I am writing this Openers article from fast-paced Singapore where the 2007 annual meeting of the International Bar Association meeting is being held. One of the more interesting sessions was entitled “Immigration and work visa options in the Asia Pacific region.”  Aubeck Kam, Deputy Secretary of the Singapore Ministry of Manpower presented on his country’s immigration system and the audience was amazed by how his government really seems to understand that a user-friendly efficient immigration policy is critical to the country’s economic competitiveness. The government uses a “3 S” policy – security, service and speed.

I was also intrigued by the fact that Singapore will grant a visa based on approvals for specific types of visas in the US, UK and Australia based on the theory that those countries have already done the hard work of screening applicants. In the US, by contrast, immigration officials don’t even trust the prior decisions of other US immigration officials and certainly would never consider the determinations of another government.

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In our latest issue, we include articles from Visalaw International members in Germany, Australia, Spain, Brazil, the US and Belgium. We also are pleased to announce the addition of new members of our alliance in Spain, Belgium and Switzerland.

Henry Hachez represents VI in Belgium, Caterina Naegeli represents VI in Switzerland and Marla Bojorge represents VI in Spain. For information on their practices, please visit our web site at www.visalawint.com.

We also have a new blog that you can check for updates on developments at our firms and immigration law news in our respective countries. Visit http://visalawint.blogspot.com to see what’s new.

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We welcome your feedback and, on behalf of the Visalaw International member law firms, we invite you to contact us if we can assist with immigration matters.

Kind regards,

Greg Siskind – Visalaw International representative in the United States (gsiskind@visalaw.com)

USA Member (Siskind Susser Bland, P.C. – Immigration Lawyers)