Immigration Lawyer Blog

Great article by our Law Clerk, Andrew Desposito about Arizona Style Immigration movement. An immigrant-rights group has released a report predicting that 25 states may try next year to pass anti-illegal-immigration laws similar to Arizona's controversial legislation.

The number of states considering legislation modeled after SB1070, the bill that Arizona GOP Gov. Jan Brewer signed into law this spring, is apparently growing: Earlier, pro-enforcement groups said 22 states were considering the bill, the Washington Independent's Elise Foley notes.

The new efforts are going forward even after a federal judge ruled key parts of the Arizona law unconstitutional and enjoined its enforcement in Arizona in July. That decision is now under appeal before the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court.

Georgia, Mississippi, Oklahoma and South Carolina are most likely to pass a similar law next year, the new report says. Tennessee, Utah, Florida, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Texas, Arkansas, Indiana, Colorado, Virginia, Minnesota, Missouri, Idaho and Kansas made the report's "maybe" list. In Maryland, Nevada, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Michigan, Ohio and Rhode Island, the legislation is seen as less likely to pass.

The report notes that from 2006 to 2008, municipalities passed a host of local laws and statutes cracking down on employers hiring illegal immigrants.
This next wave of legislation, the report says, will be aimed at getting local law enforcement to check immigration status in routine police stops, as SB1070 mandates.

Such a trend only goes to show how reactionary immigration views have become since Arizona passed SB1070. Because there has been so much talk about how the Federal government has not done enough to prevent illegal immigrants from coming to the U.S., more and more people in other states are identifying with Arizona and its current attempt to curtail illegal immigration through their state legislatures. As evidenced above, more states look to address the issue in the coming year.

Lawmakers may be influenced by how the Ninth Circuit rules on SB1070, and how the Supreme Court rules on the state's 2007 employer-sanction law passed. Finances may also influence local politicians' decisions, as more immigration-related arrests and court battles end up costing cities and counties that adopt such rules.

One industry stands to benefit from such laws. In Arizona's case, the private prison industry helped guide the process that made SB1070 law and even gave the legislation its name while working with legislators, NPR reports. Thirty of the cosponsors to SB1070 later received money from the private prison industry or its lobbyists. With certain lobbyists behind the push for such a law, it is a concern that not only those who hold conservative views on immigration would be behind passing such a law, but also those who stand to benefit financially as well.

Of course, if more people voice their concerns over such laws in the states considering such an anti-immigration law, then perhaps there will be more discussion in the Federal government for what it will do to prevent states from entering the area of regulating immigration.

Moscow is hoping for the speedier signing of a border deal with Poland on simpler border passage for citizens of the neighboring Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.

The issue is among the highlights during Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s current visit to Warsaw. European laws allow visa-free travel for people living within 30 km from the EU border.

Mr. Lavrov and his Polish counterpart Radoslaw Sikorski are considering expanding the future agreement to include the whole of the Kaliningrad region and the adjoining Polish provinces

Taiwan moved another step closer to obtaining visa exemption treatment from Schengen countries after the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) passed a visa liberalization motion for Taiwan yesterday, sending the proposal to a vote at the parliament’s plenary session late next month.

James Lee, Director-general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, said progress in the review of the proposal was going according to plan and the ministry remained cautiously optimistic about securing the privilege by the end of this year.

The European Parliament said in a press release that the LIBE had nearly unanimously adopted the proposal, with only one vote against, in favor of placing Taiwan on the list of countries exempt from EU visa controls. “The liberalization of visas for Taiwan will enable trade ties to develop,” rapporteur Agustin Diaz de Mera, a member of the European Parliament, said in the press release.

Diaz de Mera added that the EU had “already granted this exemption to other countries and entities in the same geographical area and at a similar level of economic development, such as Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, South Korea and Singapore,” the press release said.

If parliament passes the proposal, it will proceed to the Justice and Home Affairs Council of the Council of the EU for approval, expected in early December, the ministry said. Taiwan does not require visas for nationals from most EU member states, with the exception of Cyprus, Romania and Bulgaria. The ministry said that under the principle of reciprocity, Taiwan would add the three countries to its exemption list by the end of this year if Taiwan were granted visa exemption for Schengen nations.

Mauritius and Switzerland on Wednesday signed an agreement on short-stay visa waiver under which Mauritians could stay in the European country without visa for a maximum of three months in a six-month period.

