To increase your visa level in The Sims 3, travel to China, Egypt or France and complete adventures from the noticeboard at the base camp; each finished adventure earns visa points for that country, and enough points raise the visa level. It needs the World Adventures expansion pack. This guide covers how visa points work, what each level unlocks, and the traits, rewards and habits that get you to the top level faster.
What a Visa Level Does
World Adventures added three destinations to The Sims 3: Shang Simla (China), Al Simhara (Egypt) and Champs Les Sims (France). Each Sim has a separate visa for each country, so a Sim who is a local hero in Egypt still starts from scratch in France.
Per community documentation, there are four steps: no visa, then levels 1, 2 and 3. Higher levels do three things:
- Longer trips. Community documentation lists a maximum stay of 3 days with no visa, 5 at level 1, 8 at level 2 and 10 or more at level 3.
- Better shopping. The special merchant who wanders each destination sells more adventure rewards as your level rises.
- A vacation home. Level 3 is the level community documentation ties to buying a vacation home, which replaces the base camp as your Sim’s base on future trips and can store the relics they find.
Each country also gives your Sim a title per level (for example, Egypt runs from Outsider up to Accredited Adventurer).
How to Earn Visa Points
Visa points come almost entirely from adventures. To get one:
- Book a trip to one of the three destinations. Your Sim arrives at the base camp.
- Click the noticeboard at the base camp to pick up an adventure. It goes into the Opportunities panel.
- Complete it. Adventures ask your Sim to talk to a local, fetch an item, or explore a tomb and bring back a relic.
- Collect the reward. Depending on the adventure, community documentation says that reward can be simoleons, ancient coins, friendship with a local, or visa points.
You can only hold one adventure at a time from the board. Finish it or cancel it from the Opportunities panel to take the next. Many adventures chain into follow-ups, and those chains are where the big visa rewards sit, so it pays to keep going with the same storyline rather than hopping between boards.
Community documentation lists 50 points for level 1, 200 for level 2 and 500 for level 3.
Ways to Level Up Faster
- The Adventurous trait. Added by World Adventures. Per community documentation, Adventurous Sims raise visa levels faster, recover from travel sooner, and are not scared by tomb traps.
- Take chains, not one-offs. Short errands pay little. Multi-part adventures, especially the tomb ones, pay much more.
- Bring the right skills. Tombs involve locked doors, rubble and traps. The skills your Sim picks up abroad (martial arts in China, nectar making in France, photography) also open up adventure options.
- Maximize time on each trip. More days means more adventures before you are sent home. The Prepared Traveler lifetime reward and a Certificate of Partnership bought from the special merchant each add days to a trip, per community documentation.
- Into the Future Dream Pod. With Into the Future installed, community documentation says Sims can also gain visa points by dreaming about a vacation in the Dream Pod.
Common Questions About Trips
Trips end when the visa’s time limit runs out, so plan the last day around finishing an adventure rather than starting a new one. Visa points already earned stay on that Sim’s visa for the next trip, and with a higher level the next trip is longer.
A Sim’s lifetime wish can be steered toward travel, too. If yours is not built around adventure, our guide to changing a lifetime wish covers how. For travelling between your own worlds rather than abroad, see our guide to visiting other towns, and if your Sims need skills for tombs, our skill cheat guide can help.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which expansion adds visa levels to The Sims 3? World Adventures. It adds China, Egypt and France and the visa system that goes with them.
Is my visa level shared between countries? No. Each Sim has a separate visa level for each of the three destinations.
How many visa points do I need for level 3? Community documentation lists 500 points in total, reached mostly by completing adventures.
Does the Adventurous trait help? Yes. Per community documentation, it speeds up visa level gains and shortens recovery time between trips.
What does visa level 3 unlock? The longest trips, the full range of special merchant items and, per community documentation, the ability to buy a vacation home.
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