Tag: Visas View All Tags

Hip Cities Like Sydney Want Friends on MySpace

November 20, 2008 at 9:00 AM | 1 Comment

Cities have MySpace pages now? Who knew? Turns out that Sydney has got its own MySpace haunt because they want to persuade young Americans to head Down Under to boost the Aussie economy rather than helping out their own. Well, that's just our interpretation.

Now that US citizens aged 18 to 30 can get a working holiday visa for Australia, Sydney reckons it's got the goods to attract people: Surf and sand, plenty of jobs, good nightlife and decent places to study if you're so inclined.

Sydney--at least its MySpace version--doesn't have too many friends yet, and it has even fewer comments on its forum questions. But don't let that be an indication of whether this city is actually friend-worthy. Just because we think Melbourne's better doesn't mean you can't add Sydney as a friend: Melbourne isn't even cool enough to have a MySpace page yet.

Related Stories:
· MySpace Sydney [Official Site]
· Wanna Work and Play Down Under? [Jaunted]
· Melbourne IS Better Than Sydney [Jaunted]

Argentina Entry Fee: Don't Call It a Visa

October 9, 2008 at 3:30 PM | 3 Comments

Last month, we were worried that the fallout from this Hugo Chavez speech might lead to new fees for American tourists brave enough to travel to Venezuela. But instead it's Argentina that's planning to levy an entry fee on Americans, Australians, Canadians and others, starting January 1.

Interior Minister Florencio Randazzo says charging foreign nationals $134 upon their entry into Argentina is payback for the visa fee his people have to pay when heading to other countries:

We feel that it's an injustice that an Argentine goes to the United States and has to pay $134 for a visa.

For what it's worth, this doesn't mean visitors have to actually apply for a visa; the charge, which covers you for 10 years, is simply a "fee of reciprocity" that will ostensibly go toward "modernizing immigration posts throughout the country."

Related Stories:
· The New Tax on Tourists [La Nacion, in Spanish, via]
· Election Day in Argentina [Jaunted]

[Photo of Buenos Aires' Immigration Museum: Wikimedia]

UK Stepping Up Its Immigration Game

July 18, 2008 at 11:05 AM | 4 Comments

It may soon get harder to visit the UK--at least if your a national of one of 11 countries now off the so-called visa-waiver list. The idea, says the UK Border Agency, is to keep tabs on those people who might endanger the country. But among the 11 are Brazil, Malaysia, South Africa and Trinidad and Tobago, places that you might not associate with scary stuff.

The Border Agency says it plans to work with the governments in question to see if they can't stay on the visa-waiver list; a final decision won't be made until early 2009. But should risk reduction not be seen, even more foreign visitors will have to submit fingerprints and get a visa before arriving in the UK. The new rules would mean that Britain requires visas of 80 percent of the world's population.

When the US clamped down of visiting foreigners after 9/11, many countries didn't appreciate it. In probably the most famous show of displeasure, Brazil decided to charge Americans $100 per visa starting in 2004 in retaliation for what its citizens had to pay to visit the states. A pro-tourism group in the UK is worried the same thing might happen to the British as a result of the ever-widening visa net.

Related Stories:
· Higher Walls to Fortress Britain [Economist]
· UK Border Agency Global Visa Review [Official Site]
· Europe Wants Your Fingerprints [Jaunted]

Wanna Work and Play Down Under?

September 10, 2007 at 9:30 AM | 0 Comments

If you're under 30, and either a US or an Australian citizen, you might be buzzed to know that these two countries have just agreed on a working holiday visa program. That means, for example, that young Americans can head Down Under for up to twelve months and have the right to live, work and even study a bit, and Australians get to do the same in the States.

The Aussie tradition of working holidays is already strong, with a big proportion of young people heading to countries like the UK, Canada, Japan and Germany where working holiday visas have been in place for years. What's that mean for the US? A wave of Aussies coming to work in hotels and restaurants near you. Just make sure when you return the favor you venture out beyond Sydney Harbour.

Related Stories:
· New US Visa Deal With Australia [news.com.au]
· Australia Travel Stories [Jaunted]

[Photo: floratheexlplora]