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Syria lifted visa restrictions on Iraqi nationals on Tuesday in a sign of improving ties between the two neighbours after political disputes curbed border movement. Syria’s official news agency said a cabinet decision will make it possible from Feb. 1 for any Iraqi to apply for visa at border points, instead of from the Syrian embassy in Baghdad.

Visa rules imposed in 2007 limited visas to Iraqi merchants and academics, making it difficult for other Iraqis fleeing violence in their homeland to go to Syria. Syria, which has a 600-km (375-mile) border with Iraq, received hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees following the US invasion that removed Saddam Hussein from power in 2003 and ushered in sectarian strife.

Iraq withdrew its ambassador from Syria in 2009 after Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki accused Damascus of sheltering two people he said were behind bomb attacks in Baghdad that killed 100 people. Syria reciprocated immediately.

Relations between the two countries improved last year and the two governments agreed to restore ambassadors to each other’s capital in September. Syrian Prime Minister Naji al-Otari discussed the visa issue during a visit to Baghdad this month. The Syrian and Iraqi side also talked about the possibility of building a 56-inch gas pipeline from Iran to Syria via Iraq.

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U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has planned to launch a website that can be used by public. This website would be pretty much useful for companies as they can post notices regarding their proposal to hire H-1B workers. This has led to a more transparency regarding the H-1B hiring process.

If the website is launched, then it would be helpful for U.S. workers to find out about their Visa status and also to identify whether the employers are showing discrimination against U.S. workers. Through this website the employers can rank their H-1B visa holding employees, which would be easy for the employers to hire the best candidates. This has been suggested in a 118-page report by the GOA which comprises of this particular suggestion about the website as well as other issues.

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The Philippine Embassy explained recently about new Philippine immigration regulations on travel to the Philippines by foreign children who are under 15 years old, unaccompanied by their parents, or not coming to visit a parent. These children traveling individually or in groups to the Philippines have to notify the Commission of Immigration in writing their intent to travel to the Philippines at least 72 hours before arrival, the Philippine Embassy said.

An inquiry emailed to the Philippine Immigration Department on the new immigration regulations has not received a reply at press time. On the special Philippine medical visas for foreigners as reported in the foreign press, Charge D’ Affaires Celeste Vinzon-Balatbat said yesterday the Philippine Embassy has not received any guidelines from the Philippine Bureau of Immigrations.

Consul General Raymond Balatbat said the new regulations from the Philippine Department of Immigration amends an old law barring the entry of minor children who are not accompanied by their parents, or not visiting their parents in the Philippines.

The new regulations allow the travel of children under 15 years old to the Philippines subject to certain conditions. If those children have to be admitted to travel to the Philippines, there is a need for an intent to travel letter to be sent directly to the Philippine Bureau of Immigration in Manila, and not to the Philippine Embassy in Brunei.

We can still help by doing parallel (services),” Consul General Balatbat said. They can apply in Manila and furnish us with the same documents. We have Bruneian youths travelling to Manila to join cultural or sports activities, who are accompanied by the organizers, head of delegations, or chaperoned by persons who are not their parents.

“If the foreign child/children arrive in the Philippines without notifying the Commissioner of Immigration, they can still enter the Philippines provided the minor’s guardian or legal representative presents copies of the minor’s passport and attaches the accomplished Waiver of Exclusion (WE) forms obtained from the Immigration Duty Supervisor (IDS) in the Philippine port of entry.

“The minor’s guardian or legal representative has to pay a 3,120 Philippine pesos (around B$100) fee for each unaccompanied minor to the authorised cashier, present the payment receipt to the IDS, who shall direct an Immigration officer to admit the minor/s,” Balatbat said. The letter of intent to the Commissioner of Immigration should include a request for the minor’s waiver of exclusion and the relinquishment of exclusion fees, copies of the minor’s valid passport, visa (if required), return ticket, and letter of invitation from a parent or sponsor from the Philippines.

Finding merit in the request, the Commissioner of Immigration issues an order waiving the minor’s exclusion, and may also waive the exclusion fees. Otherwise a waiver fee of 3,120 Philippine pesos shall be imposed.

