Kuwait and Saudi Arabia have signed yesterday an agreement allowing their nationals to use smart ID cards instead of passports to cross the joint borders. The deal will take force only one month after being signed by Kuwaiti Minister of Interior Lt-Gen (rtd) Sheikh Jaber Al-Khaled Al-Sabah and Saudi Arabia’s…
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Singapore tops expat income
Singapore is home to the largest proportion of high-earning expatriates compared to 24 other countries and cities, a new global survey shows. Nearly half the number of expats – 45 per cent – living and working here are earning more than US$200,000 (S$265,000) annually, compared to the worldwide average of…
Collin Powell and Immigration Reform
On Sunday’s “Meet the Press”, former Secretary of State Colin Powell said, “illegal immigrants do essential work in the U.S. and that he has firsthand knowledge of that—because they fix his house.” Today, Colin Powell clarified his remarks by saying “I don’t hire illegal immigrants. On ‘Meet the Press’ yesterday,…
Korea Reaches an Agreement with Russia to Ease Immigration Restrictions
On Monday in St. Petersburg Korea’s Finance Minister Yoon Jeung-hyun reached a temporary agreement with his Russian counterpart which will ease immigration restrictions on Korean entrepreneurs working in Russia. The agreement will reportedly shorten the number of days it takes for Russia to issue a working visa as well as…
Sarajevo confident of visa-free travel deal in December
Bosnia is hopeful the EU will take a decision this December to exempt Bosnian citizens from needing a visa to enter the EU, the country’s deputy foreign minister has said. Speaking at Georgetown University in Washington DC, on 17 September, Ana Trisic-Babic said that while the formal decision by the…
Visa exemptions make Hainan more accessible
The Southern Island province of Hainan is now the most accessible Island in China, thanks to new regulations introduced by the Chinese government. The newly introduced visa exemptions, will grant passport holders from 27 countries including Australia and New Zealand unparalleled access to Hainan. The first exemption is a ‘Free…
Ukraine approves visa-free regime with Israel
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has approved an agreement with the government of Israel on waiver of visa requirements for persons using the passport of citizen or official passports of Ukraine and Israel. Thus, this intergovernmental agreement, signed on July 21, took effect in Ukraine. The instrument stipulates that…
Russia-Norway Deal on visa-freedom to be signed in November
The Norwegian-Russian agreement on visa-free travel for people living in the border area will be signed when Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visits Oslo on November 2nd. Speaking at the joint press-conferance with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev in Murmansk today, Norway’s Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg confirmed that the deal will be…
Britain doles out most passports in EU
Britain is handing out passports to more foreign nationals than any other EU country. In one year, the number of citizenship applications rubber-stamped by the last government was almost a quarter of those issued across all 27 EU member states. From 2002 to 2008, the latest period for which full…
UAE to open embassy in Azerbaijan
The UAE plans to open an embassy in Azerbaijan this year. The UAE is the first country that recognized Azerbaijan’s independence in 1991. Diplomatic ties between the two countries were established in 1992. Azerbaijan opened an embassy in Abu Dhabi in 2001 and a consulate in Dubai in 2006.