will lodge the visa application on your behalf and liase with the government departments.
I will add this to the landing page also.
Pricing I will also move this forward. Currently it is behind the login.
Some pain points you mentioned when travelling :
Pain points you mentioned:
A: Not knowing if you need a visa.
Q: How do you go about finding this information? How long do you spend doing this?
A: Some countries you can get the visa at the airport but for some you need to process documents online (ie. Aus and Canada)
Q: What would help you understand what your requirements are/force you to check before departing? What do you currently do to combat this situation?
A: Renewing a visa when you're planning to stay longer than the first period indicated on the visa.
Q: How do you currently renew your visa. What is the process that you go through to gather the information and carry out the process?
Q: What softwares and processes do you currently use when processing visas (if any)
Thanks again for your feedback!
Great,
In the long run, the idea is to get visas directly through the app ? Without having to visit the government website ?
To answer your questions :
Pain points you mentioned:
A: Not knowing if you need a visa.
Q: How do you go about finding this information? How long do you spend doing this?
I visited french travel websites and for each country I had to check the admin procedure on how to get in. Or I would visit websites like this : https://www.lonelyplanet.com/vietnam/visas
Not a great User experience.
I would also ask friends who I knew went to the country.
Time : I would say maybe 15-30 min or so by country, the main thing to know is :
What apply to me specifically (based on my citizenship) ?
Can I do it on arrival ? (If yes, is it more expensive than online). If I am doing it online, how long is the process to get the visa. Sometimes, you need to indicate your exact travel dates so it's a little bit tricky. You also need to understand how far in advance you can do it (sometimes it's too early to apply).
A: Some countries you can get the visa at the airport but for some you need to process documents online (ie. Aus and Canada)
Q: What would help you understand what your requirements are/force you to check before departing? What do you currently do to combat this situation?
Yes, I was in New Zealand and about to board for Australia in a few hours, and for some reason I found out last minute that I needed to process something online, I got the email confirmation, a few minutes before boarding.
I would love to see a tool, some kind of map, where I would select my citizenship and the countries I am planning to travel to, and then with some kind of color code (let's say I am going to Hong Kong, I don't need a visa - so it's green, I am going to Australia, I need to do a process online but it doesn't take much time and it's free so it's another color, so on so forth... ). And then for each country, some additional information answering the questions above. (information needed, cost, flexibility, length )
Q: How do you currently renew your visa. What is the process that you go through to gather the information and carry out the process?
I have never renewed a tourist visa, only immigration visas which is a whole different story. I have a lot of friends that had to leave the country and come back the following day to re-do the process. Again, the information is mostly based on online research or asking friends.
Q: What softwares and processes do you currently use when processing visas (if any)
None, I go to each government website and I follow the instructions (when it can be done online)
In the long run, the idea is to get visas directly through the app ? Without having to visit the government website?
That's correct. Currently I offer 4 visas through the app – growing each week.
Thanks again for the feedback, it's been very helpful.