Tag: visa

  • Harvard freshman’s visa rejected by border officers at U.S. airport

    Harvard freshman’s visa rejected by border officers at U.S. airport

    A student’s plans to attend Harvard University were potentially cut short Friday when a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer at Boston Logan International Airport turned him away.The decision to reject Ismail Ajjawi’s entrance into the U.S. was first reported by the Harvard Crimson student newspaper, which received a statement from Ajjawi, a 17-year-old Palestinian resident of Lebanon. The teen said a U.S. official asked him about his religious practices and searched his laptop and cellphone for five hours before questioning him about his friends’ social media activity.

    “After the 5 hours ended, she called me into a room, and she started screaming at me. She said that she found people posting political points of view that oppose the US on my friend[s] list,” Ajjawi wrote, according to the Crimson.

    Ajjawi told the paper he has “no single post on my timeline discussing politics.”

    “I responded that I have no business with such posts and that I didn’t like, [s]hare or comment on them and told her that I shouldn’t be held responsible for what others post,” Ajjawi wrote, according to the Crimson.

    Eight hours after Ajjawi arrived at the airport, just a few miles from the campus where he expected to attend college, he was sent back to Lebanon.

    In a statement to CBS News, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) confirmed that Ajjawi was “deemed inadmissible” by an officer.

    “Applicants must demonstrate they are admissible into the U.S. by overcoming all grounds of inadmissibility including health-related grounds, criminality, security reasons, public charge, labor certification, illegal entrants and immigration violations, documentation requirements, and miscellaneous grounds,” the agency said.

    A spokesperson for Harvard said the university still hopes Ajjawi will be attend classes this fall.

    “The University is working closely with the student’s family and appropriate authorities to resolve this matter so that he can join his classmates in the coming days,” the spokesperson said.

    The spokesperson also noted that Harvard University President Lawrence Bacow wrote to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on July 16 to express his “deep concern over growing uncertainty and anxiety around issues involving international students and scholars.”

  • Politics: Turkey lifts US Ban

    Politics: Turkey lifts US Ban

    The US has declared that it has “mutually’ lifted its visa ban for citizens travelling to turkey. This comes after turkey expressed concern over the welfare, safety and security over its citizens and announced a restriction on all visa types for the citizens of the US who are looking to travel to turkey.

    A short-lived ban which lasted just a mere three months has now seemingly come to an end. However, Turkey have disapproved the notion of providing assurances to the US. As a result, this could mean the Anatolian nation cannot guarantee that no more of its US residents will be held on suspicion of being involved in the military coup which took place on July 2016.

    The relationship between Turkey and the US continues to be strained and although this particular visa ban has been lifted, future cooperation between the two nations seems undeniably equivocal. As one year ends and another begins, it will be interesting to see how ties between these two nations will unfold.

    Do you believe that this visa ban was the best way forward? Do you agree with Turkeys stance on this matter?

  • Armless artist Karipbek Kuyukov ‘denied entry’ to UK

    Armless artist Karipbek Kuyukov ‘denied entry’ to UK

     

     

    İstanbul’daki İngiliz Konsolosluğu kolları olmayan Kazak sanatçı’ya parmak izi bırakmadığı için vize vermedi!

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    Karipbek Kuyukov says he is disappointed he could not enter the UK

    A Kazakh artist who was born without arms says he could not get permission to enter the UK last month because he could not give fingerprints.

    Karipbek Kuyukov planned to attend an anti-nuclear conference in Edinburgh.

    But he got a letter from the British Consulate in Istanbul saying his “biometrics were of poor quality” and asking him to resubmit his application.

    The UK Home Office said his visa was not refused and it may have been the result of a “miscommunication”.

    Mr Kuyukov, 44, who was forced to cancel his attendance at the conference, spoke of his disappointment.

    ‘Did not understand’

    “Maybe they did not understand that I am disabled or check the information provided,” said the artist.

    “But in my online visa application it was written that I am an artist and that I don’t have hands. I paint by holding a brush in my mouth and between my toes.”

    Mr Kuyukov was born in the region of Semipalatinsk, the former Soviet Union’s main nuclear testing ground.

    Many thousands of children were born with disabilities during the nuclear test programme.

    Mr Kuyukov has used his painting to campaign for nuclear disarmament for the past 20 years.

  • Turkey launches e-Visa system

    Turkey launches e-Visa system

    Muscat: The Republic of Turkey launched its new online-based visa system on April 17. This visa system is available in Turkish and English languages and can be accessed via the website, www.evisa.gov.tr.

