December 2005

UK denies toughening visa regime for Pakistan

Director of UK visa and consular services in Pakistan Alex Pond denied that the UK had toughened visa regulations for Pakistanis after the 7/7 London bombings, which were blamed on terrorists having links with madarassas in Pakistan.

She stated that “the British High Commission in Pakistan was accepting visa applications from all categories of citizens” and that machine-readable passport is not necessary to obtain a UK visa.

Source: http://www.newkerala.com

US visa for Muslims as unachievable as a star

Sept, 11th of 2001 has made Americans reconsider and toughen visa politics regarding visitors from Muslim countries. The US borders were actually closed for Muslims.

Today we hear thousands of complaints from legitimate tourists and business travellers, who say that “it is practically impossible for Arab men to obtain US visas”.

www.startribune.com has released a story of Egyptian University professor who has been waiting for his US visa for 20 months. The author, Sharon Schmickle is trying to find the reasons for such inexcusable delays.

Source: http://www.startribune.com/stories/722/5789591.html

Thai-Russian Visa free tourism agreement ratified

Thailand has ratified a draft visa exemption accord with Russia. This accord is believed to help promote tourism, trade and communication between the two countries. It will be signed within the framework of the ASEAN-Russia summit on December 13th.

According to the pact Thais and Russians with valid travel documents will be allowed to stay in each other’s country for up to 30 days.

Statistics of the Tourism Authority of Thailand shows, that the number of Russian tourists visiting Thailand is growing constantly and it is expected to rise further during the coming year.

Sources: http://news.xinhuanet.com , http://etna.mcot.net

Russia loses foreign tourists due to visa politics

Russian tour operators appealed to the government on the question of ease of visa regime and suggested to invest more in promoting the country. They state the fact, that there is a steady decline in the number of foreign tourists.

The head of the Federal Tourism Agency, Vladimir Strzhalkovsky, recently told the MPs that the number of foreign tourists has fell by 70% over the last 10 years. Today the world’s biggest country hosts only 1% of all tourists in the world.

The main reasons for the decline are difficulties in getting a Russian tourist visa and a lack of official promotional campaign. With the abolition of visa regime by its neighbours Russia has lost 50 to 60% of its tourists.

What is keeping the new Russian authorities from understanding the problem is unclear. They approve the construction of another 5 star hotel, when all that is needed is eased visa restrictions and quality 3 star hotels in the main tourist destinations.

It seems that there are some much needed changes in Russian visa politics, hopefully progress can be made with the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Sources: http://www.mosnews.com , http://english.mn.ru