Design And Implementation Of An Online Visa Processing System

Computer Science Project Material with Source Code Included

Abstract

A visa is most commonly a sticker endorsed in the applicant’s passport or other travel document. The visa, when required, was historically granted by an immigration official on a visitor’s arrival at the frontiers of a country, but increasingly today a traveller wishing to enter another country must apply in advance for a visa, sometimes in person at a consular office, by mail or over the internet. The actual visa may still be a sticker or a stamp in the passport or may take the form of a separate document or an electronic record of the authorisation, which the applicant can print before leaving home and produce on entry to the host country. Some countries do not require visas for short visits.

Some countries require that their citizens, as well as foreign travelers, obtain an “exit visa” to be allowed to leave the country. Uniquely, the Norwegian special territory of Svalbard is an entirely visa-free zone under the terms of the Svalbard Treaty.

Some countries such as those in the Schengen Area â€“ have agreements with other countries allowing each other’s citizens to travel between them without visas. The World Tourism Organization announced that the number of tourists who require a visa before traveling was at its lowest level ever in 2015.

This paper discusses the design and implementation of an Online Visa registration database application with WAMP SERVER database. It also discusses the issues of selecting appropriate database model, interface design, and system deployment. A projection of record growth in relation to student population and system requirement was carried out in the study. Finally it discusses the applicability of the system in academic institutions. The Programming language used in developing this application is Visual Basic.net 2012. It runs in Windows 98 to Latest windows 8.

Chapter One

Introduction

1.1 Background of the Study

A visa (from the Latin charta visa, meaning “paper which has been seen”) is a conditional authorization granted by a country (typically to a foreigner) to enter and temporarily remain within, or to leave that country. Visas typically include limits on the duration of the foreigner’s stay, territory within the country they may enter, the dates they may enter, or the number of permitted visits. Visas are associated with the request for permission to enter a country and thus are, in some countries, distinct from actual formal permission for an alien to enter and remain in the country. In each instance, a visa is subject to entry permission by an immigration official at the time of actual entry and can be revoked at any time.

Some countries such as those in the Schengen Area have agreements with other countries allowing each other’s citizens to travel between them without visas. The World Tourism Organization announced that the number of tourists who require a visa before traveling was at its lowest level ever in 2015

1.2. Statement of Problem

Manual systems of visa registration always put pressure on people to be correct in all aspect of their work. With manual systems the level of service is dependent on individuals and this puts a requirement on management to run training continuously for staff to keep them motivated and to ensure they are following the correct procedures. It can be all too easy to accidentally switch details and end up with inconsistency in data entry or in hand written orders. This has the effect of not just causing problems with customer service but also making information unable be used for reporting or finding trends with data discovery. Reporting and checking that data is also a problem and can be time consuming and expensive.

Other problems found during manual visa registration system are:

Inconsistency in data entry, room for errors, miskeying information.
Long term visa issue.
System is dependent on good individuals.
Reduction in sharing information and customer services.
Time consuming and costly to produce reports.
Lack of security of data.
Duplication of data entry.
High cost
Fraud

1.3. Aim and Objectives of the Study

The main aim of the study is to design an online visa processing system to ease the visa application process. To achieve the stated aim, the following specific objectives were laid out:

To design a computerized system for online application.
The system should receive payments from users in form of bank transfer, PayPal or otherwise
The system should display the visa application status to users.

1.4. Significance of the Study

The study will aid in reducing errors, fraud, increase speed and also aid growth in organizations if successfully implemented. Manual visa registration systems in organizations will be totally eliminated with this computerized system in place. The study will also serve as a guide to other student researchers who may want to conduct further research on the subject matter. Findings and recommendations from this system will aid in developing newer versions to serve optimally.

1.5 Motivation of the Study

From all the flaws noticed from the manual method of visa application management, it can be deduced that implementing computerized visa system is of great importance. This project is not narrowed down to embassies but also an applicant as it saves cost, time and business identity. The system is not a liability in any sense because there is no extra cost of usage and money paid for unskilled persons in charge of visa application collection and collation will be downsized or stopped.

1.6 Scope and Limitation of the Study

The scope of this study is centered on the design and implementation of an online visa registration system. Web-based technologies

Limitation

Financial constraint

Insufficient fund tends to obstruct the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

Time constraint

The researcher will at the same time engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.

1.7 Project Methodology

This system underwent all the stages of system development lifecycle (SDLC). According to the nature of this system and the data collected, a waterfall methodology was used to develop this system. This methodology included the following stages: feasibility study, requirement analysis and specification design, coding, testing, integration then maintenance. Each phase required a different amount of effort and every phase had a well-defined starting and point. Every phase had to be completed before beginning the next stage.

The waterfall methodology was worthwhile because this approach produced a complete quality system and error-free system due to the fact that every phase had to be completed before the next one began thus leaving no phase unattended. However, according to the data collected on the user requirements, there was a clear understanding of the user requirement hence no doubt on what was to be developed. Similarly, the approach was also less costly since there was no repeating of a process once completed and thus minimized wastage of resources as compared to other approaches such as the rapid prototyping methods.

1.8 Definition of Terms

Visa Management covers every step in the visa application procedure—from fee payment and appointment scheduling to background checks, registration of personal details, biometrics capture, and the printing of visas—everywhere in the world.
Embassies: a body of diplomatic representatives specifically one headed by an ambassador to grant people access into a country
Software specification: is a document that describes what the software will do and how it will be expected to perform. It also describes the functionality the product needs to fulfill all stakeholders (business, users) needs.

Chapter Five

Summary, Conclusion and Recommendations.

5.0 Introduction

This chapter focuses on summary, conclusion and recommendations.

Here, the entire summary of the research from the problem stage to the implementation stage, the relevant conclusion and recommendations are discussed.

5.1 Constraints of the Study

The problems encountered during the course of carrying out this research project include:

1. Time:

Time for the research project was too short coupled with researcher’s academic time table.

2. Fund:

There was limited fund to take care of the research properly in terms of transportation and other expenses especially when visiting attraction sites.

3. Research Materials:

Lack of access to research materials on the topic in the school library and even public libraries were also major constraint in the cause of this project.

4. Visa Registration System:

Access to existing payroll system pose a great challenge as industries and other business around were a bit discrete with their manual visa registration system.

5.2 Summary

Implementation of an online visa registration has been created.

Visas typically include limits on the duration of the foreigner’s stay, territory within the country they may enter, the dates they may enter, or the number of permitted visits. Visas are associated with the request for permission to enter a country and thus are, in some countries, distinct from actual formal permission for an alien to enter and remain in the country. In each instance, a visa is subject to entry permission by an immigration official at the time of actual entry and can be revoked at any time.

The new system would be very easy to use because of its accuracy and reliability. Information about the imigrant for a particular period of time can be promptly assessed easily.

5.3 Conclusion

Entry requirement for all foreigners

Visa application is required for citizens / passport holders of the following countries:

Nationals of Assessment Level I Countries

India, Myanmar, People’s Republic of China, Holders of Hong Kong Document of Identity, Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) Travel Permit, Georgia, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Commonwealth of Independent States (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan), Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea

Nationals of Assessment Level II Countries

Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Yemen, and holders of Palestinian Authority Passport, Temporary Passport issued by the United Arab Emirates and Refugee Travel Document issued by Middle-East countries

5.4 Recommendations

Having designed, tested and implemented the new system, the following must be put in place to fully achieve the objective of which the software is designed.