Archive for the ‘Expats’ Category

Sham ‘Proposal’ not the way to a US visa

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Sandra Bullock's (right) 'Proposal' to Ryan Reynolds (left) to secure US visa

Sandra Bullock's (right) 'Proposal' to Ryan Reynolds (left) to secure US visa

Want to know how NOT to get a US work visa? Then watch The Proposal, a new rom-com starring Sandra Bullock, just out in cinemas worldwide.

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How a work visa can boost your brainpower

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A work visa can boost your brainpower

A work visa can boost your brainpower

Don’t just take Global Visas’ word for it that living and working abroad is better for your mental health. A research project has proved there is actually a proven link between improved creativity and living abroad.

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Top 10 Tips To Getting A Business Visa

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We at Global Visas offer you some handy hints as to how to most efficiently secure your all important work visa:

1.  Patience is paramount in the visa process.
We all know someone who thinks the rules don’t apply to them.  But Immigration laws apply to everyone equally and the process takes time. In only very exceptional cases, fast tracking visas is possible,  but in most cases, the visa process must run its set course. Make sure you plan well head, allowing plenty of time for the visa(s) to be granted.

2.  Don’t book a flight until the visa has been issued.
This may sound like obvious advice, but even the most straightforward cases can be delayed.  Recently we had a client who booked a flight thinking the case visa would be issued in ample time. Unfortunately the employee’s passport was expiring within six months and this prevented a visa being granted.  The visa would have taken 24 hours to secure. His passport took six weeks to renew.

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British expats in Spain….

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linekersWith the property industry in Spain facing a downturn, one British expat has come up with a novel way to off-load his property just outside Benidorm and move to the USA.

Wayne Connell, owner of an eight-bedroom villa, a wild west theme park and a Harley Davidson, that he values at £5 million, is selling raffle tickets at £25 a pop – the winning ticket takes the lot.

“All the winner will need is a price of a ticket and airfare to get here,” Connell said.

A maximum of 200,000 tickets will be sold he says. If he sells less than 175,000 tickets the winner will receive the cash, he says.

Developers have offered to buy the land, but he wouldn’t get “full value” and he doesn’t want to see the business he built over 10 years “reduced to rubble,” he says.

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Voting restrictions on Canadian Ex-Pats

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You got our vote!

You got our vote!

Unfair voter registration laws are punishing expat workers in locations like London, New York and Hong Kong.

Simply put, if you’re Canadian and are working abroad more than five years you can’t vote. Those away less than five years can – but you must declare your intention to return to the homeland, and that could cost you dearly in taxes.

Long-term assignments overseas can mean lower taxes than in Canada but the cost of living in places like Hong Kong or London is considerably higher than in Canadian cities.

If you want to vote you run the risk of high taxes and high living costs.

David Armitage, a governor of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong said, “I would like Revenue Canada to come out and say Canadians living abroad can register to vote without having it impact their tax status”.

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