    According to a Turkish embassy press release, “e-Visa system replaces ‘sticker’ and ‘stamp-type’ visas formerly issued at the borders. The citizens of the countries mentioned in the box are eligible for e-Visa.

    Tourism and trade

    The citizens of some countries also mentioned in the box are also eligible, should they comply with the conditions as per their citizenship. The applicants can obtain their visas electronically after completing all the required steps online.

    The applicants are required to print out their e-Visa, show it to airport officials and customs officials, and keep it with them throughout their stay.

    e-Visa is valid only for tourism or trade purposes. For other purposes such as work or study, ‘regular visa’ system will be applied. All the detailed information, the application conditions and the amount of fees are available on the website.

    On the other hand, regular visa system will be continued by the embassies and consulates of the Republic of Turkey.

    via Times of Oman | Breaking News, Features, Columns, Your Voice & Multimedia….

  • Istanbul panel talks global visas, development

    Istanbul panel talks global visas, development

    20111025 ISHC Fuller Potter Lawless
    (Frem lef) Ed Fuller of Marriott International Lodging, Tony Potter of Corinthia Hotels and Gerald Lawless of Jumeirah Group discussed a wide variety of during a panel at last week’s ISHC annual conference in Istanbul.

    ISTANBUL—Free movement and travel between countries and regions is an important element in the future success of the global hotel industry, panelists said during last week’s International Society of Hospitality Consultants’ annual conference at the Ceylan InterContinental Istanbul.

    “It will have a negative effect if countries go back to restricting travel,” Gerald Lawless, executive chairman of Dubai-based Jumeirah Group, said.

    The importance of having a welcoming visa policy was evident in Dubai after the United Arab Emirates loosened its visa restrictions 12 years ago, he said. “Dubai changed overnight.”

    The dramatic change in Dubai should be a lesson to all governments, including lawmakers in the United States, said Ed Fuller, president and managing director of Marriott International Lodging. He said there were more Chinese visitors in Paris last year than in the United States—a trend that must change if the U.S. hopes to increase international arrivals.

    “Take down the roadblocks and you would have a stimulus package that would make any politician blush,” he said.

    Jim Burba, the panel’s moderator and president of Burba Hotel Network, said some data indicates that for every new 35 visitors to the U.S., one new job is created.

    Lawless said the freedom of travel that emerged during the past 20 years ranks with the creation of the European Union and the breakout of the Soviet Union as milestone events for the global hotel industry. He said the subsequent emergence of technology-driven tools, such as electronic visas, should help create even more tourism opportunities around the globe.

    “There should be a common international system that starts with America,” he said. “Technology has shown us that you can be cleared for just about any country in the world if they would all come together.”

     

    Tony Potter of Corinthia Hotels acknowledged that oversupply and civil unrest in some markets have made a recovery tougher in the hotel industry.

    Tony Potter, CEO of Corinthia Hotels, said e-visas are an important element in developing more meeting, incentive, conference and exhibition business for hotels.

    “Long queues, unacceptable delays (hurt business),” he said. “Some governments are not getting more restrictive, they’re just not opening their eyes to the issue.”

    Corinthia is a Malta-based management company in which Wyndham Hotel Group owns a 30% stake. It has 21 hotels in its portfolio, including 11 that fly the Corinthia brand flag.

    Lawless and Potter dismissed the notion that reciprocal visa-waiver programs are needed. They said countries should promote visa waivers to other countries even if those other countries don’t reciprocate.

    “This tit-for-tat (philosophy) is understandable, but they will never solve the problems with tit-for-tat,” Potter said. He noted one example of this is Malta, which could go from a medium-priced destination to a high-priced destination if it could simply institute a visa waiver program for Russians—but European Union policies won’t allow it. 

     

    Unpredictable economy is an issue
    The unpredictable state of the global economy also was a big part of the panel’s conversation. Fuller said because the world’s economies are so closely related, there’s no place to find shelter when a worldwide economic storm takes place.

    “In the past, you had economic protection (because different regions had different performances),” he said. “Today, it’s either good or bad.”

    The performances of hotels are improving on a broad scale, Fuller said. “Things are improving off a pretty low base, but we have not gotten back to 2007 numbers and we have a ways to go,” he said. “We are continuing to focus more on the sales side than the costs side.”

    Potter said oversupply in many destinations—particularly in Europe—makes it difficult for hoteliers to be ultra successful. That, plus social unrest leading to political disruptions in Northern Africa and the Middle East, have produced an uncertain economy that makes it difficult to forecast business trends.

