UK visa system allows 'slavery'

The UK visa system is enabling unscrupulous employers to treat foreign workers as modern-day slaves, a BBC investigation has found.

BBC Radio 4's Face the Facts spoke to dozens of workers who were paid little or nothing, were not allowed out and were sometimes abused or beaten.

The situations come from "tied" visas - meaning the right to be in the UK can be withdrawn by the employer - and "transit" visas on fishing boats.

Ministers said a review was under way.

Transit visas are being used to bring in recruits to the fishing industry who have no right to set foot on dry land - and therefore no access to UK employment rights.

Face the Facts found this led to some fishing workers spending weeks at a time at sea, sometimes unpaid, sleeping in cramped conditions, often physically and verbally abused.

With tied visas, employees must stay with the employer they arrived to work for - so if they are mistreated and run away, they are likely to be deported.

Modern slavery minister Karen Bradley said: "We do know that there are problems; that's why I've just commissioned an independent review of the visa arrangements for overseas domestic workers."

The government's Modern Slavery Bill, which has cross-party support, will not affect tied or transit visas.

But Ms Bradley said it was the boldest attempt yet in Europe to tackle human trafficking and slavery

It will increase the maximum sentence to life imprisonment, introduce an anti-slavery commissioner and give courts new powers to order compensation.

Face the Facts is broadcast on Radio 4 at 12:15 GMT.

Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-31529773

UK relaxes visa rules, good news for South Africans wanting to visit the UK

The current UK visa system will be relaxed and simplified from April 2015, in order to make the UK more attractive to business.

Although South Africans will still need visas to visit the UK, the new visit visa system will reduce the current 15 types of UK visitor visa categories to just four, explains Breytenbachs Immigration Consultants.

What does that mean exactly?

Business travellers

Will be able to combine business and holiday trips to the UK without having to apply for two separate visas. According to Immigration Manager at 1st Contact Visas John Dunn, this change will reduce red tape and possible delays.

“While applications will be simpler, it is worth noting that all of the original entry criteria still apply,” he said.

Performing artists

Will be able to take part in or host productions more easily thanks to a new visa category.

Visitors wanting to get married in the UK

Will be able to apply for a visa to do just that. But before you consider eloping, bear in mind that the visa will have no relation to the current partner visas and will not grant you the right to remain in the UK, warns Dunn.

According to Breytenbachs, the changes come in light of “continuous complaints from British business leaders that the current visit visa process is too cumbersome and a hindrance to economic growth”.

There are hopes that regular travel visas will be relaxed in the same way, but at the moment it is too early to tell.

Photo by Shutterstock.com

Source: http://www.thesouthafrican.com/uk-relaxes-visa-rules-good-news-for-south-africans-wanting-to-visit-uk/

HIV-positive status will not impede visa eligibility

Q: I've met someone from the United States, and we have fallen deeply in love. In fact, we are now engaged and we plan to be married in Miami. He has filed for me to immigrate to the US as his fiancée. I'm thrilled! But I'm worried about the immigration interview at the Embassy, because I'm positive for HIV. Will I be turned down because of the HIV?

A: Congratulations on your engagement! And we're pleased to assure you, the HIV status will not impede your visa eligibility.

There was a time, however, when the condition was an impediment.

An HIV infection used to be considered a public health condition, which prevented non-US citizens from entering the United States.

They could qualify to enter the US only by receiving approval for a waiver of this ineligibility, a somewhat complicated procedure.

However, in 2008 President George W Bush signed the United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act. This document amended our Immigration and Nationality Act to remove HIV infection as a public health condition that could prevent foreign citizens from entering the US.

In 2009, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) proposed a rule change to remove HIV from the list of communicable diseases of public health significance, as well as to remove HIV from the scope of the medical examination for prospective immigrants. After a period of public comment, the changes were implemented. The CDC determined that while HIV infection is a serious health condition, it is not introduced, transmitted or spread through casual contact. Therefore, it is not a communicable disease of significant public health risk, and so it does not cause an applicant to be ineligible for a visa.

The final rule went into effect on January 4, 2010. Since that date, medical examinations for immigrant visa applicants do not include any test for the HIV virus, and applicants who reveal themselves to be HIV-positive applicants will not be found ineligible for visas solely due to their HIV status.

Of course, applicants for a visa still must qualify on other grounds -- for example, by establishing a valid relationship and demonstrating to consular officers that they will have means of support, etc. However, now that the law has been changed, HIV-positive applicants are fully eligible for visas.

Good luck with your future plans, and we hope you and your fiancé had a wonderful Valentine's Day last weekend.

You can find more information about how to travel to the US on our website, www.kingston.usembassy.gov and the website of our authorized service provider at https://usvisa-info.com. Keep on top of Embassy news on our Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/pages/US-Embassy-Jamaica and by following @USEmbassyJA on Twitter. We also answer general visa questions on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

Source: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/HIV-positive-status-will-not-impede-visa-eligibility_18418789