shooting in another country

Beat Takeshi

Beat Takeshi

Two-Hip Shakur
Hi all,
has anyone shot in another country and brought their equipment with them without a work visa? Supposed to go to Spain next month and afraid I'm going to have the problem a friend had when he hired someone from Canada to shoot here. They stopped him at customs and asked what the equipment was for and he said he was just shooting a friends short. They asked if he had a work visa which he didn't and didn't let him and also called the guy here and threated that he was doing something illegal hiring someone from other counties to work here without the visa. The show I'm shooting is for the US but they are doing a segment out there.
 
One of my cousins in Italy is a photographer/photo journalist (he also shoots crime scenes in his small town and surrounding area). He has visited here for weddings a few times in the last five or ten years, carrying 20-25 grand worth of equipment.

He's never had any problems. If they ask about his stuff, he just tells them he is attending a wedding and doing a favour for family.

I think the state of affairs in the particular country will also be a factor. Probably easier to do this coming to Canada than going to Myanmar.
 
I spend most of the year in China so I get a work / business visa; but, for instance, particularly in Europe they're looking for evidence that you are doing something other than coming there for just a meeting.

When I lived/worked in Europe for several years I learned about this first hand. Even for day trips we learned its best to say you're on holiday or just attending a meeting because even though you had the right to work in one country you didn't have the right to work in another where you might just be visiting some colleagues or collaborating for a couple of days. One co-worker made the mistake of saying he would be "working" there for several days and they detained him for a day at UK customs. The terminology you use is so important!

In your case, coming from the USA, you're "on holiday" in Europe. You're bringing your equipment either because, like the guy said above you're going to a wedding to shoot for a friend or you're just documenting your travels in Europe, etc.
 
Holiday is the way to go. It gets you around customs. Thought if you are trying to get into popular sites to film than you will run into problems.
 
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