VISA

What come in your head when you hear the name VISA? Yeah!!! I am going to visit another country for tour and endless fun. So now let us know about VISA.

WHAT IS A VISA?
You might be wondering what the term VISA stands for. Some people might say, “Verified International Stay Approval” or “Virtual Important Stamp Athorization” but the term “VISA” is a simple noun rather than an Acronym.
A conditional authorization granted by a territory to a foreigner, allowing them to enter, remain within or to leave that territory.
Passports and VISAs became usually necessary as travel documents only after World War – II.
Now, VISAs are secondary travel documents with passport acting as primary travel document.

WHY DO WE NEED A VISA?
VISA is needed to visit a country that doesn’t have VISA Policy with the home country.
Many countries have VISA Policy and Agreement which allows them to move freely without the.
Example
1. Canadians and Americans need a VISA to travel to each other’s place.
2. Indian and Bhutan residents can visit each other without a VISA.

HOW TO APPLY FOR A VISA?

COMMONLY USED VISA TYPES.
1. Tourist VISA (Pleasure Travel VISAs)
2. Immigration and Naturalization VISA (Including by Marriage)
3. Studying VISA (for Studying abroad)
4. Business VISA (for working, it includes immigrants and non-immigrants)
5. Transit VISA (for 15 days or less according to Indian VISA)
6. Spousal VISA (granted to spouse of resident/ citizen of the country)
7. Diplomatic VISA / Official VISA (to the diplomatic status on it’s holder)
8. Medical VISA ( to seek medical treatment from a reputed hospital)

What are H-1B VISAs seen in news?
H-1B is a VISA in the United States under the Immigration and National Act. It is a non-immigrant VISA that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in specialty occupation that requires theoretical or technical expertise.
H-1B VISA holder can bring their spouse and children under age of 21 years of age to the US under H-4 category as Dependents. H-4 visa holders are not eligible to work in the US, but can attend school, obtain a driver’s licence and open a bank account in US.

Other VISAs in news
1. A policy was announced on 6th July which stated that if the international students studying in US move fully online their Student VISA (F-1) would get cancelled. 14th July they took back this ruling and students can now stay at home in this Pandemic and take online classes.
2. US scrapes new VISAs for Foreign Students.
3. Social media information is now a mandatory requirement for VISA application for USA ( they include Facebook, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn).
4. Around 85,405 employment VISAs of different labour receiving countries are yet to be processed amid the CoronaVirus Pandemic, said by Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies.
5. On 3 May 2020, India suspended VISAs for travelers from Italy, Iran, South Korea and Japan. Prior to it 5 February 2020, Chinese nationals were banned from being issued VISAs.

HARDEST COUNTRIES TO GET VISA IN 2020
1. North Korea
2. China
3. Russia
4. Saudi Arabia
5. Bhutan
6. Pakistan
7. Nigeria
8. Turkmenistan
9. Iran

SOURCES/ REFERENCES
1. wikipedia.com
2. indianvisaonline.gov.in
3. scroll.in
4. ETnews.com
5. The Daily Star newspaper
6. PassportIndex.org
7. Kids-world-travel-guide.com
8. OnlineVisa.com
9. TravelVisaPro.com

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– NB