Published by Mark Johnstone on July 1st, 2009 in Australian Immigration, Canadian Immigration, EU immigration and Blue Card, Expats, Global Immigration, Global Visas, Immigration Tips, Move to Australia, South African Immigration, Studying abroad, UK immigration
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.
Read the rest of this entry »
Published by Gareth McConnell Global Visas on February 11th, 2009 in South African Immigration, UK immigration
UK immigration minister 'getting tough'
Such is the threat to our country’s security, and the apparent ambivalence of several governments around the world, UK immigration has taken matters into their own hands to stem the flow of smugglers and ‘terror suspects’.
South Africa, a country with historical ties to colonial UK, once stood high in the demographics of international arrival numbers. Almost half a million greeted UK immigration officials in 2007, but security experts have long believed the country is being used as a back door for terrorists and people smugglers because it’s so easy to obtain passports illegally.
Out of non-EU countries, South Africa ranked fifth after the US, Australia, Canada and Japan in terms of visitors. 168,000 South Africans came to the UK to visit friends and relatives in 2007, 46,200 on UK business visas and a further 6,983 on the working holiday maker visa.
What a shame then the government of South Africa has failed to meet the same requirements their commonwealth neighbour Botswana has.
Read the rest of this entry »
Published by Gareth McConnell Global Visas on November 12th, 2008 in South African Immigration
There were about 61,000 successful applications made for the Working Holidaymaker visa in 2006/ 07.
About 1,000 of those were from South Africa.
In two weeks time the door to the Working Holidaymaker program will be permanently shut when the Youth Mobility Scheme (YMS) kicks into practice and South Africans will have to find alternative and more difficult and less flexible visa entry to experience life in the UK.
In all fairness the South African government has known for an adequate amount of time that to qualify as a participating country they must have a reciprocal program running for British 17-30 year olds.
Read the rest of this entry »
Published by Admin on June 30th, 2008 in South African Immigration, USA Immigration and work visas
Almost 20 years safter being released from prison and about 14 years since the advent of democracy in South Africa, Nelson Mandela is finally able to loose the tag, ‘terrorist’.
The US Congress has finally passed a bill to remove the name of Nelson Mandela from the list of terrorists.
Since the 1980s a stigma has remained that relates to the African National Congress (ANC), the current South African ruling party and the party which Mandela led. When applying for a US visa those with ANC membership have, until now, had to endure additional investigation.
Read the rest of this entry »
