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In early 2010, the visa process to enter Iraq was both liberal and easily accessible taking only around 24 to 72 hours to go through the relevant procedures and paperwork. Officials were so flexible in fact that expats who went home for the holidays without first obtaining a re entry visa for their return were simply waived through, rather than being redirected all the way to Amman to obtain permission.

Mr Karoly Niklasz Move One’s Operations Coordinator in Iraq said that this easygoing attitude has since changed considerably. Now everything is different due to changes the Iraqi government has installed.

Instead of the original five forms, now eight separate documents need to be filled out, two of which are in Arabic. Moreover, the administration process has been prolonged to at least 14 days. As of February 2011, Iraqi authorities have extended the process even further to a total of 21 days which led to complaints by the US Embassy and has caused disagreements between the two countries.

Mr Karoly said that what makes the situation even more complicated is the fact that the Iraqi Government is demanding a billion dollars from the US for damages caused to Baghdad, claiming that everything is still surrounded by T walls and that army convoys use public parks as through routes, etc.

With seven offices located throughout Iraq, Move One employees have all the necessary documentation, work permits and visas needed to reside and operate legally within the country. Our extensive local knowledge of the region dates back to 2003 and has helped us build a successful track record in handling everything from small shipments to heavy, over sized cargo for a variety of customers in the oil and gas industry as well as civil reconstruction.

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China has reached an agreement with Russia on mutual exemption of visa requirements for Heixiazi Island, vice governor of Heilongjiang Province Jiahao Du said on Tuesday. The Island, a 327 sq km sandbar in the middle of the confluence of the Heilongjiang and Wusuli Rivers, has long been a source of conflict between China and Russia and a major border irritant since it was seized by the Red Army in 1929.

China has restored sovereign control over half of Heixiazi Island from Russia since October 14, 2008 after the two countries jointly unveil a stone monument on the Island. Heilongjiang has unfurled plans to develop the Chinese side of Heixiazi as a tourist resort, including hotels and a free trade shopping area.

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Anyone applying to visit the United States on a non-immigrant visa from March 1, 2011, will have to pay their visa fees at Guaranty Trust Bank, and no longer the United Bank for Africa (UBA). The U.S. Embassy in Nigeria announced that applicants who have already scheduled appointments for March or April with the embassy in Abuja or the U.S. Consulate General in Lagos must pay the $140 visa application fee at a UBA branch no later than February 28.

Visa fee collection services will no longer be available at UBA after February 28. According to the embassy, the shift to GTB is a result of an ongoing realignment of contracts between the U.S. Department of State and companies which provide visa appointment services.

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The US Embassy in Accra on Wednesday announced new non-immigrant visa appointment service with effect from March 1, 2011. Under the new system, non-immigrant visa applicants in English Speaking West African countries would pay their application fees at Ecobank branches instead of Standard Chartered Bank and complete their application form (CEAC/DS-160) online.

Mr Michael Evans, Consular Chief at the US Embassy, said the new service system would require non-immigrant visa applicants to schedule appointments through the US Visa Information Service at www.ustraveldocs.com or by calling 233-263011685 which is a call center for further inquiries.

Briefing newsmen, he said the process and fee for US non-immigrant visa application remained the same except that the new system had included a life operator service which would allow applicants to call the US Service Center for more information. Mr Evans assured the public that the new service was now more user-friendly and had sophisticated inputs to prevent fraud or any form of manipulations to protect the integrity of the system. He said the new system had special visa categories which made it easier for the Consulate to know how many visas were given to a particular category daily.

Mr Evans explained that the change of bankers was due to the fact that the new operating contractors of the US Visa application system had an existing contract with Ecobank Ghana and therefore it was important that they honored their agreement with the bank. However, he explained that applicants who had Standard Chartered bank receipts and had already scheduled visa appointments through the current online system should proceed via the current process as they would not be affected by this change.

