Visa is an official document or a certificate of endorsement which allows a person to enter, leave or stay in a specific nation and for a specified period of time, or permanently. It is a legal document which may be endorsed in the passport or can be in the form of a separate certificate with a stamp marked in the linked passport. After verifying the credentials, immigration authorities of the foreign country issue visa. One is permitted to enter/ stay in a country if visa has been issued to him/ her.
One can apply for a visa both online and offline. For offline visa one needs to download pdf copy, print it and then fill up the required information and submit it to the concerned visa application centre. The fees for visa application vary from country to country. Some countries don't accept offline via too.
One can check the visa status online by visiting the visa status enquiry section of the particular country's visa application website. Users may be required to fill application ID and passport number to know the status. Some third party websites also offer this service which can be arrived by entering passport number and date of birth.