Archive for the ‘News’ Category

All those looking to apply for visas for the United Arab Emirates(UAE) will be able to apply online by January next year.

This is yet another country to join the ever-growing number of countries turning to technology to make the visa application process quick and less effort.

The UAE Ministry of Interior announced on Monday the new online visa system that will be accessed via the website www.moieserv.ae.

Currently the application form, together with the required documents, need to be handed in at the nearest Naturalisation and Residency Department. This will no longer have to be done with the online system.

This system will also allow fees and charges to be paid online via a credit card.

A recent news article by ABC Australia raises an interesting issue of immigration being a major contributor to greenhouse gasses.

The report states that demographers at Melbourne’s Monash University fear that whilst immigration is increasing to a country the amount of emissions which are being produced and subsequently polluting the environment are too increasing.

They argue that population growth is the main driver of emissions but it’s being largely ignored by many a government as few are aware of such dangers.

The article reads that “researchers forecast that Australia’s population will grow from the current 21 million to 31.6 million by 2050 with almost 10 million of the people making up the net increase being migrants…As a result, they project that Australia’s emissions will have grown from the current 500 million tonnes annually to 800 million tonnes.”

The reasoning behind their somewhat revolutionary theories is that extra migration will add to economic activity and thus greenhouse emissions.

If this thought proves to be right it could be detrimental for the age of migration and global mobility. It is not merely Australia which is seeing its population numbers rise, many places the world-over are too gaining citizens at record paces.

Critics however have dismissed the Universities findings and feel that international migration is irrelevant to the global emissions as it is merely the movement of people from one country to another. This is a sensible thought as surely people leaving one country eases the emissions which that country produces and is hence balanced by the increase being created in the country of destination?

This is a debate which in a very ecological climate of green environmental awareness and many people worrying about the already evident results of climate change will surely continue to rage. However I think it is too rash to believe everything which has been said and until further studies have been created governments should instead focus on aiding the environment by stopping processes which have been proven are detrimental.

According to Dutch law an immigrant needs to pass a Dutch language test in order to get a visa. However a loophole in this law has allowed an illiterate Moroccan woman join her husband in the Netherlands to the delight of rights activists.

The Netherlands is a country filled with immigrants, with an estimated 10% of the total 16.6 million population are believed to be of non-Western origin.

But politicians have sought to stop immigrants from non-western countries coming into Holland.

This law which requires a language and culture test to be passed came into place in 2005. However it was mistakenly left out of the clause relating to family reunification, therefore this case took place and this Moroccan woman can now legally come to Holland to live.  

This has been met with support by human rights activists who believe that such a law is in complete violation of international human rights law and such a law should be totally scrapped.

However their celebrations may be short-lived as Dutch politicians vow to fix this loophole as soon as possible.

In a day and age of global mobility it seems that the concept of free travel is far from evident. Recently news from the Moscow Times has shown that visa controversy has once again halted controversial groups, this time Mormons.

The story explains that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints have announced that due to the stringent visa laws it will no longer be able to send North American Missionaries to Russia.

A new visa regime signed into law by then-Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov in October states that holders of humanitarian visas are allowed to remain in the country for no longer than 180 days in one calendar year, and for stretches of no longer than 90 days at a time.

While missionaries could previously renew their visas in neighbouring countries, they must now return to their country of origin, greatly increasing costs.

The controversy has further meant that future missions will be halted and instead assignments to Russia will be limited to those nationalities not needing visas.

The so-called Mormon Church has strong ties with Russia and at present it yearly sends an average of 19,000 members and eight permanent missions.

The debate which has emerged from this topical story however is one of preference. Should Mormons or any other religious group be exempt from visa restrictions and if so can an argument therefore be made for sportsmen, actors or musicians?

Here! Here! To our Equality Minister Harriet Harman. Today the minister established the much needed Equality Bill to end discrimination in the work place. Personally I am over the moon about this, I think it’s the feminist in me coming out and I know the old boys club who set up these ridiculers rules to discriminate against age, race, sex or sexual preferences are all rolling about to try to revoke the new proposed bill. This bill will make it easier for women to demand equal pay and as it has been the trend in the past years, age discrimination will come to an end, eventually.

