VisaCheck

VisaCheck lets travelers instantly see visa requirements for any destination—so you know what you need before you plan, book, or pack.

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Inspiration

I love to travel, and while planning a vacation is exciting, checking visa requirements is always tedious. I often find myself Googling across multiple sites or asking AI tools just to double-check whether I need a visa. To make this process easier for travelers like me, I decided to build an app that quickly tells you whether you need a visa, can apply for an e-visa, or are eligible for a visa on arrival—based on your travel purpose.

What it does

In just a few steps, VisaCheck helps you understand visa requirements: 1) Enter your passport or citizenship country 2) Select your destination country 3)Optional) Enter your current country of residence

How we built it

I started by giving Replit clear prompts describing the problem I wanted to solve and the options I wanted users to have. From there, I iterated on the solution using: 1) React Native for the mobile app 2) Express for the backend 3) A third-party API to fetch tourism information for destination countries 4) A third-party dataset (Passport Index) for visa requirement data

Challenges we ran into

1) I had to explicitly instruct the agent not to change app images without confirming first. 2) I needed to reduce the agent’s autonomy, as it was making changes I didn’t approve of. 3) I ran out of credit tokens faster than expected and wished I had more during the hackathon. 4) Clearer guidance on how to conserve tokens and make smart choices around autonomy and third-party integrations would have helped. 5) Better built-in brainstorming support would have improved early ideation.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

1) Built a working prototype very quickly, leaving time for iteration. 2) Tested the app multiple times, making re-publishing easier and smoother. 3) Successfully launched VisaCheck on the App Store.

What we learned

1) Writing concise, clear prompts leads to better outcomes. 2) Lowering agent autonomy makes it easier to review and validate changes at each step.

What's next for VisaCheck

1) Enable real-time visa checks by integrating with another agent using an MCP server (currently using Passport Index data). 2) Provide travel suggestions based on citizenship and current residence, highlighting destinations that require minimal visa preparation.

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