Archive for the ‘Global Immigration’ Category

Over the course of time, and through the decades of the 20^th century the world and the objects that occupy it have changed drastically. The world today is a much different and far removed place to the one that stood before it 100 years ago.

From the beginning of the 1900’s the human race has been in a constant state of flux, as the industrial revolution kick-started the 1800’s, it was this century that we saw the most advancement in terms of technology and how we really live day-to-day. Buildings, communication, and my favourite food have all benefited from the ingenuity of the human race and innovations to make life easier, or more confusing depending on your age.

In this sense it was perhaps over the past 50 years and dating back to the first Pan American transatlantic flight in 1939 that the world became the connected place it is today. For this is when International immigration was truly born.

The ease in which it was now possible to move to another part of the world, was to a large extent thanks to this first flying of a Boeing 314.

Immigration necessitates a change for the better

A US visa has for so long been held in such high-regard by immigrants from all over the world. Over the last century and long before, most felt it an opportunity to be afforded a chance, where they could settle and be rewarded for hard-work.

Today we celebrate 3 immigrants who have lived over the past 100 years and who have used not just US immigration but who have also entered through UK immigration, as both a means to a better life or simply to necessitate a free life.

1) Albert Einstein

Germany>>Switzerland>>USA



An entry in such an article would have to consume several dozen pages to truly document what an impact this man had on the world and how without his idea’s we would probably be living considerably different existences today. Physicist, Philosopher and Author, Einstein is credited for his theories on special relativity and general relativity, winning the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921 for his ‘Services to Theoretical Physics’.

His theory on special relativity coined what is perhaps this century’s most famous equation E = mc² , this involved the complicated process of tiny amounts of mass being converted into larger amounts of energy and in no small part pre-dated what we now know as nuclear power.

Born to German parents in 1879 in the German Kingdom of Württemberg, Einstein denounced his German citizenship in 1896 and enrolled in a Physics program in Zurich, Switzerland. His most productive time was spent in Switzerland where he published literally hundreds of books and articles on subjects as far-reaching and diverse as Zionism, Black Holes and Cosmology. He immigrated to the United States at the end of his career and with his wife Elsa in 1933. He outlived his wife and died on 18 April 1955.

2) Charlie Chaplin

UK>>USA>>UK>>Switzerland


Charlie Chaplin is best known as the most famous movie star of the silent film era. Films such as The Immigrant and Kid Auto Races at Venice saw him play the role of the Tramp, perhaps his most well-known character.

Born Charles Spencer Chaplin in 1889, Chaplin first made a name for himself by using slapstick, mime and visual routines in silent films pre-dating World War 1. He later went on to produce and compose many of the films he starred in. This creative control was cemented in 1917 when Chaplin already living in the US signed a deal with First National to produce eight two reel films. Chaplin found himself in complete control of his own studio, although the brief was to deliver short comedies as he had done before, he ambitiously elaborated previous personal projects and made such feature length films as The Pilgrim and The Kid. Chaplin went on to be a co-founder of United Artists in 1919.

To say Charlie Chaplin lived a boring life would be mis-leading at best; he fathered no less than 10 children and married a total of 4 women, all at different times of course, controversially two of his wives became so at 16.

Never far from the spotlight, Charlie Chaplin was famously exiled from America during the McCarthy years, due in large part to his political views. At the time of the ban Charlie Chaplin, although still a British citizen had been living in the US for 40 years, and only learnt of the furore over his communist views after landing in England.

Public opinion had changed so much in the States Chaplin soon realised that it would be impossible to return and eventually settled in Switzerland, he only returned to the US once after this in 1972, when he was recognised for his talent and awarded a ‘Special Academy Award’ 5 years before his death in 1977.

3) Sigmund Freud

Austria>> UK

Freud was born in the Moravian town of Příbor in what is now the Czech Republic. Born Sigismund Schlomo Freud May 6, 1856, Freud was the eldest of 8 children; he did however have older siblings as his father Jakob had children from a previous marriage.

From an impoverished family his intellect was apparent from a very early age and his parents insisted that he should have the best education they could possibly afford, to the detriment of his younger siblings.

After studying at the University of Vienna, Freud went onto being credited by many as the founding father of Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis, his works on how the human mind is organised still stands today as being hugely influential as does his theory on how human behaviour results form this.