Mauritius and the European Community (EC) signed a similar agreement on 28 May, 2009, allowing Mauritians to enter and stay without visa in the territory of the European Union (EU) member States within the Schengen Area for the same period.

Mauritian Secretary for Foreign Affairs Anun Neewoor, said that under the combined effect of both agreements Mauritians could travel without a visa to the 25 EU member States and Switzerland and stay for a maximum period of three months with multiple-entry facilities within a six-month period.

The Swedish National Migration Board will allow visiting students to apply online for their entry visas and residence permits, as well as pay their fees on its website. The goal of the move is to offer better service, as well as reduce the waiting time to process applications. The service will be initially introduced on a small scale, then gradually be introduced to Swedish embassies and consulates.

Two groups of applicants can now make use of the electronic services. Those who do not need an entry visa to visit Sweden can apply for a residence permit for visiting students on the agency's website. The application will then be processed in Sweden and the permit issued by the embassy or consulate indicated by the applicant.

For Chinese residents, those who must apply for a visa for any kind of visit to Sweden, or a residence permit for visiting students can do so online for applications handled by the Swedish embassy in Beijing.

Applicants can submit all their information online and pay the application fee electronically before the mandatory embassy visit, making the application process more efficient.The Swedish consulate in Shanghai will also offer these services next month. They will be rolled out at other Swedish missions next year.

According to the agency, in 2009, Sweden's embassy and consulate received nearly 2,500 applications for visiting student permits out of about 16,900 in various other countries around the world.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced it has begun issuing a redesigned, more secure Certificate of Naturalization (Form N-550) as part of its ongoing efforts to enhance the integrity of the immigration system. The agency anticipates that over 600,000 new citizens will receive the enhanced certificate over the next year.

The British High Commission in Nigeria said yesterday that it issued about 100,000 visas to Nigerians wishing to travel to the United Kingdom, out of the 170,000 that applied.

The commission stated this in a statement signed by its press secretary, Hooman Nouruzi in Abuja. The statement said: “The British High Commission would like to note that the UK is committed to providing a top class visa service. The UK Border Agency works to strict customer service standards which have been maintained during a busy summer in Nigeria that has seen demand exceed expectations.” “Last year we received over 170,000 visa applications from Nigerians wishing to travel to the UK, of which approximately 100,000 were successful.”

In an attempt to prevent foreigners from getting non-technical jobs, the government has made it clear that citizens of other countries will be taken only for highly-skilled assignments in India and should draw an annual salary of over USD 25,000.

In an order, the Home Ministry nullified a Labour Ministry circular which allows one percent foreigners among the total work force in any project with a minimum of five and maximum of 20 people.

"An employment visa is granted to a foreigner if the applicant is a highly skilled and/or qualified professional, who is being engaged or appointed by a company/organization/industry/undertaking in India on contract or employment basis," according to the Home Ministry guidelines. Besides, the ministry made it clear that employment visa shall not be granted for jobs for which qualified Indian are available and also for routine, ordinary or secretarial/clerical jobs.

"The foreign national being sponsored for an employment visa in any sector should draw a salary in excess of USD 25,000 per annum," it says.

However, this condition of annual floor limit on income will not apply to ethnic cooks, language teachers (other than English), staff working for the Embassy/High Commission concerned in India.

The Labour Ministry had ordered that visa applications could be cleared by the Indian missions abroad at their level if the foreign national is skilled and qualified professional, technical experts, senior executives or in managerial positions and those kinds of skills which are not available in India.

The EU will decide whether to scrap visa requirements for Bosnian and Albanian citizens on November 8th, Sarajevo-based daily Nezavisne Novine reported on Monday (October 18th) ,quoting diplomatic sources in Brussels. The source also said that visas will be lifted by the end of the year.

Several countries -- including France and Germany -- reportedly have requested additional security guarantees in order to back visa-free regimes for BiH and Albania. On October 7th, the European Parliament green-lighted lifting visa requirements for both countries. The final decision is up to the Council of Ministers.

