With sitters like you travelling far and wide to care for pets and make unique travel memories, there are a few important things to sort before you jet off. Here, we explore the documents you'll need to prepare, plus advise on border control, visas and immigration.
Prep ahead for your international sit: borders, visas and immigration
Before your international house sitting adventure begins, there are a few things you'll need to prepare. Here, we cover:
- The documents you might need to prepare
- TrustedHousesitters explanatory letter which you can present to border control, if needed
- A heads-up on visas and immigration
When entering another country, you must be prepared to produce the following:
- A passport with sufficient validity to satisfy the rules of your host country
- Evidence of a return or onward travel ticket
- If your flight isn't direct, take particular care to have your onward boarding passes printed if you're transiting through an original country of entry
- Proof of funds for the duration of your trip
- The pet/house owner's name, address and contact details
TrustedHousesitters explanatory letters for border control
On rare occasions house sitting can be categorised as work by border control and there have been a very small handful of cases where sitters have found entry challenging - in even rarer cases, there have been sitters who have been refused entry to a country as a result.
We've produced the letters below for our most popular house sitting destinations which you can show if needed to help border control officials understand that we don't regard house sitting as work.
Visas and immigration
All countries have rules around how long you can stay on a tourist visa and the frequency with which you're entitled to visit a country. Many countries require you to have a visa in advance of your travel. So, make sure to check the immigration rules for both your destination and the country you'll be departing from.
Get prepared for your international sit
Need a few more tips? Check out this handy blog post on preparing for your international sitting adventure.