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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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The removal of the entry visa to Canada for Grenadian citizens is still open for review, according to Minister of State of Foreign Affairs in the North American country, Peter Kent. He made the disclosure when he met with Grenada’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Peter David during a bilateral meeting on the margins of the 65th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York.

“We are aware of the visa issue and let me state that this has nothing to do with the relations between both countries but rather with individuals who took advantage of the economic citizenship program,” said Minister Kent, promising to follow up on the progress of the review.

The economic citizenship program was introduced by Grenada in October 1997 to supplement government revenues. It allowed investors to acquire a legal second passport for a specified minimum investment in the local economy. However, the system came under fire from critics who said it allowed criminals to effectively adopt new legal identities for a price. It was suspended indefinitely in 2001, with the Finance Minister at the time, Anthony Boatswain, saying it was too risky in the wake of the terrorist attacks in the United States. But in December of that year, Canada imposed the visa restrictions on citizens from Grenada, Dominica, Kiribati, Nauru, Tuvalu and Vanuatu, all of which sold passports. Before then, anybody holding a passport from one of those countries could have entered Canada without a visitor’s visa.

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Startling accusations Wednesday that GOP gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman had an illegal immigrant as her housekeeper for nine years have all the elements of a classic late-campaign “October surprise” – a sobbing victim, a media-savvy attorney, charges of hypocrisy and dirty tricks.

The charges sent Whitman’s campaign team into overdrive as it worked nonstop to limit the political damage from the allegations, which the former eBay CEO dismissed as lies and partisan attacks.

The latest chapter in California’s gubernatorial race unfolded live on TMZ.com, just hours after Whitman finished her first televised debate with her November opponent, Democratic Attorney General Jerry Brown, a debate in which she argued that California employers must be held accountable for hiring undocumented workers.

Read more…

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The Fiji Immigration Department approved 857 applications for dual citizenship between July 2009 and July this year. The dual citizenship status was granted under the Citizenship Decree which came into effect in April 2009.

Government says many of those that have been granted dual citizenship have invested in property, farming and tourism developments. The Department received a total of 1054 citizenship applications between July 2009 to July 2010.

The Decree allows for any child, spouse and former Fiji citizen to apply for citizenship by registration and also allows foreigners who are working, investing or residing in Fiji for the last ten years to apply for Fiji citizenship by naturalization. Government says the concept was introduced to allow those that have left Fiji to return and re-invest in the country.

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The Iraqi government is to abolish entry visa fees for Iranian visitors, as part of efforts to boost tourism. The general policy of the country currently aims at promoting tourism through providing facilities for visitors to Iraq such as abolishing entry visa fees,” Ali al-Alaq, secretary general of the Iraqi cabinet.

Visa fees for Iranians currently range from 10-20 dollars per person. The Iraqi government has been courting tourists for a number of years now, amid a decline in sectarian violence.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of Iranians take part in the various Shiite rituals across Iraq.