Blog
Border rules change on a Tuesday. We write down what changed.
Coverage notes, product releases and the economics of selling travel documentation, written by the people who process the applications.
Coverage alerts
One email when a rule changes on a destination you sell. Not a newsletter.
ETAs Fixed Document Validation, and Created a New Denied-Boarding Problem
IATA argues ETAs make validation easier but create traveler confusion and late-discovery failures at check-in. How airlines and OTAs move readiness from the 40-minute window to booking and MMB.
Coverage
India's e-Visa/ETA Transfer to a New Passport: An OTA and Airline Checklist
India's e-Visa portal lists Transfer of eVisa/ETA on New Passport. What airlines and OTAs should prompt when a passenger renews a passport mid-validity. Fees and eligibility stay on indianvisaonline.gov.in.
Coverage
Your Visa Is Digital. Can the Airline Check It?
IATA's Harry Grewal, 16 September 2026: more than 100 countries issue eVisas, and airlines still verify them from email, PDF, QR, or a portal. Why iAPI and ICAO digital travel authorisation matter for carriers and OTAs.
Coverage
EES Carrier Checks Are Live: eu-LISA Carrier Interface for Airlines
Six months after full EES deployment, airlines must run pre-departure checks for single- and double-entry Schengen visas via eu-LISA's Carrier Interface. An ops and systems checklist for carriers and OTAs upstream.
Coverage
Passport Stamps Still Matter Until 6 October 2026: A Carrier Checklist
eu-LISA still requires carriers to verify passport stamps until 6 October 2026 (included). A short ops checklist for airlines and OTAs, before the stamp check ends.
Coverage
New Zealand Ends Paper Visitor & Transit Visas on 1 October 2026
Immigration NZ stops paper applications for selected visitor and transit visas from 1 Oct 2026. What OTAs and travel platforms must update in rules engines and fulfilment before departure day.
Product
Timatic and modern visa APIs: what each is for
The airline industry's compliance engine has done one job well since 1963. Knowing where that job ends tells you what to run beside it.
Revenue
Visa ancillary revenue: the complete guide
Seats and bags are saturated. The visa line is the rare ancillary with no cost of goods, no ops burden, and a traveler who is actively looking for help.
Coverage
ETIAS moved again. What it changes for anyone selling flights into Europe.
A new start window, a grace period that does most of the work, and one line in your booking flow that has to be right before the first traveler is turned away at the gate.
Product
Elements are free on every model, including the API
Why we stopped charging for the components that bring applications to us in the first place.
Coverage
Vietnam extended its e-visa. Read the fine print on entry dates.
The validity window moved. The entry date rule did not. That gap is where refusals happen.
Revenue
What a 4% attach rate looks like on 60,000 bookings
The arithmetic behind visa ancillary revenue, using the numbers we actually see.
Engineering
Idempotency keys, and the duplicate charge that never happened
How we made retrying an application POST boring, and why your integration should retry more.
Inside SimpleVisa
How three people track sixty governments
Sources, diffing and the weekly review that turns a circular into an API response.
Coverage
India e-visa processing times are back to normal
Two weeks of delays cleared. What we told partners while it lasted.
Product
Coverage alerts: pick destinations, get one email per change
Pick the destinations you sell and hear from us only when one of them changes.
Revenue
Merchant of record, explained for travel teams
Who the traveler is buying from decides whose logo goes on the checkout. Here is why.
Engineering
Six webhooks we send, three you should actually handle
Only three of them change what a traveler sees. Start there, add the rest later.
Coverage changelog
Rule changes, as we covered them.
Requirements update in the API the same day they land here; your integration keeps rendering whatever comes back. Every entry links the note that covers it.
See every destination→
02 Oct
Schengen area
Carrier Interface checks in force for single- and double-entry Schengen visas
02 Oct
India
Portal lists Transfer of eVisa/ETA on New Passport; two-passport entry rule remains on the FAQ
01 Oct
Schengen area
Carriers keep verifying passport stamps until 6 October 2026 inclusive
30 Sep
New Zealand
Paper visitor and transit visas end; Immigration Online only from 1 Oct 2026
10 Aug
Schengen area
ETIAS start window moved again; the grace period does most of the work
04 Aug
Vietnam
E-visa validity window extended; the declared entry date still anchors it
18 Jul
India
E-visa processing back in the normal range after a two-week slowdown