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Find information on visiting, working and studying in Australia, returning to live in Australia and Australian citizenship. Whatever your reason for coming to Australia, you will need a valid Australian visa.
Helps you find the Australian visa most likely to meet your specific circumstances.
Department of Home Affairs
Provides a list of application forms to print and complete by hand, information forms and booklets about visiting or migrating to Australia and a guide to fees for visas and services.
Department of Home Affairs
An operational agency within the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, it protects Australia's border and manages the movement of people and goods across it.
Australian Border Force
The Department is responsible for immigration and customs border policy.
Department of Home Affairs
Provides information for employers who are seeking to employ foreign nationals. This includes sponsoring skilled workers to Australia when an appropriately skilled Australian cannot be found, as well as employing visa holders currently in Australia.
Department of Home Affairs
Some useful resources and tools for migration agents in Australia.
Department of Home Affairs
Provides information on visas, access to benefits and citizenship issues relating to New Zealanders in Australia, and some relevant statistics.
Department of Home Affairs
Registers migration agents. In Australia migration agents must be registered in order to provide immigration assistance services.
Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority
Provides information about the Australian Border Force, including its role in protecting Australia's border and national security, and working with the community.
Department of Home Affairs
Your eligibility for citizenship depends on your situation, such as:
You don’t automatically become a citizen when you marry a Canadian. If you’re a spouse of a Canadian citizen, you:
A visa is an officially approved document issued by authorized bodies for the government, in accordance with the laws of the country, to foreign citizens applying to enter, leave or transit through the country.
In line with international law and practice, any sovereign state is entitled to make its own decisions as to whether to allow a foreign citizen to enter or leave its borders, and to issue or refuse to issue a visa, or to revoke an issued visa according to its own laws.
Based on Chinese laws and regulations, Chinese consular officials may decide on the type of visa, number of entries, validity period and duration of stay, and may also refuse a visa application or revoke an issued visa.
1. The necessity to apply for a Chinese visa if a foreign citizen is planning to visit China
Foreign citizens should have applied for and obtained appropriate visas before entering China unless they are visa-exempt according to certain agreements and regulations.
You are advised to ensure that your visa is valid before travel. If your visa has expired or the visa has insufficient number of entries, you need to apply for a new visa.
2. China’s Visa Authorities are:
(1) Chinese diplomatic missions, consular posts, Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Macao Special Administrative Region, and other resident organizations abroad authorized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are responsible for handling visa applications by foreign citizens for entry into and transit through Chinese mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China.
(2) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the local foreign affairs offices authorized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are responsible for issuance, change and extension of diplomatic and service visas and for issuance of residence permit to holders of diplomatic and service visas.
Germany has been deemed as the fifth most favorable country to move to. This is due to its well-performing economy, education system, and employment opportunities. People from all over the world want to have a chance of moving to Germany. This article will focus on information about how to move to Germany and general immigration to Germany.
To immigrate to Germany, you will need a valid reason. There are several ways that foreign nationals can move to Germany. This includes the following reasons, which will be explained in more detail below.
Even though there are many ways which people can use to immigrate to Germany and each of them has some specific requirements, there are still similarities in a few of them. To be eligible to move to Germany, you must fulfill the following criteria:
Each different immigration purpose has a financial threshold which applicants need to fulfill, but nevertheless, applicants must prove that they are able to finance themselves in Germany. Even if you will be working in Germany, you must have the initial funds to cover your expenses until you get your salary.
You will not be able to immigrate to Germany without a valid health insurance coverage. The recommended way is to get German health insurance, since you cannot be sure whether German authorities will accept foreign health insurance. Find more information about Health insurance for Freelancers, Employees and Expatriates in Germany.
To be able to live in Germany, you will need to know German. The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages has three levels of language proficiency, A, B and C. Each one has two parts. So the language proficiency is divided in A1/A2 or basic, B1/B2 or proficient in the language, and C1/C2 or advanced language skills. To be allowed to immigrate in Germany, you will need to enter the exams and pass them up to either A1 or B1. If you want to get a permanent residence, you will need a higher proficiency of C1 or C2.
Citizens of these countries are required to apply and get a visa before entering Germany. All other nationals do not need a visa to enter Germany. They may apply for a residence permit after entering Germany without a visa.
Germany has reported a shortage of skilled workers and highly qualified people. They are constantly on the look for engineers, IT professionals, medical workers, and other qualified professionals. To encourage such people for Germany immigration, foreign immigration authorities have relaxed the stringent requirements to go to Germany and work.
Because of this, one of the most demanded immigration to Germany is through finding a job in the country. The steps to moving to Germany for work are the following:
Besides this, to get the residence permit for working in Germany, the employer and employee must prove that:
As an employee in Germany you will get the chance to work as long as your residence permit allows it. If your employer wants to continue your working relation even after your work permit is getting close to expiration, you can apply for an extension or after a certain period of time, you could also apply for permanent residence.
If you are an unskilled worker, however, it will be much more difficult to immigrate to Germany on the basis of employment.
Many people are not aware of this, but Germany, offers free education. This means that unlike places like the U.S, which have enormous tuition fees, universities in Germany either have very low fees or do not charge anything at all. Because of this, Germany is a popular place to immigrate for education purposes.
