Road Trip to Miami, Florida - Getting My Bahamas Visa + Provisioning for our Sailboat
I finally got my BAHAMAS Tourist visa!
I've already visited the Bahamas twice, both on cruise ships starting in Florida! I have a Philippines passport and a visa is usually required unless going on a cruise wherein my USA tourist visa is valid! Since we're entering Bahamas on our private sailboat, I needed to get a visa!
Of course, it’s not possible to get a visa for any country down in the Florida Keys, where we have been based for a while now, so we had to plan a trip up to Miami to visit the Consulate of the Bahamas.
It’s about a three-hour drive from Marathon, so we decided to make the most of the trip and get some provisioning (grocery shopping) done at the same time.
That week, we were driving the new Toyota Sienna, which is a larger MPV type car, with huge amounts of space from the front to the back.
Because Jonathan was driving, I settled down in one of the super comfortable back seats and went to sleep for most of the journey!
As well as getting my visa application submitted, having the Sienna for the trip to Miami was also the perfect opportunity to visit some of my favorite Asian and Filipino food stores!
Whenever we get the chance to visit Miami, we try to stock up on as many ingredients as possible that we just cannot find in the Florida Keys.
Luckily there was even a Filipino restaurant right next to the grocery store so we stopped in for lunch as well.
It was a good thing we had plenty of space in the back of the Toyota because we really stocked up!
On their website, they listed a lot of requirements, 2 weeks of processing and $130 to $250 visa fee.
What I experienced was different: I paid $100 (and they told me I have to pay extra $100 to expedite) but ended up getting a visa approval within 24 hours! I only submitted the ffg: my passport copy, USA visa copy, registration of our sailboat, Jonathan’s passport copy (the boat is under his name), a passport size photo with white background plus konting “sales talk” with the Consul! No bank statements and other requirements! Woot!
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