Category: ESTA News

Tourism to Vietnam is increasing statistics show.  Figures taken from in January to May 2022 indicate that the number of international visitors to Vietnam has increased compared to the same period last year. Vietnam welcomes tourists from all over the world with the majority coming from Korea and the US.

According to travel and tourism companies, although the market is gradually moving, there are signs of recovery in the flow of international visitors to Vietnam after two positive months, especially since Vietnam lifted passenger requirements.

The National Administration of Tourism released figures showing that the 172,900 international visitors entering in May 2022, a 70.6% increase compared to April and 12.8 times higher than the same period last year. When Vietnam re-opened borders in March 2022 it welcomed about 41,700 visitors, in April, this number jumped to 101,400 and by the end of May, welcomed 172,900 visitors.

Statistics released also show that most visitors to Vietnam are nationals of Korea and the US. Korean visitors reached 28,600 arrivals, up 195.1% over the same period, while American visitors reached 23,100 arrivals, up 2,106.4 percent.

The number of visitors in Southeast Asia has also significantly grown thanks to the open border policy between countries. In the first 5 months of the year, visitors from Cambodia reached 10,300 arrivals, a very strong increase of 4,255%, Laos reached 6,800 arrivals, an increase of 76%.

The number of visitors from Singapore reached 17,321 arrivals, an increase of 44.7 times, in April alone reached 5,300 arrivals, an increase of nearly 10 times compared to the previous month, 6,300 arrivals in 4 months.

Meanwhile, with groups of American and European tourists, travel companies explain that many tourists have relatives living and working in Vietnam and they choose here to reunite after two years. Some tourists are experts coming to Southeast Asia to work, knowing Vietnam’s friendly open-door policy has chosen this as a tourist destination

Vietnam’s tourism industry aims to welcome 5 million international visitors in 2022.

There are many Korean practitioners who are interested in immigrating to the United States but are unsure where and how to begin the process.

The first barrier that graduates of medical schools abroad, such as Korea, must overcome is entering a training program at a hospital in the United States. This training is mandatory for anyone to obtain a medical license in the United States. The problem is that there are many hospitals that do not accept foreign medical students as residents at all.

Most importantly, you must pass the US Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1 (Basic Medicine Test) and Step 2 (Clinical Medicine Knowledge Test). In addition, the results of the clinical practice test or OET (a type of English test) must be submitted to the ECFMG, which is in charge of the residency application for foreign medical students, to receive approval.

People who graduated from medical school abroad usually reside on a J-1 visa. You may be able to obtain a short-term professional work visa (H-1B) for residency. However, it is common for hospitals to issue J-1 visas to foreign residents. This J visa has a proviso that you must return to your home country and reside there for two years before changing to a work visa (H and L) or acquiring permanent residence.

The most common waiver used by foreign medical graduates is the Conrad 30 and federal waiver referral program. With the Conrad 30, each state can recommend a two-year home stay exemption for up to 30 residents with J-1 visas. The condition is to work as a clinician for three years in a place designated by the Federal Ministry of Health as a medically underdeveloped area.

Not only the state government, but also federal government agencies can recommend exemptions from the two-year home stay rule for J-1 visa holders who contract to work as clinicians for three years in medically underdeveloped areas. J-1 visa holders must obtain a recommendation from these agencies and submit an application for exemption from stay in their home country to the State Department, and then follow the procedure of requesting USCIS to change their status to H-1B.

It is through the Physician National Interest Waiver Program (The Physician NIW), which grants permanent residency if you work for 5 years in a medically underdeveloped area where there is a shortage of doctors. You must submit an employment contract stating that you will work full-time for five years as a clinician in a medically underserved area or veterans hospital designated by the Department of Health. In this case, a recommendation from the federal or state government is required.

Nominations must be obtained from the state or federal agencies, such as the Department of Veterans and Welfare. This is the same as the exemption from the J-1 two-year home country stay rule. If the recommendation letter of the recommending organization states that you can exempt J-1 from staying in your home country for the sake of national interest and apply for permanent residence through the national interest exemption procedure, you can apply for permanent residency exemption for J-1 home country stay and pseudo-national interest exemption with this one letter at the same time. can proceed.