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Britons are still wanted down under as over 24,000 UK residents emigrated to Australia last year. NSW remains the most popular choice for new arrivals to Australia despite an overall drop in migration, a new survey shows. The Department of Immigration and Citizenship’s (DIAC) Settler Arrival survey reveals 140,610 people moved to Australia in the 2009-2010 financial year, a drop of 11 per cent from last year.

NSW was still the most attractive destination, with about 30 per cent of all new arrivals flocking to the state. The next most popular states was Victoria which attracted 26 per cent of new migrants, followed by Queensland at 18 per cent.

Western Australia attracted around 15 per cent of arrivals.Most migrants to NSW were educated professionals hailing from China and India, with settler arrivals from those countries at 17 and 11 per cent respectively.

Kiwis were Australia’s biggest import at around 13 per cent of all migrants, closely followed by China at about 12 per cent and India at 11 per cent. UK migrants account for around 9%. This is a major change as 3 years ago, British migrants were ahead of both China and India ; although this situation is anticipated to be reversed in 2012 as the tougher rules on studying in Australia begin to bite.

More than half of all settlers into Australia were professionals or worked as managers and administrators.The Settler Arrival survey sources its data from passenger arrival and departure cards filled in by new arrivals.

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Foreign workers without work permits would be forced to leave the country, said deputy minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Thanh Hoa. The regulation comes under a draft decree which has been edited by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs to submit to the Government.

The draft decree also regulates that highly qualified foreigners who worked as high-ranking experts would not need a work permit. Government Decree 34/CP, which regulates foreign worker recruitment and management, came into effect in April 2008, but enterprises that employed foreigners without permits only received administrative punishment under the regulation.

Foreign workers who did not obey the decree were to be expelled, but in fact, that never happened, and the level of punishment was not enough of a deterrent, said Hoa. Procedures to issue work permits would not be changed, but would be more strictly regulated, he added.

The draft decree would not have unnecessary procedures like the old one, under which the Minister of Public Security had to authorise any expulsions. Under the updated version, city police directors would have the power, said Hoa. He added: The draft decree creates good conditions for foreign workers with high levels of ability to work in Viet Nam, and manage other foreigners better.

According to ministry statistics, there are currently 57,000 foreign workers in the country, 70 per cent of whom do not have a work permit, and 30 per cent work under a visa.

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Four out of every five Britons want the government to cut the level of immigration. A large-scale poll carried out for the government by the Communities Department has revealed more than half the UK population wants to see the numbers of immigrants arriving to stay permanently in Britain reduced by a large amount. The survey suggests public demand for a cap on immigration is rapidly growing.

The results of the poll can be seen as a warning from Whitehall to Home secretary Theresa May and PM David Cameron that concerns over the high level of immigration are not going away. The issue played a prominent part in pre-election campaigning last year and is likely to lead to frustration amongst the electorate if pledges made last May are not adhered to.

Promises during the run-up to the general election included a reduction in the number of immigrants to 1990s level of under 100,000 a year. In Labour’s last year in office, net migration stood as 215,000. The Communities Department Citizenship Survey was set up under Labour as an attempt to measure ‘community cohesion’ One important point in its design was that Muslim and ethnic minority communities were ‘robustly represented’ in the results.

A total of 10,000 people took part, with pollsters later taking opinions from another 5,000 ethnic minority residents and 1,200 Muslims before reaching their conclusions. Results stated 54 per cent of the population wanted immigration cut ‘a lot’, with 24 per cent saying ‘a little’ and only 19 per cent saying levels should stay the same. NO evidence was found that local communities were becoming more divided. Some 22 per cent believed they received poor treatment from public services due to racial prejudice, but 85 per cent believed their communities were racially cohesive.

Sir Andrew Greene, considers the figures are a clear indication immigration still features large in the public concern, in spite of other worries. He adds the coalition government, especially its Lib-Dem members, should take the survey seriously. Critics are stating the UK is busy importing workers while six million of its citizens remain on benefits and unable to find jobs.

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The Bulgarian Parliament passed the amendments to the Foreigners Act on January 13 2011, in which it stipulated that a short-stay visa will be issued to foreigners for a period of up to three months within any six-month period from the date of first entry. Another type of short-stay visa will be the transit visa, which in turn will be valid for up to two days.

