Visa News

New Visa Requirements for Indians

Now Indians whishing to go on a trip to the Czech Republic will need an airport visa for transit. This measure is taken as a result of increased number of illegal migration. About 250 asylum requests from Indians have been registered in the Czech Republic in the past three months alone.

To stop the abuse of the airport transit area new transit visas will be required from Indian travellers starting with Tuesday.

The airport visa is now being applied in relation to India by Germany, Greece, France, Denmark, Spain and Poland. It is also needed by the citizens of Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Iraq, Ghana, Congo, Lebanon, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia and Syria when they travel to the Czech Republic.

Source: http://www.praguemonitor.com

EU Visas Will Relax for Russian Travellers

In spring 2006 Russia is to sign an agreement on simplified visa regulations with the EU. According to RIA Novosti this agreement is expected to come into force next autumn. Simplifications will in the first place apply to long-term visas for students, graduates, scientists and diplomats.

Regulations have already been eased for Italian and German visas, and now Russia seeks the opportunity for its citizens to travel in the EU visa-free.

Source: http://en.rian.ru/russia/20051122/42170646.html

New passports for Visa Waiver Travellers

If you are a citizen of one of 27 Visa Waiver Programme countries, and your passport was issued after October 26th this year, you must meet several new requirements of US embassy to travel to the USA.

Your passport should be machine-readable and must contain your digital photo. Passports issued after Oct 26th 2006 will also be asked to contain an integrated chip with information from the data page.

Countries issuing passports that do not meet VWP requirements will be removed from the programme and their citizens will have to obtain visas to travel to the US.

VWP travellers whose MRPs were issued before this date may continue to use their passports, for VWP travel, until expiry.

The Visa Waiver Program (VWP) enables nationals of certain countries to travel to the United States for tourism or business for stays of 90 days or less without obtaining a visa. The list of countries in the programme includes the UK, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway, Spain, Sweden, etc.

More information on VWP is available at http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/without/without_1990.html

Source: http://www.gulf-times.com

Joint visa for Thailand and Cambodia

Very soon you will be able to travel to Thailand and Cambodia on a single visa. Vimon Kidchob, director general of Thailand’s Department of International affairs stated that it will be possible in spring 2006.

During this week’s Acmecs summit representatives of Thailand, Burma, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam will sign a memorandum of understanding on a single tourist visa valid for both countries. Vimon explained that these measures aim “to boost tourism in the region”.

She also added that “details of visa fees and the synchronisation of the two countries’ independent databases of blacklisted foreigners had yet to be worked out.”

Sources:
http://goasia.about.com/b/a/192265.htm
http://203.150.224.53/2005/11/02/national/index.php?news=national_19040230.html
http://www.asianewsnet.net/level3_template4.php?l3sec=1&news_id=47660

Russia drops english translation for tourists

Travelling to Russia has always been a difficult thing to do, but now it just became harder. If you have already travelled to Russia on a tourist or business trip then you would know that the Russian authorities demand you fill out an immigration card. Usually people discover this when approaching the customs desk, with a mad flurry of pencil or pen sharing ensuing.

This confusion is only matched by the outbound journey, when said travellers realise that they were actually meant to keep one part of this document to enable them to leave the country.

Now nothing is new about that, except the Russian authorities have decided it was just too easy. Now they produce the immigration document in Russian language only! Imagine yourself on the plane, wondering how you can possibly fill in a document in cyrillic…

How did this lunacy come about? Well we’ve been reliably informed by our contacts that the development of the new immigration card can be traced back to recent Government Decree No. 413. I’ll refresh your memory, this is the one which does not specify language for the form but states that when a foreigner does not understand Russian, his card can be completed by somebody else (who is not specified). One can only imagine this would be the airline staff or other passengers, as there is little if no help in Moscow’s busy customs area.

This rule was apparently then interpreted by the joint order No. 97/88 of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Federal Security Service which
stated that the text of the card would be printed in Russian. The Federal Migration Service was given the unlucky task of implementing the new card and seems to be taking the brunt of the criticism.

However we are here to offer you what help we can. If you are travelling to Russia in the foreseeable future or know someone else who is – ask them to visit the link below and download a translation of the immigration card.

Russian Immigration Card – English

We’ll keep you informed about developments in this area and hopefully this card should soon be replaced. Good luck on your trip to Russia and as usual, if you want any advice on your visa or travel plans then contact our staff.

Fast Pakistan Visa Service Set Up in Britain

Emergency visa centres were set up at Heathrow, Birmingham and Manchester airports yesterday October, 9 for people travelling to Pakistan.

Within hours of the devastating earthquake in Pakistan, which measured 7.6 at the Richter scale, Pakistan High Commission London set up Temporary Visa Desks at Pakistan International Airways check-in desks of the main British airports to facilitate those British Pakistanis, who wanted to travel to Pakistan.

In order to facilitate emergency travel to Pakistan, Britons of Pakistan origin will also be able to get visas on arrival in Pakistan.

In addition to Earthquake Information Centre a dedicated Helpline has been set up on Sunday for providing information to British Pakistanis about their missing relatives back home. You can contact the High Commission on the telephone numbers which are 07946476616, 07765002332 and 020 7664 9200 which will try to get the relevant information as soon as possible.

Sources: The Guardian , Associated Press of Pakistan

EU-Russia summit on North Caucasus may relax visa travel.

Interfax reports that the social and economic development of the North Caucasus is to be discussed at the EU-Russia summit due to take place on October 4. They quote Anthony Brenton, the British Ambassador to Russia, at a press conference held at the Interfax central office last Thursday.
The ambassador hopes for active EU participation in social and economic development programs in the North Caucasus.
The summit will also consider a EU-Russia agreement on simpler visa regulations, the ambassador said. Consultations about the agreement are still in progress and everything is being done to prepare it in time for the summit, he said.
For more information on visas travel to Russia and how the summit results can affect UK personal or commercial travel contact our specialists.

Kuwait imposes new restrictions on visitation visas

The Arab Times Online reports that new regulations have come into effect, restricting visa entry into the country. Verbal instructions have been given to directors of all immigration departments not to issue visit visas to persons who were on a visit to Kuwait and have not completed six months outside the country. Instructions have also been given to reduce the period of extension of visit visas.

The story is taken from an article in the leading Kuwait newspaper, Al-Anba Daily, quoting a reliable Interior Ministry source. No reason has been given for the decision. Meanwhile, a senior official at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor said new rules and regulations will be laid down to convert commercial visit visas into work permits.

The official added the new regulations will be applicable only to some specific professions on condition the applicants are holders of university degrees. The same official pointed out this condition may not include some professions such as nursing, social workers at special needs institutes, fishing and construction.

For more information on visas travel to Kuwait and how these changes can affect UK personal or commercial travel contact our specialists.

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

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