Tourism in Russia has seen rapid growth since the late Soviet times, first inner tourism and then international tourism as well. Rich cultural heritage and great natural variety place Russia among the most popular tourist destinations in the world. The country contains 23 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, while many more are on UNESCO's tentative lists. Major tourist routes in Russia include a travel around the Golden Ring of ancient cities, cruises on the big rivers like Volga, and long journeys on the famous Trans-Siberian Railway. Diverse regions and ethnic cultures of Russia offer many different food and souvenirs, and show a great variety of traditions, like Russian banya, Tatar Sabantuy, or Siberian shamanist rituals.Despite being home to some of the world's great attractions - from Red Square and the Kremlin in Moscow to the famed Hermitage museum in Saint Petersburg - Russia has struggled to attract tourists.

The major hurdle towards attracting less tourism is it is epicenter of some of the most expensive hotels in the world, inadequate tourism infrastructure, a reputation for surly service and bureaucratic headaches for visitors and the absence of English. To tackle this, the Russian government is hoping to change all that and is planning to launch an ambitious programm to make the country a tourist paradise by 2016 and thrust it into the ranks of major tourism destinations. The deputy minister for tourism and sport, Nadezhda Nazina said "We are going to do everything possible so that a foreign visitor feels comfortable in Russia."

The Russian government will soon be considering a 352-billion-ruble (11.7-billion-dollar, 8.5-billion-euro) plan to improve infrastructure, train specialists and launch a major advertising campaign, she said. If the plan is successful "in five years up to 40 million foreign tourists could visit Russia every year," Nazina said.

Russia last year attracted only 2.3 million foreign visitors, according to the federal tourism agency, placing it far below the top destinations for international tourists. The top two destinations, France and the United States, attracted 74 million and 55 million visitors respectively in 2009, according to the World Tourism Organization. To reach its target, Russia would need to attract about as many tourists every year as Italy, which last year hosted 43 million foreign visitors.

Industry experts in Russia said they would love to see the plan succeed but were highly skeptical. The figure of 40 million tourists "is a prediction that is in the realm of science fiction," said Maya Lomidze, the executive director of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia.

"Too many conditions would have to be met for this plan to be realized. The main necessity is that we have hotels at affordable prices. Russia is a very expensive country," she said.

According to a recent study by travel consultancy the Hogg Robinson Group, the average price of a hotel room in Moscow is 402 dollars (288 euros), the most expensive in the world. In Paris the average price was 318 dollars (227 euros) and in New York 297 dollars (213 euros).

"In Moscow there are almost no economy-class hotels or they are very bad. The prices are exorbitant," said Irina Tyurina, the spokeswoman for the Russian Tourism Industry Union.She said Moscow and Russia's Tsarist-era capital Saint Petersburg, famed for their luxury hotels, continue to host most visitors to Russia, accounting for 95-98 percent of foreign guests.

The next most-popular destinations are the so-called Golden Ring of ancient cities near Moscow including Vladimir and Rostov, the Kamchatka peninsula in Russia's Far East and the Lake Baikal region in Siberia. Industry experts said Russia will also have to overcome the bureaucratic red-tape that is the bane of visits to the country.

Foreign visitors are not only required to indicate the cities they plan to visit when applying for a Russian visa, they are also required to register with local migration authorities every time they visit a new city, a process Tyurina described as "humiliating." Russia is also country "that has not yet adapted to the needs of foreign tourists," Lomidze said. For example, there are no signs in English in the Moscow Metro except for small plans posted in the underground transportation network.

Immigration New Zealand has begun trials of biometric technology that uses facial recognition to verify the identity of people coming through New Zealand customs.The trialled technology from biometrics technology firm Daon takes a photo of the person applying for a visa, and then uses this photo to verify the identity of the applicant when they attempt to gain entry to the country.

Over the next few years plans to use biometrics to confirm the identity of visa applicants and travelers at the border. Any technologies adopted will have substantial privacy safeguards, in accordance with New Zealand privacy laws. The trial is not currently being deployed in regular border control operations and a decision on whether the technology will be employed by Immigration New Zealand is not expected to be made for at least 12 months, the department said.

"The evaluation is a short-term trial that is not being deployed operationally," Immigration New Zealand said. "It is separate from the Immigration Global Management System (IGMS) replacement of the current Application Management System (AMS). IGMS, once approved, will provide future operational identity management capabilities for INZ."

According to a new study by the Conference Board of Canada (CBC), immigrants can help boost innovation in Canada, which is currently lagging behind other developed nations.