Famously coming up with the idea that all human actions are primarily motivated by sexual urges, Freud was at the time regarded by many as a radical thinker. He also had ground-breaking theories on the power of the sub-conscious mind and the role dreams played in warning the mind of dangers in the physical world.

Perhaps because of his notoriety as a leading psychologist, when the Nazi’s took control of Germany it was his books that were some of the first to be burned. At the time Freud could not have imagined what events would take place and in the end he lost a large proportion of his family in the Holocaust.

Because of his position, Freud was fortunate enough to have allies within the Nazi party, and so it was such that he emerged from the Nazi occupation, eventually settling in Hampstead, London with most of his fortune not being discovered and plundered.

Freud died soon after moving to the UK in 1939, he was cremated at Golders Green crematorium in North London.

Immigration as a huge positive

As like me I think you will agree that these three individuals had an effect on the world that would be sorely missed if they were not to have lived. Each was groundbreaking in their field and each used immigration as a means to further live their lives.

It is evident that without the protection of another country, in the case of Freud, then he would have surely died before his time.

International immigration is a great thing and should be celebrated, whenever a talented person enters into a new country that country is guaranteed to benefit and become stronger for it, whether it UK immigration or a US visa everyone’s a winner.

Passport

n

1. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) an official document issued by a government, identifying an individual, granting him permission to travel abroad, and requesting the protection of other governments for him

[From French passeport, from passer to pass + port]

Passports are a necessary and important part of every person’s itinerary when traveling to another country or applying for a visa, this is an inescapable and necessary truth, as Descartes might put it if he were an international traveler or immigrant it is an ‘unshakable truth’. But with all great theological arguments there are exceptions to the rule, the first epistemological exception seems to be the greater being that is the one truth we can be sure of (you know who) and the second is of course Her Royal Highness the Queen.


It is highly improbable that the Queen is about to pack her corgi’s and bid farewell to Sandringham and emigrate to Canada. However if she were she would not need a passport to go along with her Canada immigration request. In fact as head of state of both Australia and the UK- immigration papers are something she would not need for Australia as she is afforded the same immigration status there as she is in the UK.

The Queen is of the select few of one who does not have a passport in the UK; this is because they are all issued by her, in writing and spirit of course. Another interesting fact in the same vein is that the Pope’s passport, he who is closer to God than most, is issued to him by the Vatican and is issued as ‘Passport No. 1’. The Pope’s privileges when it comes to travel seem to end with that privilege, as he is regarded by most countries in the same way as many diplomats are, he will receive fast-tracking of any necessary visa, but nonetheless still requires a visa.


The invention of what we now view as a passport is credited to Henry V in the 1400’s, they do however date back to the Persian empire around 450 BC in the form of what school children would now call a toilet pass. The story goes that a subservient of the King of Persia, Artaxerxes I, was issued a request for safe passage into Judea addressed to the governors of the lands beyond ‘the river’. That would just not be adequate in this immigration super state we now exist in, “Oh hi Mr. US immigration man, here’s my note from my boss asking for safe and assured passage into your country.”


This however is not as far fetched as it might sound; in 2007, a delay in the processing of US passports led to a temporary lifting of rules that US citizens had to carry passports to enter Mexico, Canada, Bermuda and the Caribbean. This was highly capitalised on by the Caribbean tourist board at the time and led to a slight increase of visitors form the US.

Some Famous Faces Passport’s

The whole furore over immigrant workers in the UK, and more recently in Italy seems to me to show a side of human nature that all of us would prefer not to see.

Italy, as does Spain, is perhaps more prone to immigrants coming into their borders and onto their shores. They are situated in an unenviable position on the map in that their southern borders are exposed to the North coast of Africa, and hence policing of such a vast swath of coastline is perhaps next to impossible. This means that those looking to find a better life and work often meander their way to being washed up along the coastlines of the Alboran or Mediterranean seas and onto the beaches of either country.

It is surprising, or rather not, then that both countries have been exposed on the International stage in recent years of tolerating, and even condoning racism, Italy just this week and Spain a while ago when England played the country in a friendly International football match. Who could forget those pictures of Mother, Father and Son stood in unison aiming monkey chants and faces at England footballer Ashley Cole? Although abhorrent in this country, and indeed most other western nations similar racist behaviour has been exposed this week in the South of Italy.

