The UAE plans to open an embassy in Azerbaijan this year. The UAE is the first country that recognized Azerbaijan’s independence in 1991.
Diplomatic ties between the two countries were established in 1992. Azerbaijan opened an embassy in Abu Dhabi in 2001 and a consulate in Dubai in 2006.
Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni, Minister of Foreign Affairs, answering questions during his turn at the meet-the-press series at the Ministry of Information in Accra. Three new Passport Application Centres (PACs) are to be inaugurated by the close of this month to help ease the congestion and rush at the PAC and the Passport Office in Accra.
The new PACS are to be inaugurated in Sekondi, Sunyani and Tamale. Since the biometric passport was launched on March 23, 2010 in Accra, 29,019 Ordinary, 48 Service and 251 Diplomatic passports have been issued to various categories of Ghanaians. Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Minister, Alhaji Muhammad Mumuni, announced this in response to a question when he took his turn at the Meet-the-Press series organised by the Ministry of Information in Accra yesterday. He conceded that there had been challenges in the issuance of the biometric passports but explained that it should be expected of any new project. He, however, gave an assurance that when the three new PACs and the remaining ones were inaugurated, the challenges would be addressed.
Alhaji Mumuni also admitted that the old machine readable passports were being issued alongside the biometric passports because there were outstanding applications prior to the launch of the biometric passports and indicated that the ministry did not want to burden those applicants to re-apply by purchasing the new forms. According to him, the old passports are machine readable and are valid until 2015, when it will be phased out.
Touching on other activities of the ministry, Alhaji Mumuni said the ministry continued to pursue the policy of good neighbourliness to sustain the climate of peace and stability in the sub-region. The mutual trust and confidence established by President J.E.A. Mills and his counterparts as the basis for addressing common challenges to development across nation frontiers, was maintained.
Alhaji Mumuni said the ministry also sought to give substance to the government’s declaration to make regional integration the flagship of its foreign policy by actively participating in the deliberations of ECOWAS and other sub-regional and regional economic communities while ensuring that Ghana derived maximum benefit from its membership of such bodies.
According to him, the decision to relocate the new ministry at that site was because the AESL had advised against the reconstruction of the old ministry gutted by fire in October, last year. Besides that, Alhaji Mumuni explained that as the gateway to the government and the nation, it was important that the ministry was sited at a place that was attractive and conducive as against the old place which was close to the market.
As part of its response to the Canterbury earthquake, Immigration New Zealand is working closely with other Government agencies to identify occupations where skill shortages may occur, for example, in the infrastructure or construction sectors to ensure that where an immigration response is required we are able to respond in a timely manner. For instance, this may result in changes being made to the Essential Skills in Demand Lists before our next review which is due for completion in mid 2011.
From Sept. 8, travelers flying to the US which do not requires visas will be required to pay a $14 “operational and travel promotion.” According to US Customs and Border Protection website, people from Visa Waiver Program (VWP) countries must pay when applying for an Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA).
The new tourist tax that was implemented today received criticism from European Union as “inconsistent with the commitment of the U.S. to facilitate transatlantic mobility.” The tourist fee affects air and sea travelers from VWP countries such as Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
The total fee for a new or renewed ESTA will be $14. The breakdown includes $US10 tax and $US4 to recover the cost of the ESTA system. ESTA approval, which went into effect in early 2009, allows travelers to enter the United States without a full travel visa, which can cost over $100. The ESTA authorization lasts for two years (or until the individual’s passport expires), and is valid for multiple entries.
UK Border Agency has published new versions of application forms yesterday, and a new version of the Tier 1 (General) policy guidance.
New versions of the following application forms were published:
* Tier 1 (General) form
* Tier 1 (Post-study Work) form
* Tier 2 form
* Tier 4 (General) form
* Tier 4 (Child) form
* PBS Dependent form
Last month UK authorities withdrew the facility to pay the application fee by cash at public inquiry offices, and the above application forms have been amended to remove all references to cash payments. They have also made the following additional changes to the Tier 1 (General) and Tier 2 application forms.
* Tier 1 (General) – we have corrected a question number (U2)
* Tier 2 – We have changed the help text about enrolling biometric information at a post office.
One should use the new forms from now on. However, in line with paragraph 34 (I) of the Immigration Rules, we will continue to accept applications made on the previous version of the application forms up to and including 27 September 2010. Any application submitted until 27 September 2010 will be considered under the new Immigration Rules, regardless of the version of the application form used.
