visa
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
-
to give a visa to; approve a visa for.
-
to put a visa on (a passport).
noun
-
an endorsement in a passport or similar document, signifying that the document is in order and permitting its bearer to travel into or through the country of the government issuing it
-
any sign or signature of approval
verb
-
to enter a visa into (a passport)
-
to endorse or ratify
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of visa
1830–40; < French, short for Latin carta vīsa “the document (has been) seen”; vīsa, feminine past participle of vidēre “to see, look at”
Explanation
A visa is a permit to enter a specific country. Without a visa, you might not be able to travel where you want. While you may know Visa as the name of a credit card company, a visa is a little different: it's an official authorization to enter a country. This is different from a passport, which is a type of identification geared toward international travel. A visa is a more specific form of authorization, allowing you to travel to a certain country. A visa may only last for a certain amount of time, and different countries have different standards for granting a visa.
Vocabulary lists containing visa
"Maus II: And Here My Troubles Began" by Art Spiegelman
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Greetings, World Traveler! — List 3
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Viewing Current Refugee Crisis Through an Anne Frank Lens
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Those granted the visa are eligible to work, study and live in the UK, putting them on a pathway to citizenship after they settle in the UK.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
According to ICE, Adongo, 37, overstayed his visa after his brief NFL career ended in 2015 and he remained in Indiana.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
It added that he had obtained a visa to enter the US and that he intends to perform in Miami later in the day.
From Barron's ● Jul. 18, 2026
A Stanford spokesperson said the university would share guidance with students about the visa rule changes Friday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
“But she was just a kid. She didn’t have a choice. It’s not like she could’ve said Mom, Dad, our visa is expired. We should go hack to Jamaica now.”
From "The Sun Is Also a Star" by Nicola Yoon
More than 230,000 Hong Kongers have been granted BNO visas and nearly 170,000 have already relocated to the UK, according to the UK government.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
Brazil’s foreign ministry said Saturday it had denied visas for Riley M. Barnes, assistant secretary from the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, and Samuel Samson, a deputy assistant secretary of state.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
Healthcare, visas and whisky: What did UK and China get from Starmer's visit?
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
There were early concerns people weren’t turning up for the event because of the high ticket prices and the difficulty of obtaining visas for citizens of some countries.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2026
Most of its engineers were Chinese nationals on work visas, and thus trapped—there was no risk that anyone would quit before the lights were out.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
His cautious employers had merely supplied him expense money and instructions to have his passport visaed for England, France and Germany.
From Time Magazine Archive
Theirs was not an official military mission such as the Dutch or Swiss had accredited to the Control Council, but simply a purchasing mission with passports visaed by the Soviet occupation authorities.
From Time Magazine Archive
It would have taken him two weeks, every time, to get his passport visaed.
From Time Magazine Archive
Last week, for the first time since the War, Dutch frontier guards allowed Germans to enter the Netherlands without having their passports visaed.
From Time Magazine Archive
Mine had been visaed at Ragusa for Mostar, and Gosdanovich had the Russian passport, which is freely accorded to all Montenegrins.
From The Autobiography of a Journalist, Volume II by Stillman, William James
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