Mr Evans said applicants who had paid their MRV fee prior to March 1, but had not scheduled an appointment would be given up to April 30 to schedule an appointment or would forfeit it and would have to pay the MRV fee again if they had not scheduled an appointment before the set date. He said the new online visa application system had now become the standard product world-wide for all applicants and urged Ghanaians to educate themselves about the new application process to avoid being duped by middlemen.

Mr Evans said the US Embassy did not have any special contract or ties with anybody or persons, but dealt directly with clients as individuals.

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Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that visa procedures would be lifted with Malaysia. Prime Minister Erdogan appeared at a joint news conference after meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Mohamed Najib bin Abdul Razak and said that they agreed to lift visa procedures between the two countries.

“We are also planning to launch direct flights between Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen airport and Kuala Lumpur,” he said. Erdogan said that Abdul Razak was the first Malaysian prime minister paying a state visit to Turkey in 28 years.

“We will sign a free trade agreement between Turkey and Malaysia this year. Such an agreement will add momentum to our economic and commercial relations. Currently, our trade volume is about 1.2 billion USD. We can increase it up to 5 billion USD. We are going to attend Turkey-Malaysia Business Forum in Istanbul tomorrow. We will tell our businessmen that we are ready to extend full support to mutual investments. Our businessmen can also work together in the third countries,” he said.

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdul Razak, on his part, said that he invited Prime Minister Erdogan to Malaysia by the end of 2011 to sign strategic cooperation agreement and free trade agreement. “These two agreements will mark beginning of a new era in Turkey-Malaysia relations. There will be no more visa procedures between our countries,” he said.

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The Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs is in the process of creating an ‘eMigrate’ system as a mission-mode e-governance project to streamline the emigration process and eliminate the loopholes in the current unorganized system.

“At present, it is not possible to keep track of every emigrant. With the formation of a separate ministry in 2005, the involvement of touts has been reduced but not completely eliminated. The eMigrate system will begin in a couple of months and will be implemented in phases over three years,” said KN Shrivastava, additional secretary and financial advisor, Ministry of External Affairs.

There are 25 million Indians working in 50 countries, and over 5 million unskilled and semi-skilled people in the six Gulf countries besides a sizable number in Malaysia, followed by Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand.

Close to 50 employers from the above countries are participating in a two-day conference beginning here today, organized jointly by the MOIA, AP government and the Overseas Manpower Corporation of Andhra Pradesh.

Shrivastava said the recruitment of labor was mainly through recruiting agents at present, which was exploitative for workers and cumbersome for employers. The MOIA was formed to address the labor problems, and a new legislative and regulatory framework would be introduced soon.

A new Immigration Management Bill has been drafted to replace the existing Immigration Regulation Act 1983. It has also taken up skill upgradation programmes for unskilled or semi-skilled labor. The ministry is mulling bilateral understanding with all Gulf countries and Malaysia.

The passports division of the External Affairs ministry would create seven ICT-enabled passport seva kendras in the state by August, three of which are to be in Hyderabad, to curb malpractices. The MOIA has set up an Indian Workers Resource Center with a toll-free 24-hour helpline in Dubai, a similar helpline in Delhi and regional migration resource centers. A Rs 25-lakh Indian Community Welfare Fund has also been created to provide support services to emigrant labour.

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Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said on Saturday that Turkey and Georgia have already started works to allow citizens of both countries to travel with only state identity cards. Davutoğlu told a joint news conference with his Georgian counterpart, Grigol Vashadze, during his visit to Tbilisi that they plan to apply “single window customs” at the Sarp border gate, the largest and busiest gate in the Caucasus, facilitating trade transactions and enabling cross-traders to present their documents at a single location. Davutoğlu said it is a very serious initiative regarding the integration of the two countries’ economies.

Davutoğlu earlier met with Vashadze to discuss bilateral relations between the two countries, regional developments and ongoing restoration in the cultural heritage of Georgia in Turkey and Turkish heritage in Georgia. Ministers then headed delegations during a follow-up meeting, where they discussed ways to ease travel between the two countries. Turkey and Georgia don’t require visas for tourists to stay in the country for up to 90 days.