"Immigrants tend to be motivated individuals willing to take risks in search of greater opportunities, which should predispose them to be innovative," said Diana MacKay, Director, Education and Health. "At every level we examined—individual, organizational, national and global—immigrants were associated with increased innovation in Canada."The CBC says that Canada is consistently ranked 14 out of 17 industrialized nations in its capacity to innovate. In it's report, Immigrants as Innovators: Boosting Canada's Global Competitiveness, the CBC used various criteria to show that countries benefit by encouraging immigration.

The report found that at least 35 percent of Canada Research Chairs are foreign-born, even though immigrants only make up one-fifth of the population. In addition, immigrants win proportionally more literary and performing arts awards in Canada than native born Canadians.

Immigration also leads to an increase in trade between Canada and the immigrants' countries of origin. According to the CBC report, a one percent point increase in the number of immigrants to Canada can increase the value of imports into Canada by as much as 0.21 percent and raise the value of exports by 0.11 percent.

Foreign direct investment in Canada is also greater from countries who are well-represented in Canada's immigrant population, according to data compiled by the CBC from Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada.

A high court challenge is likely to cause problems for the UK's plans to implement a cap on immigration into the country.

The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants and a number of businesses that depend on skilled immigration to deal with skill shortages have brought a judicial review of the government's temporary cap on immigration. The cap was imposed on 28 June 2010.The JCWI says that the cap is unlawful because ministers did not seek proper parliamentary approval before introducing the immigration cap. If the immigration cap was debated in Parliament beforehand there would have been an opportunity for MPs to consider in detail what would be the appropriate limit on skilled and highly skilled visas.

According to the Government, the temporary immigration cap was implemented to prevent a large influx of Tier 1 (highly skilled migration) and Tier 2 (skilled migration) visa applications from migrants originating from outside the European Union and the European Economic Area. The temporary immigration cap reduces overall skilled immigration by a relatively modest five percent. The surge is expected because the Government plans to implement a permanent cap on immigration in April next year.

However, the Government is facing criticism as the immigration cap is damaging to UK business and so to the UK's global competitiveness. Startup companies, major research positions, and other highly skilled endeavors are well-represented by foreign-born members of society in many industrialized nations. The immigration cap has so far affected Tier 2 visa applications more than Tier 1 visa applications. Some businesses have been left in a situation where they are unable to sponsor anyone at all on a Tier 2 visa. Liberal Democrat business secretary Vince Cable complained publicly that the temporary cap was damaging British industry.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk backed on Thursday Bulgaria's bid to join the European visa-free Schengen travel zone in 2011. "Bulgaria is on a fast track to join Schengen and Poland will help it in that direction.

Tusk also praised the government's "steadfast efforts against corruption and organized crime."
Borisov, on his part, thanked Tusk for the support, highlighting its importance in the light of Poland's upcoming EU presidency in the second half of 2011.

Bulgaria is seeking to join the Schengen zone in March 2011 but is still awaiting the European Union's final greenlight. The two premiers of the Bulgaria and Poland also discussed on the issues pertaining to economic crisis, gas deliveries and transportation links too.

Iraq's ambassador to Afghanistan celebrated the opening its new embassy Wednesday in Kabul, saying it will strengthen diplomatic relations between the two countries that date to the 1930s and assist Afghans who want to visit holy sites in Iraq.

"Iraqis and Afghans are almost brothers," Ambassador Qais Subhi al-Yacoubi said at the opening. "Whenever I go on the street, people know that I'm Iraqi. Everyone welcomes me so I never feel that I am here as a guest. I am among my brothers and my friends. The relationship is not only Iraqi-Afghani, it is also Arab-Afghani and Islamic-Islamic and before everything else, we are Muslim.

The Afghan government has said it also has plans to re-open its embassy in Baghdad, as it tries to expand and deepen its links to the Muslim world. Iraq broke relations after the Taliban seized Kabul in 1996, but has had relations with the current government of Afghanistan for years.

The new Iraqi embassy in Kabul eventually will have a consular section to assist Afghans who want to visit Iraq, which is home to religious shrines important to Shiite Muslims around the world.

"We have thousands and thousands of Afghans who want to go to Iraq," he said. "Iraq is full of holy shrines from north to south. ... Our consular section will facilitate that. It will take some time, but we are working quickly."

Many Muslims, including Afghans, visit Iraq during Ashoura, the yearly mourning period in which Shiites remember the seventh century death of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson, Imam Hussein, in a battle in the central city of Karbala.