Thank goodness www.globalvisas.com is a company that prides itself in equality and diversity. The equal pay legislation was introduced 30 years ago however the gap is still mounting. Everywhere else in the world the anti-discrimination bills are in place but they are not “really” implemented. So what the minister is saying is that, all that has to stop and government and business need to work together to eliminate that gap and play fair and square on the playground. So how does this bill fit into immigration policies?

More diverse skilled migrants can come into the country knowing that they will be treated fairly and equally. As women, the uncomfortable feeling of negotiating what we are worth will take a plunge. More women will start tracking the world for better opportunities to the UK. Recent studies has shown that women in the IT industry for example which happens to be one of the fastest growing industries in the world (next to banking and business to name a few), women are being paid much less. Women may feel that getting a university degree is useless as they will continue to earn less than their male counterparts. This will all hopefully change.

Of course many of us know that the UK has always sold itself to the rest of the world as the mother of the global community and that it has opened its doors to multiculturalism and diversity. Even with recent UK border and immigration law changes the UK can still hold its head high as one of the best in the world.

Even in the US, Democrat presidential candidate Obama Barrack has been trying to lure female voters by promising better earnings and pay raises. While in Spain the Spanish cabinet boasts itself with nine women alongside eight men, including Spain’s Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. Could this be why many English natives prefer Spain as an alternative immigration destination? Whatever the reason, this law proposal is slowly restoring my hope in humanity. I think the world with the help of the UK is initiating a much needed movement 0f anti-discrimination on anything.

Now we only hope that they can walk the walk as much as they are talking it. (TM)

Recently I read an article by Toronto journalist and author, Joe Clark called The Web is like Canada. The article touches on the paradigm and similarities that the web and Canada have to each other. Mr. Clark states: “like the web Canada defines itself by what it is not”.

“Only Canadians could assert themselves by explaining what they aren’t. Even the West and East Germans; the North and South Koreans; the New Zealanders and the Australians; the Scottish, the Welsh, the Irish, the Northern Irish, and the British; or the Walloons and the Flemish – all identifiable in relation to someone else – don’t take definition by negation to such lengths”. 

I thought how right Clark is. We hear very little of Canada and when we do hear about them they are either “requesting” (I use the word request and not need for good reasons) for skilled immigrants, or on its picturesque perfection and maybe sometimes if we are lucky we may hear a bit on sporting events.

But generally we hear very little of this diverse country and its inhabitants and yet many desire to move to there. Canada has become almost like a myth, it exist only when you want to get to it but it somehow manages to remain in hibernation until its needed to come out to make some announcement to the world or defend itself from Americans.  

Let’s take a look at what is happening in the world at the moment, politically (US presidential candidates elections), socially (earthquakes in China and famine in Ethiopia) and economically (mortgage crashes and economic downfalls of the super-powers (America and UK)). Why have we not heard anything from the world’s biggest immigration country? Could Canada be so perfect as to not get affected by the rest of foreign policies and market crashes?  Is it so invincible? 

Every year millions of UK immigrants flock to this country for a better lifestyle. Canada is truly Zion. Is this the reason we should all move to Canada because its so kept itself away from all the chaos of the world?  

This wonderland seems unattainable yet it is. Even though Canada and its inhabitants live in a bubble, we do know Canada has opened its borders to the world, housing refugees or opening up for students and workers. Clark states that Canada is struggling to find its own identity yet Canada has a solid reputation internationally making it the Hallmark of the world.  I couldn’t agree. 

Maybe I’ll ask the boss to move me to our  www.globalvisas.ca offices! (TM)

Today the European Parliament approved a contentious new rule to expel illegal immigrants from the bloc (Basic Level of Capability). The new rules come after anti-immigrant sentiments from wealthy blocs such as Italy, who are blaming foreigners for spiking violent crimes in the country. France is also one of the countries that pushed for this new law that has had human rights activists protesting against. The last few years has seen France grappling with tensions in its “immigrant-heavy suburbs”. The EU joins bloc member (UK) in the latest drastic immigration rules implementation.