Speaking about the protection of mutual cultural heritage, Davutoğlu said it will be a important area of cooperation and that the historical churches in Turkey are also part of Turkey’s cultural heritage. The foreign minister promised that Turkey will continue necessary restoration work on Georgian churches, adding that historical and cultural heritage in Ajaria and its capital, Batumi, where a substantial number of Georgian Muslims live, is also shared cultural heritage for both countries.

Speaking during the press conference, Vashadze said they discussed “important subjects” concerning Turkey and Georgia, along with border facilitation works.Noting that he will meet again with Davutoğlu in the near future, Vashadze said they will discuss regional security issues and the Georgia-Russian conflict. Davutoğlu also held talks with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili.

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There is a new development in the cordial relations between the Bahamas and Australia was realised with the official launching of the Australian Honorary Consulate and the introduction of Caroline Moncur as Honourary Consul.

The event took place Thursday at the Lyford Cay Club, where Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of National Security Tommy Turnquest underscored the importance of such relations. The Bahamas and Australia have been enjoying friendly and supportive relations since the establishment of diplomatic relations on January 7, 1974.

“We work together in the bilateral and multilateral levels. One of our latest important bilateral endeavours was the signing of a Tax Information Exchange Agreement in March 2010. On the multilateral level we are working together on important climate change and maritime issues,” Mr Turnquest said.

Australia also maintains relations with other members of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM); having extended a hand in friendship and co-operation in a number of areas.

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The EU Commission has given EU member states until 1 July to implement the blue card directive. Starting on 1 June 2011, highly skilled workers from outside the European Union can apply to work in Bulgaria under the EU Blue Card scheme. The blue card would allow a skilled worker with a job offer to take employment in member states under the directive. It may also be possible to work in more than one EU member state using the same Blue Card.

The Blue Card aka Blue European Labour Card is an approved EU-wide work permit (Council Directive 2009/50/EC) allowing high-skilled non-EU citizens to work and live in any country within the European Union, excluding Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom, which are not subject to the proposal. The term Blue Card was coined by the think tank Bruegel, inspired by the United States’ Green Card and making reference to the EU flag which is blue with twelve golden stars.

The Blue Card proposal presented by the European Commission offers a one-track procedure for non-EU citizens to apply for a work permit, which would be valid for up to two-years, but can be renewed thereafter. Those who are granted a blue card will be given a series of rights, such as favorable family unification rules. The proposal also encourages geographic mobility within the EU, between different member states, for those who have been granted a blue card. The legal basis for this proposal is Article 63(3)(a) and (4) of the Treaty of Rome, which states that the Council shall adapt measures on immigration policy concerning “conditions of entry and residence and standards on procedures for the issue by Member States” and measures “defining the rights and conditions under which nationals of third countries who are legally resident in a Member State may reside in other Member States”.

“[One of the] requirements for a non-EU citizen to get a blue card are a higher education certificate,” said Hristo Simeonov of the Bulgarian Ministry of Social Policy and Labour.

Many European companies, including Bulgaria, are experiencing shortage of highly qualified and highly skilled workers. Citizens of countries such as Ukraine, Serbia, Russia, Turkey, Croatia, and Moldavia may soon find it easier to work in Bulgaria, and in other Countries in the EU.

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Significant changes to Australian Skilled Sponsored Visas on 1 July 2011 will result in the removal of the permanent family sponsored visa route; Family members can still sponsor relatives under a provisional sponsored migration visa.

This visa can still lead to permanent residence. Holders of a provisional sponsored skilled migration visa may be eligible for a Skilled Regional (Residence) visa (subclass 887) after meeting certain eligibility criteria. As Australia’s economy heats up, demand for skilled overseas workers will increase. Australia is well known for its skilled migration program, which has influenced immigration programs in other countries such as those in the UK.