Myimmigrationpath Blog

According to reports released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, South Korea should be included in the U.S. Visa Waiver Program by the end of 2008.

Under the Visa Waiver Program, South Koreans would be permitted to visit the U.S. for up to 3 months without obtaining a visa. This report refutes prior rumors that South Korea’s Visa Waiver Program was facing delays due to policy differences between the two nations. Negotiations regarding the Visa Waiver Program between the U.S. and South Korea have been previously delayed due to conflicts over the sharing of criminal records of tourists.

South Korea previously stated that the sharing of criminal records is a basic violation of human rights, while U.S. officials proclaim the sharing of criminal records as a necessary step in combating terrorism, and as a necessary requirement for all countries participating in the Visa Waiver Program.

In order to fulfill some of the conditions for participating in America’s Visa Waiver Program, South Korea has already begun issuing electronic passports, or e-passports. These e-passports contain a microchip which holds the bearer’s personal data, including any criminal history. The electronic passports are intended to help prevent forgery. There are currently 27 nations participating in the Visa Waiver Program, most of which are located in Europe. By the conclusion of 2008, the U.S. also hopes to finalize Visa Waiver Program negations with seven other Eastern European nations, including the Czech Republic.

The Green Card lottery, also referred to as the Diversity Visa Lottery, begins October 2, 2008 and runs through December 1 of the same year. Lottery winners are usually notified by the U.S. Department of State between May and July of the following year.

Under the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, American immigrant hopefuls can have the chance to enter a drawing to gain a Green Card, which allows unrestricted residency and work eligibility in the United States.

Green Card winners are selected through a computer-generated drawing and applicants must meet certain criteria in order to be considered eligible for the program. Specifically, qualified individuals must be natives of an eligible country, and have a minimum of a high school education or two years work experience. If selected for the Diversity Visa Lottery program, successful applicants as well as their spouse and all unmarried children under age 21, are eligible to apply for permanent resident status in the United States.

Diversity Immigrant Visa lottery winners, however, are not guaranteed a Green Card or United States citizenship and must submit several other applications and wait for approval before they receive permanent residency status. It takes about 30 minutes to submit an application for the Green Card lottery, and is currently free to apply. 80 percent of applicants participating in the lottery are from African or European nations. Under the Diversity Lottery program, over 50,000 Green Cards are given each year.

After much media attention and anticipation on behalf of US voters, Senator Barack Obama recently announced his Vice Presidential running mate as Senator Joe Biden, a Democratic senator for the state of Delaware. Together, Obama and Biden support comprehensive immigration reform, and Barack Obama promises to make immigration reform one of his top priorities if elected president.

Obama states that he plans to execute immigration reform by creating secure borders, offering undocumented immigrants with no criminal background a path towards citizenship, and removing incentives for illegal immigration by working closely with Mexico as well as prosecuting employers in the US who knowingly hire illegal immigrants. Senator Obama states: “The time to fix our broken immigration system is now… We need stronger enforcement on the border and at the workplace… But for reform to work, we also must respond to what pulls people to America… Where we can reunite families, we should. Where we can bring in more foreign-born workers with the skills our economy needs, we should.�

Senator Obama’s Vice Presidential nominee, Joe Biden, was elected to the United States Senate at the age of 29, and is currently serving his sixth term as senator to the state of Delaware, making him the longest-serving senator to the state.

According to Joe Biden’s prior voting record, he is in favor of a path towards citizenship for illegal residents currently residing in the United States, supports a guest worker program, and has voted in favor of construction of a 370 mile fence along the Mexican border.

Presidential nominee Barack Obama and Vice Presidential nominee Joe Biden have both previously voted in favor of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006, which would have established a path towards citizenship for undocumented immigrants residing in the country and create a guest-worker program.