The change to the Tier 1 (General) policy guidance relates to migrants who are currently in the UK as Innovators. The table in paragraph 46 has been amended to show that these migrants’ applications will be treated as applications to switch into Tier 2 (General), not as extension applications.
Canadian immigration also intends to significantly increase the investment requirements for the immigrant investor program:
– A personal net worth of $1.6M instead of $800,000
– An investment requirement of $800,000 instead of $400,000
Canadian immigration feels that that the investment requirements are too low. The investment requirements have not changed for more than ten years. The current system attracts more applicants than are required each year under the immigration plan. This has resulted in an increase in processing times.
Canadian immigration will not be accepting any more Canadian immigrant investor applications until the new system is operational. This is to prevent a surge of applicants before the change in the immigration requirements.
Immigration Minister Kenney had the following to say about the immigrant investor program:
“Canada needs investor immigrants.” These changes are necessary to keep Canada’s program competitive with that of other countries, and keep pace with the changing economy.
Visa applications from foreign students to study in Australian universities have dropped by 15,500, almost 12%, over the past 12 months, according to figures just released by the Department of Immigration.
As negotiations continue over whether the Labor or conservative parties will assume government following elections on 21 August, the National Tertiary Education Union has warned that the fall in applications threatens Australia’s A$18 billion (US$16.2 billion) education export earnings.
It also has the potential to undermine the financial viability of universities and other education providers that have become increasingly reliant on international student fee income, the union stated.
“This drop in international student visas applications clearly indicates Australia is becoming a less attractive study destination for international students,” said Matt McGowan, the union’s Victorian Division Secretary. He also added that the reasons for the fall are no doubt many and varied and include the damage caused to Australia’s reputation from the reporting of attacks on international students, stricter regulations to weed out less reputable providers and reductions to announced cuts in net immigration by both parties in the federal election.
McGowan said fees from international students were the second most important source of income for universities and, on average, accounted for 15% of their total earnings. For a number of universities, the fee income accounted for up to half their annual budgets. In other words, some of our universities and the jobs of our members at those universities are very vulnerable to any cuts in international student numbers.
The number of illegal immigrants in the U.S. has dropped for the first time in 20 years as substantially fewer undocumented workers from Mexico, Latin America and elsewhere are crossing the border in search of jobs, an independent research group says.
The analysis by the Pew Hispanic Center suggests the nation’s economic downturn and increased border enforcement have reduced the number of illegal immigrants, who make up roughly 4 percent of the U.S. population.
The study released Wednesday estimates that 11.1 million illegal immigrants lived in the U.S. in 2009. That represents a decrease of roughly 1 million, or 8 percent, from a peak of 12 million in 2007, before Arizona intervened with its new enforcement measures.
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The Czech government announced on Saturday that it would be closing its embassy in Costa Rica, as well as four other countries, Congo, Venezuela, Kenya and Yemen.
The closing is part of the Foreign Ministry’s budget saving plan. The Czech general consulate also said it would be closing its consulate in Mumbai, India and up to 10 missions.
The opposition Social Democrats have criticized the plans saying they would harm Czech exports.
Tourists will no longer get their visas on arrival in Sri Lanka September 30 onwards except Maldivians and Singaporeans. On Friday, Department of Immigration and Emigration of Sri Lanka announced that it was withdrawing the visa-on-arrival facility for tourists from 79 countries including India, UK, USA, China, Japan and host of European nations. It is from these and West Asian countries that Sri Lanka gets its chunk of tourists.
It means tourists going into Sri Lanka will now have to get their tourist visas stamped from Sri Lankan missions abroad. The decision comes a day after Economic Development Minister Basis Rajapaksa presided over a road show in New Delhi entitled “Sri Lanka as a destination for tourism and investment in its infrastructure” sponsored by the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). The function was to promote the Island nation as a tourism hub.
But the Lankan government quite clearly has one major problem in issuing visas on arrival – lack of reciprocity. Only citizens from Singapore and Maldives will continue to get their visas on arrival as our citizens are extended the same facility by them. Sarath Kumara said the government was mulling the decision to withdraw the facility as there was no “reciprocity” from 79 countries.
“It should be done on a reciprocal basis. I don’t think it is a big issue. Tourists who plan to come will come,” Sarath Kumara said.
The new rule, however, could mean a drop of tourists coming to Sri Lanka which is just beginning to see an increase in arrival of tourists after decades of civil unrest. Countries like the UK and US only recently amended travel advisories. As for India, according to tourism department data, more than 83500 Indian tourists came to Sri Lanka in 2009 – the largest number from one country to come holidaying in Colombo.