This week saw protests and subsequent deportations of over 1300 migrant workers in the town of Rosarno, immigrant workers follow a loose pattern of working wherever the season takes them within Italy, and the farmers exploit this, paying them as little as €2 per hour, the immigrant workers at this time of year were in Rosarno, picking Oranges. What sparked the protests were the apparent indiscriminate shootings of a few of these workers, it has now been claimed that these shootings were premeditated and aimed at those workers who were refusing to pay a €5 daily protection fee to the local Mafia.

The aftermath of the drama, the rounding up of over 1300 African workers involved in the protests, and the xenophobic statements released by the Italian government are indicative of a country that is searching for a part of society to blame for rising social problems and one that is not exactly backgrounds in going right-wing with their views.

Immigration is being fingered for the collapse of the economy

As the economy, unemployment, house prices and taxes continue to shuttle-cock around the world immigrant workers are increasingly becoming a very easy target. Government, in the case of Italy and opposition party’s here in the UK and in Australia, are hitching a ride on people’s uneasiness and displeasure in the way the world is at the moment and conveniently affixing the blame for it on immigrants. The only country that seems to have any sense in regards to immigrant workers is Canada, whose government is constantly on record as thanking the immigrants in their country for making it what it is.

In the case of Italy it is very clear that the immigrant workers were not displacing any Italians within the workforce, as quite clearly no Italian would be working for €2 an hour. The economy in Italy and across every region that hires the immigrant workers operate on a basis of cheap labour. The problem has not arisen because of immigrant workers but more because of rising unemployment and a diversion of the social anger shown by the working classes towards an easy target, by the powers that be.

If I hear another argument about immigrant workers taking or displacing the workforce I will implode. The immigrant workforce has a very strong work-ethic, they often come to a country having not had the opportunity to work before, and they work for next to nothing, why? Because they have not previously had the chance to work, and compared to their home countries the wages are high. This gives them the chance to save and send money back to their families. They do the crappiest jobs imaginable because they are the only jobs available, catering assistant-washing crud off of plates and standing over a sink for 9 hours. Parking attendant-hated by everyone and has to walk the streets for 8 hours of the day. Street sweepers-similar to parking attendants. These are the jobs immigrants take in the UK, who else is going to do those jobs? These people cannot speak very good English, they are not going to take preference to an English person going for the same job – they have the job because no English person wants it.

It is time the working classes in this country and abroad woke up and smelt the strong smell of the countryside, the economy is not the fault of immigration but the fault of bad government policy. Blame the government, hold them responsible, and do not fall into the trap of becoming an ignorant xenophobe under their guidance.

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Not since he tried to get a South African visa has the Dalai Lama encountered such a furore.

The Tibetan spiritual leader is facing fresh opposition from China as he tries to secure a visitor visa for Taiwan. He is looking to make the trip to comfort survivors of typhoon Morakot which killed around 650 victims earlier this month.

In March this year, the Dalai Lama’s move to South Africa to attend a World Cup conference in Johannesburg was banned by the government. It was thought the ruling was in support of China’s opposition to him being in attendance. The decision forced archbishop Desmond Tutu to pull out of the meeting in protest and Nelson Mandela to join in the uproar.

Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou has just approved the visit to Taiwan so it looks like the Tibetan will get his visa after all. He wasn’t able to get through South African immigration with such luck.

China correspondent Peter Foster from the Daily Telegraph wrote how “ fascinating” it would be to  to see “how far China is prepared to punish Taiwan”  over the decision.  How “fascinating” is China’s woeful record on political bullying and shocking human rights to the average Telegraph hack, I wonder?

For a man who spreads a lot of peace around the world, the Dalai Lama seems to encounter a lot of trouble securing a visa. Maybe it’s time he used a reputable travel visa consultancy?!

Well, the nice people over at the British Council need your help and they’re offering some great prizes for anyone who can.

If you are a UK resident thinking about studying abroad then they want to learn all about your opinions, views and motivations as to why you’re considering studying for a qualification from another country.

The British Council have created a survey to gather this info. The results are confidential and should take about 15 minutes.

Fill in the survey by the 31 October this year and you could be the lucky winner of an Apple MacBook, Xbox 360, a signed Manchester United soccer shirt and other great prizes.

Your time and effort is appreciated and, who knows,  you may be one of the lucky ones who get their hands on one of the great prizes on offer. Sadly there’s no free student visa or tuition fees!