To immigrate to Germany for completing a university degree, you must obtain a visa to study in Germany. The article outlines the requirements that you need to meet and the process of applying to get such a visa.
If you get your education visa for Germany and complete your degree, you can remain in Germany to search for a job for a limited period of time. If you can find a job during that time, you are allowed to stay in Germany. It is reported that up to 54% of students who complete a degree in Germany stay in the country and find a job.
If you are an investor with an interest in Germany, then you are in luck. Entrepreneurs and investors who create economic opportunities in Germany are allowed to immigrate there. There is, however, a certain threshold of investment that you need to make. As of the writing of this article, that amount is 250,000 Euros. In addition, you will need to get a Self Employment Visa which falls under the category of Germany Working Visa. To get the visa you must prove the following:
If you maintain your status as an entrepreneur in Germany, you will also be allowed unlimited extensions of your residence permit after three years, which means that you can enter and leave the country whenever you want.
There are instances when people move to Germany for various reasons, but have to leave their family behind in their home countries. All spouses and children under 16 years old are allowed to apply for immigration to Germany to join their spouse or parents.
To be eligible for the family reunion immigration, spouses must prove that they are married and children have to provide birth certificates. For children under 16 years old, it is not necessary to have German language skills since they are assumed to be able to learn it quickly. However, for children over 16 years old, there must be sufficient proof of German language proficiency and the ability adapt and integrate.
As for spouses, they will need to have at least an A1 German proficiency to qualify. If the spouse already in Germany was allowed to work, the same will apply to the other spouse who is joining. So the visas for spouses are bound by the same conditions.
When you get one of the visas for immigration, you will also get a residence permit. The residence permits can be temporary and permanent. Temporary residence permits allow foreign nationals to stay in Germany for a specified period of time and then return to their home countries. Permanent residence permits mean that the foreign national can stay in Germany as long as they want to, can leave and return to the country whenever they want to. However, a permanent residence permit does not mean that you get a German citizen. That is another process entirely. In general, Germany has two temporary residence permits and one permanent.
This type of residence permit is used for all purposes of immigration noted above as well as for others, such as completing training courses, for former Germans who want to return to Germany, and those who go to Germany for political and humanitarian reasons. The standard residence permit is valid for some time and can be extended.
The EU Blue Card is given to foreign national workers (who are not citizens of EU countries) who have high qualifications and want to work in Germany and apply those skills. High qualifications mean that the person has an undergraduate or graduate degree in any given field. To qualify for the EU Blue Card, you will need to have already found a job in Germany, and the minimum annual salary must be 50,800 Euros.
The EU Blue Card grants its holders the right to stay in Germany for four years, with a possibility of changing their residence permit into a permanent settlement. To qualify for permanent settlement the person must show enough German proficiency, meet certain financial requirements, as well as must have worked in Germany for more than 33 months in their place of employment which requires the skills gained with the highest qualifications.
The permanent residence permit in Germany is called the Settlement Permit. This is given to those who have had either a standard residence permit or an EU Blue Card for at least 5 years and meet certain language requirements.
Foreign citizens who want to live permanently in the United States must first obtain an immigrant visa. This is the first step to becoming a lawful permanent resident.
Immigrating to the United States is an important and complex decision. In this section, you will learn about who may immigrate to the United States, the different types of immigrant visas, the required forms, and the steps in the immigrant visa process. Because most immigrants receive visas in the family or employment based visa categories, they are a key focus of this section. To be eligible to apply for an immigrant visa, a foreign citizen must be sponsored by a U.S. citizen relative, U.S. lawful permanent resident, or a prospective employer, with a few exceptions, explained below. The sponsor begins the immigration process by filing a petition on the foreign citizen’s behalf with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
A U.S. citizen can file an immigrant visa petition for:
A U.S. lawful permanent resident (that is, a green-card holder) can file an immigrant visa petition for:
As you get started:
A U.S. employer can sponsor certain skilled workers who will be hired into permanent jobs. In some specialized fields, U.S. law allows prospective immigrants to sponsor themselves. In addition, U.S. law provides a number of special immigrant categories, as well as an immigrant investor program.
As you get started:
Regarding some of the immmigrant visa categories, United States law limits the number of visas available each year, with certain limits by country. In these limited categories, whenever the number of qualified applicants exceeds the available immigrant visas, there will be a waiting list. In this situation, the available immigrant visas will be issued in the chronological order in which the petitions were filed. The date your petition was filed is called your priority date. You can learn more about priority dates.
Many immigrants receive visas in the family or employment based visa categories; however there are other immigrant visa categories. A U.S. citizen can also petition for the immigration of a foreign fiancé(e) to be married in the United States, or an orphan adopted abroad/to be adopted in the United States. Several immigrant visa categories that cover special types of workers or special circumstances are established by U.S. laws. (Learn more about special immigrant categories.) The United States also conducts an annual program for Diversity Visas. For these other visa categories, the immigrant process flow chart above does not apply; therefore, select from the category webpages under More Information above to learn how to apply in these visa categories.
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