With the US credit crash affecting economies, governments are struggling and the old trusted scapegoat of immigrants (legal or not) comes into place as introduced heavily by the UK and Europe. Goverment immigration authorities argue that the dramatic immigration changes across Europe and the UK are needed to preserve a countries economy and to let in those (immigrants) who will benefit the country, however at www.globalvisas.com we believe that goverments should be more cognizant when making immigration policies. Not only is the rest of the world being stopped from moving freely they have to deal with new discriminatory rules that are being implemented on a regular basis just to keep migrants out.
 
Many industrialised countries can not deny the contribution of immigrants labour to their countries prosperity. With global mobility ever increasing, whether it’s forced (refugees/illegal immigrants) or by choice (skilled labour immigration), migrants tend to move to cosmopolitan, developed countries. In return immigrants become the worlds scapegoats for when things go wrong and especially when economies and social structures take a plundge. Immigrants are only admitted to satisfy a labour shortage and later discarded e.g. UK discarding doctors based on the new tier system and immigration changes.

Border control is important for any country and yes countries do need to protect what’s theirs. However decisions on immigration control and law change so frequently that in some cases by taking thoughtless measures a government could be sending someone to their death bed. A country has every right to protect itself but discrimination and racism and inhumane laws are incomprehensible, especially when developed countries preach peace and togetherness to the rest of the world. The new EU law on illegal immigrants is a scramble to regain power and give a solution to countries where they have not sorted out their own internal problems because of bad policies. In the end a migrant is seen as nothing more than “human capital”, and more “capital” than “human” and if he is neither, measures are taken to deploy him. (TM).

A controversial debate has arisen amongst academics and politicians from both sides of the pond; with Scotland’s latest announcement regarding new schemes for encouraging global student mobility being the topic.

In order to challenge the stay-at-home culture which is emerging amongst Scottish students the country is planning to launch a new pilot scheme which would grant students wishing to study abroad financial support.

The scheme would see those Scottish students whom choose to take their entire undergraduate degree abroad receiving the same financial support as students who study at home.

With Scotland currently having one of the lowest student mobility rates in Europe the scheme has been planned with the hope of increasing the desire to study abroad.

The controversial debate gains opposition with the consideration of fees. Should a student be accepted at America’s prestigious Harvard University then the government would end up paying an average of 17K in tuition fees under the scheme.

Although as many argue, travel broadens the mind and the opportunity which will be on offer to such students is immense, some argue the fact that financially Scottish Universities are currently on the brink of a gulf and current administration has told them they cannot have the money they need to continue at their current level. Therefore querying how essential such spending is in the grandiose scheme of things.

In defence of the plans the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning said “We believe universities at home and overseas have a vital role to play in creating a smarter, more prosperous Scotland, we also believe that access to education should be based on the ability to learn, not to pay.”

It seems that the issue surrounding funding will need to be fully explored in order for a general consensus to wholly agree with the initiative.

There’s just a week to go before hundreds of English footie fans board a plan to watch the great showdown between Chelsea F.C and Premiership Champions, Manchester United in the all English Champions League Final. And it seems that fans have at last received some good news from Moscow.

Much has been documented about the controversy surrounding the number of spectators hoping to visit the city for the game. First fans needed visas, then they didn’t and then those which had already purchased them on the sheer expectation of their team making the final were later informed that they would not receive a refund.

However as Global Visas reported today, it seems that the Russian embassy has reviewed their policy surrounding entry for foreign fans and now plans to waive visa requirements for future events.

What great news for all sports fans the world over.  Hopefully this will mean that Russian scheduled events will receive the accolade they deserve from a sporting angle instead of a political one. It’s also great news for all of those hoping to attend the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

It will now be interesting to see whether other countries will step-up and follow Russia’s lead. Watch this space!

CN