Inequality at the border : how visa costs penalize citizens of poor world regions

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic has made everybody aware that individual mobility is a major engine of social life but, at the same time, it is also politically channelled and limited. One after another, governments have shuttered borders and curtailed even short-distance trips. This is most extraordinary. In normal times, when travels are regulated less drastically, the key tools to filter international visitors are visas. While citizens of developed nations rarely have to bother about visas, as visa waivers are widespread among OECD countries (not to speak of the EU, where ID cards suffice to cross member-state borders), a lot of country-to-country journeys require travellers to apply for a visa – and pay for it.