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How to travel halfway around the world without a U.S. passport
DestinationsThe U.S. Postal Service is a surprisingly good source for no-passport-required research. On the agency’s Web site, click to the page where you ask to have your mail held. Pull down the “State” tab and scan the alphabetical list that follows “Arkansas.” You’ll see “American Samoa,” “Federated States of Micronesia,” “Guam,” “Mariana Islands (Saipan, Rota)” [...]
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The musical instruments that will now need passports to travel
DestinationsInstruments made from the skin or bone of endangered animals will be prevented from crossing borders without a passport under a new system designed to make it easier for orchestras to travel. The owner of a piano with ivory keys or a violin bow crafted from tortoise shell will need to apply for a passport [...]
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Caribbean islands selling passports for investments
DestinationsHadi Mezawi has never set foot on the Caribbean island of Dominica, has never seen its rainforests or black-sand beaches. But he’s one of its newest citizens. Without leaving his home in the United Arab Emirates, the Palestinian man recently received a brand new Dominican passport after sending a roughly $100,000 contribution to the tropical [...]
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Rich Chinese travel worldwide to shop for citizenship
DestinationsAt 49, Wang Zeqiang has achieved the Chinese equivalent of the American dream. Raised in the cornfields of eastern China’s Shandong province, he founded an auto parts business that today has several dozen employees. He has two houses, two cars and, because he’s rich enough to pay the fines for defying the country’s family planning [...]
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Relaxed visa requirements lead the way for visa-free travel between Armenia and the EU
DestinationsThe European Union signed an agreement with Armenia’s capital city Yerevan to ease visa requirements for Armenians traveling abroad. The document is expected to be finalized later this year in December and enter the ratification stage in the first half of 2013. The Visa Facilitation Agreement will lower visa fees for all Armenian citizens and waive fees for [...]
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A new passport office reflects positive changes in Kashmir Valley
DestinationsCapping a mammoth countrywide exercise, foreign minister S M Krishna opened the 77th passport office in the heart of Srinagar on Thursday, and the unveiling is significant in two ways — it’s a sign that normal functioning may be possible in the troubled Valley along with a manifestation of improved ties between India and Pakistan. [...]
