A Russian visa center will open in Helsinki in the coming days and there will be three more – in Turku, Lappeenranta and Mariehamn - all scheduled to open next month.
The centers will make things easier for Finns applying for Russian visas. But they will only accept documents, while decision-making on visas will remain the prerogative of diplomatic missions.
The Executive Yuan passed a draft amendment Thursday that simplifies the process for foreigners seeking residency in Taiwan in an attempt to attract foreign talent into the country. A new article was added that stipulates that if a foreigner enters Taiwan on a "four-in-one" employment pass, which incorporates a visa, work permit, Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) and re-entry permit, he or she will not be required to apply for an ARC again with the National Immigration Agency (NIA) upon arrival in Taiwan.
The ARC is the identification card issued to foreign residents in Taiwan. Under current regulations, a foreign professional who wishes to work in Taiwan has to apply for a work permit from the Council of Labor Affairs and a resident visa from a Taiwan embassy or representative office overseas before applying for an ARC from the NIA within 15 days of arrival in the country.
As Taiwan is expected to enter a zero population growth era from 2022, an important issue for the government to consider when formulating its immigration policy in the future is how it can attract foreign talent to make up for a shortage of homegrown talent resulting from a decline in the country's fertility rate, said Premier Wu Den-yih.
Wu said the most important job for the government at present is to allow more non-resident foreigners to enter the country, relax restrictions on the residence rights of overseas-born children of Taiwanese nationals, simplify the process for foreigners applying for residency, and strengthen the management of international marriage brokers.
According to the draft amendment, overseas-born children of Taiwanese nationals can now apply for residence or settlement in Taiwan at any age. Previous regulations stipulated that only those over the age of 20 are eligible to file for application.
A Redwood City, Calif., man was sentenced Wednesday to three years in prison and three years of supervised release following his conviction by a federal jury for conspiracy, impersonating a federal officer and attempted extortion.
Frank Salvador Solorza's sentencing came after a jury found him guilty of attempting to extort money from six individuals while posing as a federal immigration officer. The case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). The jury also found that the 46-year-old had engaged in a conspiracy with others to commit these crimes.
Evidence at trial showed Solorza conspired with others to send letters purporting to be from a government immigration agency. The letters were directed to six individuals. The letters demanded money -- $50,000 in total -- to clear up the immigration status of each individual. The letters threatened jail and deportation of each individual if the money was not paid.
After receiving the letters, the victims contacted ICE HSI, which immediately opened an investigation. The evidence at trial showed the defendant and others also called the individuals after delivery of the letters and continued to claim to be officials from a government immigration agency and to demand money. During these calls, the defendant and others designated a time and location for the victims to pay the money. The defendant was arrested by HSI agents when he arrived at the designated location at the designated time and attempted to collect the money. When arrested, the defendant was wearing a clown suit as a disguise and riding a child's bicycle.
"The prison term in this case is absolutely appropriate," said Shane Folden, special agent in charge for ICE HSI in San Francisco. "Regrettably, schemes like this involving the impersonation of federal officers potentially undermine the public's confidence in their government and law enforcement. HSI will continue to aggressively pursue those who exploit innocent individuals for their own enrichment."
Solorza was originally indicted by a federal grand jury in February 2009. In October 2009, the grand jury returned a superseding indictment accusing him of one count of conspiracy, two counts of impersonating a federal officer, and two counts of attempted extortion by a federal official.
Elvira Sosa left Mexico for the United States more than 30 years ago, but last year was the first time she'd been counted as part of the U.S. Census.
Sosa was among thousands of illegal immigrants in Los Angeles who filled out a census form last year, and city officials said the response, especially among Latinos, might have saved the area money and congressional representation.
The increased count was purposeful: A Census Bureau outreach program urged undocumented workers to fill out the census and assured them that nothing on the form could be used against them.
The program included Spanish call centers that would field questions about the census, plus billboards, bus advertisements and fliers with information. Celebrities publicized the census, too.
The response: The 2010 census showed that the numbers of Latinos living in this country increased by 43%, from 35 million to more than 50 million, during the past 10 years.
It’s an age where almost every country is tightening its borders and increasing security in order to keep out unwanted elements and terrorist activities – after the recent spate of destruction on a mass scale, many more visa restrictions are in place. So if you’ve secured a visa to the USA as a tourist, a student, a non-immigrant worker, or in any other non-immigrant category, you must be careful not to abuse the privileges you’ve been given. There are consequences to overstaying your visa, and they’re harsh and could have a severe effect on the rest of your life; so before you’re trapped by visa regulations because of your lack of awareness or your overconfidence, here’s how you can set out to minimize your US visa troubles.
• Know the visa rules of the country you’re traveling to – the rules are different for each country and each type of visa. If you’re not sure, ask a few people who are knowledgeable about these issues, like visa lawyers or others who are professionally linked to immigration offices.
• Do not overstay your visa by even a few hours – you may assume that it’s ok, but it’s actually not. You will have to face severe consequences by overstaying your visa, for whatever reason.
• If you need to overstay your visa or desire a change in the status of your application, file for an extension well in advance. Even if your application is pending, you could have to leave the US for your home country and return when your visa has been approved. Check with an experienced visa lawyer about the rules regarding extension of stay and change in status of visa.
• If you have overstayed your visa for any period of time, you could not be allowed back into the country for as many as 10 years. Check with your visa lawyer to see what consequences you could be facing and how to negate them if you’ve overstayed your visa.
• If you overstay your visa, your application may not be considered favorably even if you apply for a visa after serving your three or ten year ban.
• Don’t violate the terms of your visa – if you are not permitted to work, then don’t do so; if you are not permitted to study, then don’t do so – violating the terms of your visa too could get you deported and bring about a ban on future visa applications.
• Remember, even if you hold a valid visa, the country you are trying to visit could still refuse you right of entry at the immigration point if they find that your answers are not satisfactory. So know what you must do and say in order to honor your visa and be a respected guest in the USA.
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This guest post is contributed by Chris Jacobson who writes on the topic of Criminal Justice Degrees . Chris can be reached at his email id: chris.jacobson7-AT-gmail-Dot-com