Germany is monitoring Bulgaria’s effort to fight crime and corruption and supports its bid to join the 25-nation Schengen Zone that allows passport-free travel in most of the European Union, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said. The German premier arrived at the Bulgarian capital Sofia today to discuss bilateral projects and Bulgaria’s plan to become a Schengen member, along with neighboring Romania, in March 2011.

“We will evaluate the readiness of each country to join the Schengen Zone depending on how well it has covered the list of criteria,” Merkel told reporters. “Germany supports Bulgaria’s efforts to join the Schengen Zone.”

The two Black Sea countries, which entered the EU in 2007, would follow eight other former communist countries that became Schengen members on Dec. 18, 2007, as the EU expands its influence east and gives its newest members increased rights within the EU.

The European Commission, the EU’s Brussels-based executive arm, is expected to assess in November whether Bulgaria and Romania are ready to take the Schengen step in the planned timeframe, Merkel said.

The two newest EU states are set to receive 45 billion euros ($60 billion) of EU aid in part to improve infrastructure to EU levels, including security systems. The most important issue is to ensure the supremacy of law, so that people outside the Schengen area cannot obtain Schengen zone visas through corruption.

The Green MEP said she expected the European Commission, EC, to open Kosovo’s path towards the White Schengen list, which allows citizens of a country to travel across most of the European Union without a visa, in the ‘next couple of weeks’.

The news follows the European Parliament’s approval last week of plans for Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina to join the list from January. The Green MEP said she expected the European Commission, EC, to open Kosovo’s path towards the White Schengen list, which allows citizens of a country to travel across most of the European Union without a visa, in the ‘next couple of weeks’.

If the Council of the European Union agrees to extend visa liberalization to the two Balkan states in November, Kosovars will be the only citizens of the region requiring visas to travel to the EU. The Austrian politician told Balkan Insight that she agreed with some Kosovars’ fears that such a step would transform Kosovo into a ‘ghetto’. Even those countries that don’t recognize Kosovo have said that Kosovo needs to be included in visa liberalization.

But she added that Kosovo’s image as a country of ‘criminals and corruption’ among certain member states, and increasing scepticism voiced by some major European powers, such as France, over extending visa liberalization, present obstacles on the road to visa liberalization for the world’s youngest state. Officials in Paris have expressed doubt in recent weeks about extending visa liberalization to Albania and Bosnia, which have now fulfilled the technical criteria to become members of the White Schengen List, according to the EC.

The Commission wants a measure [visa liberalization] but will not be dealing with its negative impacts,” an unnamed high-level French diplomat told Le Monde earlier this month. French State Secretary for European Affairs Pierre Lellouche called the visa policy a “matter of security” in a speech to the French parliament on September 29. He said that France would request “security guarantees” from Albania and Bosnia before it will support visa liberalization.

Visa liberalisation for Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia was granted in January this year and led to a spike in asylum claims in Belgium filed by citizens mainly from Serbia and Macedonia. In recent weeks it has emerged that Sweden has become the latest destination for Serbians seeking asylum. According to local reports, of the 22,045 applicants that have sought asylum in Sweden this year, about 4,000 declared Serbian citizenship, compared with 421 in the same period last year.

We have witnessed stricter immigration rules to tackle the gross misuse of Visa system globally. There is confirmation that Hungary is tightening its immigration rules to deter foreigners from gaming the EU system. Non-EU citizens whom the authorities can prove married or got adopted for the sake of obtaining a residence permit will be forced to leave the country should lawmakers pass the bill which aims to bring Hungary in line with EU law.

Further, students who enroll in Hungarian higher education in order to gain free travel within the EU face tougher admission requirements, such as having to prove that they possess the language skills required to start their studies. In turn, Universities must inform the authorities about new foreign students within eight days and let them know if they break off their studies or fail to enroll by the deadline. Employers, including research institutes, will be fined if their non-EU employees fail to leave after their permits expire. If a foreigner violates Hungarian migration rules, they will be banned from all EU countries. Rules for refugee applicants will also be tightened. The authorities will have the right to send immigrants to their home country if their application is turned down once. Currently immigrants have a second chance to apply before being sent home.

The UK Border Agency has expanded its partnership working with local government by launching a new checking service for settlement applications.

