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…
Immigration Lawyer Blog
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,…
UAE Work permits will be processed online
The UAE’s Ministry of Labor announced plans to use online filing system to speed up the application process for work permits across the country. In the existing system, a representative from the company must go to the ministry’s physical location to apply for a work permit, a process that unnecessarily…
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…
UK Immigration Minister speaks on UK immigration policy changes
UK Immigration Minister Damian Green spoke recently at the Royal Commonwealth Society in London about immigration. The Immigration Minister said that the Government wishes to “maximize” the benefits of immigration. This means that the unsustainable levels of net migration seen in recent years must be brought down. He added that…
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…
New Zealand to open second Visa Facilitation Office in India
According to a New Zealand consulate general official, NZ is currently experiencing good growth in tourist numbers from India. The rise in Indian tourists is expected to be between 10 to 15 per cent by 2011. India is currently the tenth largest source market for NZ. As a direct effect…
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…