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U.S. Senate rejects bill proposing biometric system to track foreign visitors
DestinationsRepublican U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, who is considered crucial for the success of an immigration law overhaul, vowed on Tuesday to fight for a biometric system to track foreigners leaving the country after a Senate panel rejected the provision, in part because it was too costly. Rubio and seven other Republican and Democratic senators, known [...]
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Saudi Arabia to relax visa rules for religious pilgrims, allow additional tourism
DestinationsSaudi Arabia will relax visa rules to allow foreigners to visit certain Islamic and historical sites as tourists, the country’s most senior tourism official said. Prince Sultan bin Salman Al Saud, chairman of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities, said that from this year Saudi would issue ‘Umrah-Plus’ visas, which would permit supervised tours [...]
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The countries that used the U.S.’s new immigration bill to ease visa rules
DestinationsThe government of South Korea hired a former C.I.A. analyst, two White House veterans and a team of ex-Congressional staff members to help secure a few paragraphs in the giant immigration bill. The government of Ireland, during St. Patrick’s Day festivities, appealed directly to President Obama and Congressional leaders for special treatment. And the government [...]
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Japan considers easing visa rules to attract more Asian visitors
DestinationsEasier visa requirements were recommended to the government Thursday to lift foreign tourism to Japan. The government aims to boost foreign tourism from about 8.37 million in 2012 to 10 million in 2013, and to 25 million in 2020. The proposals seek to free Thais, Malaysians and Indonesians from visa requirements while allowing Vietnamese and [...]
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India looks to expand visa-on-arrival to 15 more countries
TransportThe Tourism Ministry is in talks with the Ministries of Home Affairs and External Affairs to extend the visa-on-arrival facility at more airports like Bangalore and Hyderabad to visitors from about 15 countries. Currently, the visa-on-arrival scheme is available at four international airports – Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Kolkata. It covers citizens of over 11 [...]
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New Zealand extends multi-stay visas for Chinese tourists
DestinationsAuckland Airport’s general manager for corporate affairs, Charles Spillane, says New Zealand visa changes announced today will propel growing arrivals from China. “China is New Zealand’s fastest growing tourist market and these changes will help to fuel that growth,” he said. Visa changes to boost air travel from China were announced in Shanghai today during [...]
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Azerbaijan launches online visa system in hopes of increasing tourism
DestinationsOnline visa issuing system has been launched according to a decree of the President of Azerbaijan, the head of Tourism Association of Azerbaijan Nahid Bagirov told Trend. According to him, tourists wishing to visit Azerbaijan can obtain a visa online. Before tourists faced problems while obtaining visas, and they had to apply to the embassies [...]
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UAE relaxes visa restrictions for Canadians after Emirates Air dispute gets resolved
DestinationsThe United Arab Emirates has reinstated a visa waiver for Canadian citizens it withdrew amid a dispute over [aviation] landing rights more than two years ago, a move suggesting the disagreement may be nearing a resolution. Canada was one of more than 30 countries, mostly Western, that benefited from a visa waiver the UAE offered [...]
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Australia makes its visa process even easier to attract skilled entrepreneurs
DestinationsThe Australian government has simplified its visa application process while introducing a new scheme for highly skilled workers. The announcement will be welcome news for the millions of tourists, business visitors and foreign workers who often complain about the large number of different visa sub-classes they need to navigate. A new short-stay visa has been [...]
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High-risk tourists will have to pay bonds before entering UK, to deter immigration
DestinationsVisitors from ‘high risk’ nations to be asked for deposits of £1,000 or more. Foreigners visiting Britain from certain countries will have to put up “security bonds” costing thousands of pounds to deter them from overstaying their visas, under new proposals. Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, today announced plans to bring in the Australian-style [...]