The settlement checking service pilot builds on the success of the existing nationality checking service. If a migrant is applying for settlement (also known as 'indefinite leave to remain') using application form SET(M), they can now have their application checked by a local authority officer before it is sent to us.

Form SET(M) is for migrants who are applying for settlement as the husband, wife, civil partner, unmarried partner or same-sex partner of a British citizen or a person settled in the UK. Although the service will not offer immigration advice, it will benefit applicants by checking and returning their valuable documents. It will also reassure them that their application is complete and valid when it is sent to us, avoiding any unnecessary delay.

The settlement checking service will extend the service provisions offered by local government. The first local authorities to offer the service are Brent and Barnet, which launch today. Another 10 local authorities will join the pilot over the next 2 months:

* Cambridgeshire County Council
* Cardiff City Council
* Dudley Metropolitan Council
* Leeds City Council
* Liverpool City Council
* Manchester City Council
* Newcastle City Council
* Oxfordshire County Council
* South Lanarkshire County Council
* Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council

Applicants can already book appointments in Oxfordshire and Stockport, where the service will begin next week.

UK is getting lot more protests from various quarters. In a rare intervention, eight British Nobel Laureates, including Russian-born Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov who share this year’s Nobel Prize for Physics, have warned that the Government’s plans to put an annual cap on immigration from outside the European Union would deprive Britain of international scientific talent and “isolate” it from the “increasingly globalized world of research”.

Sir Harry Kroto, who got the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1996, cited the case of Prashant Jain, an Indian material scientist from the Florida State University, who was offered a fellowship by Cambridge University. But he was refused a visa because he was not able to secure enough points under the points-based immigration system to be eligible for a work permit. He is a researcher who is very clearly going places. It’s an amazing loss to the country. He will probably now stay here in the U.S. when he was quite keen to work in the U.K.. It is a very good example of the problems that immigration (policy) is causing in science. Dr. Jain (28) said he was very keen to work at Cambridge which he described as a “wonderful place” but said he now saw his future in America.

In a joint letter the Nobel Laureates said that Britain’s reputation as a global center of research excellence would be damaged if a rigid cap on immigration made it difficult for universities to recruit the best talent from abroad.

Pointing out that Nobel prize-winners in science such as Professor Venki Ramakrishnan had been “enriching and enhancing British science and society for decades”. They add to our store of knowledge, and inspire countless young researchers to follow in their footsteps. These benefits are jeopardized by the Government’s plan to cap migration to the U.K. It would damage our ability to recruit the brightest young talent, as well as distinguished scientists, into our universities and industries. The U.K. must not isolate itself from the increasingly globalized world of research — British science depends on it’’, the scientists added.

Signatories to the letters include Sir Martin Evans (Medicine, 2007), Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov (Physics, 2010) and Sir Tim Hunt and Sir Paul Nurse (Medicine 2001). Their intervention follows warning by leading British businesses and universities that the proposed cap, set to come into force next year, would make Britain less attractive besides affecting its relations with emerging economies such as India and China.

Barbados has officially opened a new consulate in Cuba. And Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Maxine McClean, is hailing the move. The opening of the Embassy in Cuba comes just over a year after Prime Minister David Thompson, during an official visit to that country in 2009, made the announcement of Barbados' intent to establish a diplomatic presence in Cuba.

The Embassy will be instrumental in the establishment of business contacts and the identification of emerging opportunities within Cuba for Barbados' services, trade and commercial sectors. The increasing consular needs of the growing number of Barbadian students in Cuba all provide strong rationale for the establishment of a resident Embassy in Cuba.

US plans to maintain a strong presence in the eastern part of the capital, despite moving bulk of services to Arnona neighborhood. After six years of construction, the American Consulate in Jerusalem will open its new facility for consular services on Rehov David Flusser in the southern Arnona neighborhood next Tuesday.

The office that previously dealt with consular services, located on Nablus Road in east Jerusalem, will remain open for consulate programs, along with the facility in west Jerusalem on Rehov Agron, and America House, a cultural outreach center in east Jerusalem.

“The [new] facility was designed to enhance the provision of consular services to American citizens and local residents,” a US Consulate representative said. Consular services include issuing passports and visas, and reporting deaths and births abroad. There are 80,000 registered American citizens living in Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, which makes the Jerusalem consulate one of the US’s busiest in the world. It maintains an “e-consulate” for Gaza residents, offering most services online.

