I think that if you have spent time in that country - even if just a day trip - that it should count on at least some level. In Europe for example there are lots of countries close together - come families can take a day trip and go to a different country and still be back home the same day. I guess it also depends on what you do. If you only go straight from the airport to the hotel then back again - I wouldn't cound that as being in the country because you wouldn't get a chance to acctually "see" the City/Country/Culture/ECT. that way. Even something as simple as going to a local market in poorer country can be a big eye opener for someone say from USA or England - something new which gives you the "feel" of being somewhere new.

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My rule is that you have to actually do something in that country. Just going through immigration and heading back to catch the next flight doesn't count. See a sight. Have a meal. Meet some people. It doesn't have a time duration or a cost necessarily associated with it, but you have to actually do something for it to qualify in my book.

And I do not consider stopping at a gas station to buy fuel a visit if you're driving through a state or country. Sure, you did something, but not because of where you were.

I believe my shortest visit was one of Monaco, Vatican City or my most recent transit of London (6 hours plus or minus, though I went into town, rode the eye and then headed on to the next airport).

The way i see it, you have been to a country when you have interacted with the people and the environment of that country. Whether it be for 1 hour or 1 week, it doesn't really matter how long for. It's all about interacting ! Isn't that why we visit other countries. To sample other peoples way of life and the different environments that they live in.

I would have thought that most people on this site would try to get out of their vehicle, if only for a few minutes, while they were travelling through a country, because they are interested in travel. It would make me feel that I had a more genuine claim to have visited that country.
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There has been discussion of how long a visit needs to be in order to count as a visit. I would suggest that duration is not the most important factor.

I have worked in India for three years, yet most of that time was spent in my employer’s premises or on the road between my office and accommodation, with little time available for sightseeing. When I did get the opportunity to get away for the weekend, I met travelers who were seeing much more of the country on their fortnight’s vacation than I was able to.

On the other hand, I was privileged to undertake a two-week tour of Sri Lanka, and learned something of the culture and political situation as the Sinhalese and Tamils of various backgrounds saw it for themselves.

I have one country on my list which some may consider as a transit stop only. I have been to Doha airport in Qatar on three occasions, but have never been through passport control and on into the country. On my travels I met an airport manager who had worked at Doha airport. When he asked me if I had been to Qatar, I mentioned my fleeting experiences of walking on the tarmac at the airport, sensing the hot, arid climate, and being aware of the strict Islamic culture, as evidenced by warnings not to bring alcohol into the country.

We discussed what constituted a visit to a country and, as he put it, “Well, you certainly weren’t anywhere else when you walked on the tarmac there.”

On a rather serious note (a matter of life & death in fact), we might consider the 1976 “Raid on Entebbe” in Uganda. Palestinians hijacked an Air France aircraft and ordered it to Entebbe in Uganda. There, the Palestinian hijackers separated the Israeli and other Jewish passengers from the rest. The Israeli Defense Force, fearing the worst for their citizens, mounted a rescue operation, during which all the Palestinian hijackers, three hostages and an estimated 22 to 45 Ugandan soldiers were killed. All but one hostage (who had been taken to hospital and was later killed by the Ugandans) were rescued. The Israelis suffered one fatality: the commander of the operation Col. Jonathan Netanyahu (the brother of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu). Col Netanyahu arrived on an aircraft which did not have permission to land, he commanded the operation on the ground from a position near the aircraft and was identified by a Ugandan sniper as being in a position of authority and was targeted by that sniper. The entire operation lasted just 53 minutes from the time the Israeli aircraft landed until take-off. If Col Netanyahu’s visit to Uganda did not count as a visit, as he never went further than the tarmac near the aircraft, never passed through immigration and was evacuated within one hour, we may ask how the hell he ended up getting shot dead by a Ugandan soldier!

On a lighter note, I have seen the coastline of Malta; I do not claim to have visited Malta as I was somewhere else at the time – on the deck of a ship sailing by. I have seen Russia, but I do not claim to have been there as I was somewhere else – on an aircraft, looking out of the window!

I do include Qatar as a country that I have visited because, in the words of my acquaintance, I certainly wasn’t anywhere else when I was walking on the tarmac there!

Friedrich Nietzsche wrote, “You have your way, I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, the only way – it does not exist.” That philosophical comment may apply to this issue. It is for each of us to decide whether we have truly had an experience of visiting a country.

Having been to a country it's when I managed to do something productive for that country, in my opinion. for instance I have managed to donate a car when i was in the States. I have been to a nice campaign of donating cars and I was amazed by how many people decide to donate their cars and save the planet from pollution. It encouraged me to start such thing at home in France too.

Basically your country of residence is where you have been normally residing since last 3 years. If you have been in another country for any purpose like education, business or short-term employment this is not going to change your country of residence.
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I believe that if you've touched the land of a country, you've been there. The definition of "been" is the past tense of "be". And to "be", all you have to do is exist. So I think that if you "exist" on the land of a country, you've "been" there.