Changes to the country’s Foreigners Act, were approved earlier in 2010 by the Cabinet.

A Cabinet memorandum signed by Prime Minister Boiko Borissov envisaged that the changes were intended to bring the country’s legislation in line with the EU, for example on visas to meet the criteria for Schengen visa zone implementation.

The amendments revise rules on obtaining permanent residence and open the way for the “Blue Card” system earlier approved by the EU that is intended to encourage skilled non-EU nationals to live and work in the bloc’s 27 countries.

To apply for long-term residence, the applicant will have to prove sufficient resources and have health insurance so as not to be a burden on the state. Third-country nationals wanting to become, and remain, long-term residents “should not pose a threat to public order and national security”.

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A bill has been introduced in the US Congress to allow temporary protected status for qualifying Pakistani nationals in America on account of the situation and hardships created in Pakistan by last year’s floods.

The Pakistani Temporary Protected Status (TPS) Act of 2011, sponsored by Democratic Congressman Al Green, has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee.

The measure seeks to designate Pakistan as a TPS-eligible country and sets forth related TPS eligibility requirements, including continuous US presence since July 22, 2010. The initial period of such designation shall begin on the date of the enactment of this act and shall remain in effect for 12 months.

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The Philippine Embassy in Riyadh has announced its schedule for outreach consular services missions, commonly known as the “Embassy on Wheels” (EOW), for the year 2011.

While the schedule is tentative, the Embassy will exert its best to stick to the schedule, provided that venues are confirmed and approval of the host government are obtained for each consular mission.

The following is the tentative schedule of the outreach activities:
27 – 28 January 2011 – Al Khobar
10 – 11 February 2011 – Al Jouf
24 – 25 February 2011 – Al Khobar
24 – 25 March 2011 – Al Khobar
14 – 15 April 2011 – Hail
28 – 29 April 2011 – Al Khobar
19 – 20 May 2011 – Al Khobar
9 – 10 June 2011 – Sana’a, Yemen
23 – 24 June 2011 – Al Khobar
7 – 8 July 2011 – Buraydah
21 – 22 July 2011 – Al Khobar
11 – 12 August 2011 – Al Khobar
15 – 16 September 2011 – Jubail
29 – 30 September 2011 – Al Khobar
20 – 21 October 2011 – Al Khobar
3 – 4 November 2011 – Sana’a, Yemen
17 – 18 November 2011 – Al Khobar
8 – 9 December 2011 – Al Khobar
Starting January 2011, the EOW will adopt the appointment system for its passport services. This is to avoid the inconvenience associated with the long queues during the past EOWs. The new appointment system is free of charge and the applicants shall enlist themselves directly through email or text.

For email, passport applicants should e-mail eowappointment@philembassy-riyadh.org and indicate the applicant/s full name, contact number, and their city in Saudi Arabia. They can also reserve a slot thru text message by sending the following format: EOW(space)full name(space)city in Saudi Arabia to 0540269731 (example: EOW Juan Santos Dammam).

Family applicants must indicate all the names of its members, otherwise only one slot would be provided to them. One week before the scheduled EOW, the list of those who would be served during the EOW passport services will be posted on the Embassy website (www.philembassy-riyadh.org).

Those who could not be accommodated for the particular EOW outreach mission will be automatically listed for the next EOW outreach mission. The next EOW is tentatively scheduled on 27-28 January 2011 at the International Philippine School in Al Khobar (IPSA) in Al Khobar, Eastern Region.

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Young people from Australia and Bangladesh now have the opportunity to work in each other’s countries through a work and holiday arrangement that came into effect today (December 31). University-educated Australian and Bangladesh travellers who are aged between 18 and 30 will now be able to work and holiday in the other country for up to 12 months.

The work and holiday visa differs from a working holiday visa as it requires applicants to have the support of their government, have or be studying towards tertiary qualifications and to speak functional English. Bangladesh has become the latest country to have a reciprocal work and holiday visa arrangement with Australia, joining a number of other countries, including Chile, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Turkey and the United States.

Feedback on these arrangements has been positive and these places are quickly filled each year. There will be an annual limit of 100 work and holiday visas for both countries but this figure will be reviewed each year. This new arrangement is an investment in future relations with Bangladesh and will also help develop links between people in both countries.