September 2005

Vietnam lifts requirements for visa to its resort

Vietnam will lift visa requirements for foreign visitors to the southern resort island of Phu Quoc, which the government wants to develop into a leading ecological tourist site.

Foreigners and overseas Vietnamese will no longer require visas if they spend less than 15 days on the island. If they transit another border gate in Vietnam to get to Phu Quoc, the exemption will be valid for at least 45 days.

Vietnam has already unilaterally lifted visa requirements for citizens from Japan, South Korea and Scandinavian countries. The country has reciprocal visa-free agreements with Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore and Laos.

At the same time The Foreign Ministry of Vietnam has vowed to hand down adequate punishment to any staff of overseas Vietnamese diplomatic missions found raising the fees for visa and passport services, which were regulated by the Finance Ministry.

To address the matter, the Foreign Ministry has ordered all overseas diplomatic representative offices to strictly abide by stipulated consular regulations, which include the open announcement of visa fees on their official website.

Sources: www.thanhniennews.com , www.vnagency.com.vn

Getting Shengen visa is an ordeal for Russians

The European Union toughens the visa regime for the third world citizens beginning with the next year as a measure against terrorism and illegal migration. This will first of all concern people in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Thus, the EU may in fact nullify a treaty on simplification of mutual trips of citizens from Russia and CIS signed in May. The initiative is connected with introduction of biometric passports with information about retina, dactylogram and other data in EU beginning with 2007. This will also entail registration of more documents and interviews for many hours.

Today, getting a Shengen visa may take weeks for Russians, and in the future the procedure will probably take several months.

EU officials give no sufficient reason explaining why the getting visa procedure is made tougher. They say that Russian and Ukrainian passports are easy for forging and that the borders are not secure enough. EU also fears that cheap manpower from former Soviet republics may flood European countries.

“The visa regime toughening seems to be a purely political innovation”, as we read in Pravda, one of the leading Russian newspapers. “Toughening of the visa regime with Russia will make millions of Russian-speaking Europeans indignant. On the other hand, EU will have a huge neighbour which citizens will be negatively minded towards EU.”

Source: http://english.pravda.ru/main/18/88/354/16132_shengen.html

Read the original in Russian: http://www.pravda.ru/world/2005/5/14/36/20796_ES.html

Mexico Reinstates Visa Requirement for Brazilians

Bloomburg reports that Mexico is resuming a visa requirement for Brazilians and Ecuadoreans to help stem the flow of illegal immigrants to the U.S. The policy change prompted Brazil and Ecuador to reinstate visas for Mexicans.

The return to requiring visas, announced in a statement today by the Mexican Foreign Ministry, reverses a five-year-old policy for Brazilians and breaks a 36-year-old agreement with Ecuador. The Brazilian and Ecuadorian foreign ministries said visas for Mexican tourists and business people would be reinstated Oct. 23, the same day the Mexican rule takes effect, under reciprocity policies.

The number of Brazilians entering the U.S. illegally through Mexico has climbed ninefold since the visa requirement ended, making the South American country the fastest growing source of unauthorized entries, according to the U.S. Homeland Security Department.

"This is probably U.S. pressure and also serves Mexico’s interest,” said Juan Lindau, chairman of the political science department at Colorado College and author of three books on Mexico. "There’s an understanding that if Mexico does a good job in stopping other people from entering illegally in the U.S., it’s more likely to get an agreement for Mexicans in the U.S."’

"A new agreement to ease immigration to the U.S. for Mexicans was abandoned after the Sept. 11 attacks", Lindau said

Mexico also decided to reinstate visa requirements for South Africa, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said in statement. The Mexican government said Brazilian, Ecuadorean and South African tourists may apply for five-year visas while businesspeople may apply for three-year ones. Both visas allow for multiple trips, the Mexican government said.

Source: Bloomburg

UAE Refuse Journalist Visa

Javid Hassan of the Arab News network, reports on his problems in obtaining a visa for the United Arab Emirates.

I had a rude shock. The clerk told me that my application had been rejected. Reason: No visa for a journalist. He refunded my money.

Doctors, it says, are eligible. As I stood waiting in the queue, however, I saw the consular section reject the application of a doctor from Azerbaijan on the grounds that he could get a visa at the airport but would not be given one for traveling by bus with his family. Even though the doctor said that it would be very expensive for him to travel by air with his entire family, his application was rejected.

Source: Arab News

New Seven-day Visa Issued for Iran

The Tehran Times reports that the issuing of seven-day visas for foreigners was started at Tabriz International Airport on Monday during a ceremony attended by Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi.

Speaking at the ceremony, Asefi said the plan to issue visas for foreigners at a number of major cities is aimed at facilitating the process of traveling to Iran of foreign nationals as well as promotion of tourism industry in the country.

In addition to the Tabriz airport, seven-day visas are being currently issued at the major cities of Tehran, Shiraz and Mashhad.

The plan will be implemented in several other airports, including that of the ancient city of Isfahan, central Iran, in the near future.