    “The good news is we’ve seen some recovery in some markets where we had been struggling,” Potter said. He specifically cited properties in Prague and Hungary as showing improved performance metrics.

     

    Gerald Lawless of Jumeirah Group said that the dynamics of Dubai changed overnight when the United Arab Emirates changed its visa policy.

    Lawless said the “unbelievable” peak the worldwide hotel industry reached in 2007 will be hard to replicate anytime soon. “We’ve gotten back to it for certain periods but not extended periods,” he said. “In ’07, some of our hotels were running 100% occupancy with (US)$1,000 (average daily rate).”

    Lawless said leisure demand has been consistently stronger than business demand so far during the recovery, which is leading to Jumeirah’s more conservative approach to budgeting for 2012.

    Global opportunities
    The panelists see plenty of other bright spots around the world, too. Lawless said his company, which has 10 luxury hotels in operation with 10 more expected to come online by the end of the first quarter of 2012, sees huge opportunities for growth in China and Africa.

    “Long term, the opportunity is what we would look like as a brand and how we can develop,” he said. “How many properties are in a brand, and is there an opportunity to go multi brand.”

    Lawless pointed out countries such as Jordan and Syria as potential opportunities if they ever become politically stable.

    “The Holy Land, there’s such history there,” he said. “We really hope one day we see real peace there.”

    Fuller said Marriott’s major opportunities are in evolving new markets.

    “There are new travelers every day,” he said. “India has become more significant, and the tremendous number of people traveling makes it exciting. In the long term, we have 18 brands and there’s no end to the tunnel. We are just starting out in many markets with more to come.”

    Fuller said Marriott likes the potential of Vietnam as a market and has several projects in development there. Overall, Marriott has 3,796 hotels in its portfolio—including 550 properties outside of the U.S. Of those 550, 70% are managed by Marriott and 30% are franchises, he said.

  • Castlefield Gallery presents Life in the UK

    Castlefield Gallery presents Life in the UK/ Balance of Probabilities – ATM11

    Worth the art miles?

    Martha Craig October 24th, 2011

    Didem Ozbek redresses Castlefield’s exterior

    Life in the UK / Balance of Probabilities, currently on show in Castlefield Gallery, holds the high honour of the only (ever) Turkish entrants displayed as part of Asia Triennial Manchester. Istanbul-based artists Didem Özbek and Osman Bozkurt delved into the frustrating throes of visa application for their Manchester debut.

    The exhibition details the processes of application to travel, specifically from Turkey, and in doing so addresses issues of freedom, movement and displacement. The gallery has thusly been remade in the mould of a visa application centre, including the street-facing façade, transforming the gallery into unrecognisable dull commercial camouflage.

    Upon entering each visitor must go through a security check and be issued a ticket to the waiting room where the exhibition begins. The effect is possibly similar to the confusion and bureaucracy of real visa applicants. I couldn’t say for sure, though, given that at the end of my queue an art exhibition awaited, and in terms of entering unfamiliar territory this probably doesn’t quite equate with emigrating. The visitor, ie. me, is indeed left feeling out of context with the art gallery and part of an office cattle market. However, as a simulation of the real reality the experience falls short.

    The gallery is small, and this exhibition cleverly utilizes all surfaces; the viewer is literally enclosed by the pieces. Upon walking down the stairs Didem Özbek’s ‘Dream Trip’ trips you up. The work is made up of luggage lined up against the walls, posters of foreign countries hung above and on the floor is a map of the world reduced to show only those countries in which people are able to cross borders freely. In a glass case to the side she has gathered the four types of Turkish passports which roughly translate as a metaphor for the license to travel freely undercut by the resultant effect of restriction.

    The rest of the exhibition is comprised of film and images filling the walls; such as Osman Bozkurt’s ‘Collection #2/11’, a collection of passport photos with the faces cut out by state officers. The artist has classified and categorized them by physical features and has displayed them in insect cases. Photographs of the interiors of visa application centres create a disconcerting double-headed hall of mirrors; dull photos of dull rooms in a counterfeit-dull room.

    Although the exhibition concept is positively thriving with sociological and topical issues such as human rights, whether this includes the right to travel, ownership and identity, the exhibition as a whole fell somehow flat. The theory was there, the circle came full: that an exhibition built around travel had travelled all the way to greet us in sunny Manchester (I presume with a visa). And yet inside the circle it was strangely empty, in my humble opinion, a vacuum not quite going the distance.

    via Castlefield Gallery presents Life in the UK/ Balance of Probabilities – ATM11 > The Mancunion.