In accordance with the US Department of State’s dedication to environmentally friendly buildings for its consulates, the new building features “green rooftops,” with plants on the roof that minimize storm water run-off and reduce the need for air conditioning and heating by providing additional insulation. Despite moving the bulk of services for citizens and noncitizens away from east Jerusalem, the consulate plans to maintain a strong presence in the eastern part of the capital.

Canada has begun the process of procuring millions of electronic passports and plans to start issuing them in 2012. Canada’s ePassport will contain a “proximity contactless chip” that can only be read if it’s held within 10 centimetres of a reader and the machine-readable zone on page two has been scanned first. The chip will have the holder’s name, sex and date and place of birth, along with a digital photo of the bearer’s face. To verify ones identity, customs officials will match the information on the chip with the printed information and picture in the passport.

A June report by Acuity Market Intelligence predicted that by 2014, Canada will be the world’s ninth-largest issuer of ePassports, behind India, the United States, China, Brazil, Britain, the Philippines, Japan and France. By that same year, the top-10 ePassport countries will be spending $2.7 billion to purchase 77 million documents annually, says the Acuity report. Between them, they’ll account for 59 per cent of the ePassport market.

At least 90 countries will be offering ePassports by the end of this year, including almost all European nations. That will grow to 104 countries by 2014.
“So it appears not to be just a request for a book. It seems to be more of an issuance capability as well,” Pattinson said. “But it’s not entirely defined yet.”

Some ePassports include additional biometric information, such as fingerprints or iris scans, which could raise privacy concerns.

But Passport Canada says the only biometric information on Canada’s ePassport will be a photo of the holder’s face. Everything else on the chip will be identical to the information visible to the naked eye on page two of printed passports.

The risk that hackers will be able to “skim” personal details from ePassports has receded as governments have beefed up security measures.

“There are no concerns, in my view, of skimming if it’s done correctly,” said Pattinson, who advised the U.S. State Department on how to protect personal information on ePassports.

While there were reports a few years ago of some ePassports being compromised or badly configured, “none of ours have been subject to any questions to date,” Pattinson said.

Passport Canada originally planned to introduce electronic passports next year, but that’s been pushed back to 2012, said a spokeswoman.

The agency is now in the process of determining what it will charge for ePassports and how long they’ll remain valid. An adult passport now costs $87 and is valid for five years.

Those fees will likely rise for ePassports, and validity could be extended to as much as 10 years.

More than 3600 people from 118 countries became citizens at 68 ceremonies across Australia as part of Australian Citizenship Day on 17 September 2010. Chris Bowen, Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, said that citizenship is a "bond which unites" all Australians.Australian Citizenship Day is a time for all Australians to take pride in their citizenship and reflect on the meaning of being a citizen of this great nation," he said.

He added: It is also a special day for our newest Australians to join the Australian community at ceremonies across the country. Becoming an Australian citizen is a step that shows commitment and loyalty to this country and the desire to share a common future.

The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) and local government councils hosted citizenship ceremonies in state and territory capital cities, major metropolitan centres and regional towns across Australia.

A new website in 11 different languages makes it easier for Canadian immigrants to find community service information.

The 'In my language', developed by the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI), which represents more than 200 settlement agencies in Ontario provides an electronic library of translated content which will assist newcomers in adapting to life in Canada.
In my language website is an excellent resource for newcomers to Ontario, said Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration, and Multiculturalism.

The website has received funds of $1.4 million from the Government of Canada. Newcomers now have a website where they can get the information they need in the language of their choice. "This multilingual website will give newcomers to Ontario a head start on accessing information on housing, health care, legal advice, community services, and language training across the province," said MP Paul Calandra. The website has content in the following languages: English, French, Chinese, Punjabi, Urdu, Spanish, Tagalog, Arabic, Gujarati, Tamil and Russian.

"Helping newcomers get settled is the key to their success," said MP Bob Dechert. "Settlement information needs to be accessible, and this initiative is a significant step in fulfilling that aim."

Besides immigrants, other users of the website include community organizations, schoolboards, police services, and the healthcare industry. The new website has multilingual information on housing, healthcare, employment, schooling and other important topics.

Government funding of the new website was made possible through the Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement (COIA), which was signed in 2005. Through this agreement, the Government of Canada is investing $428 million in Ontario for settlement services for immigrants.