Algeria's visa policy is straightforward: if your country lets our citizens in without a visa, we'll do the same in return. The thing is, only 7 countries worldwide actually accept Algerians visa-free. So basically everyone else, including the French, needs a visa. And honestly, it's probably the strangest one I've ever had to deal with.

For a tourist visa, you absolutely need an invitation from a local resident or an Algerian travel agency, which gets sent through the tourism ministry to your chosen consulate (mine was in Belgrade). After a couple of weeks, you start calling up the consuls asking "Has the invitation arrived yet? When should I come in?" Yep, by phone. Actually talking to someone. You keep at it until they tell you "Everything's good, come on down."

The list of required documents is on the consulate website. Available in French (super detailed) and Serbian (where the translator apparently decided to cut half the text). Arabic? Totally forgotten. Though I did end up submitting some paperwork in Arabic anyway. Thank goodness the people inviting me provided those.

After you submit everything, you also have to call to find out if it's ready. At least it's not by fax anymore :)

The hardest part of this whole ordeal was actually finding someone to invite me. Everything else? Pretty manageable.