A recent study by one of the world’s top business schools has found a good reason to apply for a visa – living abroad enhances creativity.

The research by INSEAD has proven that experience of living in a new culture outside of your own encourages adaptation, which results in enhanced problem solving abilities and increased artistic creativity.

One experiment involved using objects on a table to solve a problem; the other was about negotiating a price that was above the buyers maximum and below the sellers minimum.

Both experiments resulted in the conclusion that living abroad was related to creativity, but time spent travelling abroad did not matter.

William Maddux, Assistant Professor of Organizational Behaviour at INSEAD, was the lead author of the study. Here are some comments he made about the findings:

This research may have something to say about the increasing impact of globalisation on the world, a fact that has been hammered home by the recent financial crisis. Knowing that experiences abroad are critical for creative output makes study abroad programs and job assignments in other countries that much more important, especially for people and companies that put a premium on creativity and innovation to stay competitive.

There’s a very strong, robust association between foreign language aptitude and creativity. So bi-lingual and tri-lingual people are more creative in general. And I think that the language is part of the adaptation.

So you can imagine a person who goes to live abroad for a year, but hangs out mostly with expatriates, maybe from their own country – that person is not going to derive the same kind of creative benefit as those who try to adapt themselves to a new culture, learn the language, learn the customs and get really involved in changing who they are and how they behave.

If you’re getting those cultural experiences at a young age, it’s going to have a stronger effect on subsequent creativity.

Aussie women work more than US women, a new study has revealed.

For the first time since records began, Australian woman have overtaken US women as the more likely nationality to be working.

In the past, US women were more likely to be employed than their Australian counterparts. Statistics, quoted from The Australian news site, state that a decade ago “gap was 7.2 percentage points in favour of the US, with 57.4 per cent of American women in jobs compared with just 50.2 per cent of Australian women.”

Recent initiatives to get mothers back to work earlier after childbirth has helped prompt Australia’s rise in female workers. In 2008, a report by the Productivity Commission showed one in six mothers are going back to work before their babies are even three months old.

So, congratulations to the historically work shy Sheila’s for finally getting their fingers out!

* * * * * * * *

Another new study has revealed that women who are living and working abroad on a work visa are happier than women who hold visas and play the ‘trailing spouse.’

The survey shows that 81% of women working overseas who were interviewed claimed to be happy, while only 24% of women without work could boast the same.

Just goes to show, that moving abroad on a work visa and mixing business with pleasure can be the ultimate recipe for satisfaction.

With strikes set to take place across Britain by UK immigration officials, travellers are looking at a holiday season that may descend into farce.  Are British Border bureaucrats the bugbear of travellers and UK visa seekers worldwide or do worse exist?

Who are the ultimate global offenders of immigration regulations gone mad?

Tell us your nightmare stories and join the debate to discover which country has the worst immigration staff.

A Vietnamese  man is walking across the US to express his appreciation for his adopted country.

Sin Tho Nguyen  who lives in Fort Worth, Texas, is 1,000 miles into his ambitious journey and he aims to promote patriotism in the US. He has walked about 26 miles, or the length of a full marathon, every day since he left Atlantic Beach, Florida on June 10.

The 40-year-old meter reader has no fundraising or sponsorship goals for the 2,600 mile trek. His journey is simply his way of saying “thank you” to his chosen homeland for allowing him to live and work in the US.

“I owe to America so much, and I don’t have any talent at all,” says Nguyen. “I have two legs and a heart. So I decided to walk across America to give thanks to her.”

His journey is not without support. A Fort Worth co-worker trails behind Nguyen in a Ford Focus and the men sometimes sleep in the car at night. Fans also bring him money, food and encouraging words.

Nguyen’s father was a US soldier in Vietnam but father and son never met. In the footsteps of his late father, Nguyen applied for a US visa in 1992 and after a 60-day approval, enlisted in the National Guard and Army.

On his journey Nguyen carries a US flag and straps to his back a sign saying: “Shore to Shore: A Walk Across America to Honor Those Who Serve.”

He says: “This is about America, and it belongs to the troops and their family members. I am a messenger. I carry the flag. America is behind me now.”

Nguyen’s inspiring story paints a picture of an immigrant thriving in his chosen country.

Other famous immigrants who made the move to US and adapted successfully include Levi Strauss and Albert Einstein from Germany, Isaac Asimov from Russia, and Alexander Graham Bell from Scotland.