If it is a medical institution in a place designated as a medically underdeveloped area, it can become a permanent residence sponsor without distinction. If a doctor pays an office and provides medical treatment in that area, he or she can proceed with his/her permanent residence even without a separate permanent residence sponsor.

A court has put the brakes on the Joe Biden administration’s attempts to repeal the previous administration’s COVID-19-related entry restrictions, which allowed the immediate deportation of illegal entrants from the border.

According to Reuters, Judge Robert Summerhays of the Western Federal Court of Louisiana decided on the 20th to maintain the so-called ’42’ (Title 42), saying, “Maintaining the provision is in the public interest.”

Article 42 is to deport illegal entrants who have crossed the land border as soon as they are caught and prevent them from giving them an opportunity to seek asylum. It was introduced by the former Donald Trump administration, which had advocated hardline measures against immigrants.

During the Trump administration, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) implemented this policy, saying it should contain the spread of COVID-19 in densely-dense border facilities. According to the Associated Press, the number of illegal immigrants who did not get an opportunity to apply for asylum and were immediately deported under this provision after enforcement has reached 1.9 million so far, the Associated Press reported.

The Joe Biden administration, which has a relatively accommodative immigration policy, announced on the 23rd of this month that it would repeal this provision for reasons such as improving the human rights of immigrants. The CDC was also of the opinion that Article 42 was no longer necessary for the quarantine policy, saying that other prevention measures such as vaccines have increased. Medical professionals and the United Nations also welcomed the repeal of Article 42, saying that it could put the already vulnerable immigrants at greater risk.

However, the repeal of Article 42 was criticized not only by the conservative Republican Party, but also by some Democrats, who belong to President Biden, as encouraging a surge in the number of immigrants.

Twenty-two states, led by the Republican Attorney General, have even sued the Biden administration to keep the provision.

Judge Summerhays’ decision on that day is to the effect that the provision should be maintained until the final result of the lawsuit is out. Judge Summerhays was appointed by former President Trump. The Biden administration immediately announced an appeal.

The Immigration Service has decided to gradually expand the scope of expedited procedures to resolve backlogged cases. This is good news for applicants who have been waiting for results for a long time. Related matters have been summarized.

– The scope of express procedures has been expanded.

Expedited procedures will also be available for expatriate permanent residence (EB-1C) and national interest exemption (NIW) applications in fiscal year 2022. In other words, the immigration petition (I-140) can be expedited. Expatriates often apply for permanent residency right before returning to Korea. Because they want their children to continue their studies in the United States. This expedited procedure is of great help to expatriates. In addition, the National Interest Waiver (NIW) application for master’s and doctoral degree holders can expedite the expedited procedure. Many people these days apply for NIW. This is because it is possible to apply for permanent residence without a company sponsor. Even in Korea, there is a lot of interest in NIW so that their children can study in the United States. Most want to get a green card before their children go to college. You can file an immigration petition (I-140) within 45 days by paying an expedited fee of 2,500 to the Immigration Service.

– Is the examination easier if you go through the expedited procedure?

Using express does not increase the approval rate.

-The express service is said to be possible even for identity changes and labor card procedures.

It is expected that expedited procedures will be possible even when switching to student status (F&M) or exchange training status (J) within this year. In the meantime, it took more than a year for the procedure to change to student status, which greatly hindered my studies. For an additional $1,750 expedited fee, a decision is made within 30 days. In addition, expedited procedures will also be available for the probationary period (OPT) after graduation and when the spouse (J-2) with the exchange training status applies for a labor card. In this case, the express fee is $1,500 and is decided within 30 days. In this way, you can prevent the case where you find a job but must give up the job because your labor card is late.

– Is express service possible for other procedures?

In the future, expedited procedures will be possible even when the spouses applying for E, H, L, O, P, or R apply for status change or extension. An additional express fee of $1,750 is charged and a decision is made within 30 days. It also states that expedited services are also available when these spouses apply for a labor card, and if they pay $1,500, they will be processed within 30 days.

– Is the express procedure not applicable to investment immigration (EB-5)?

There is no discussion of express services in the investment immigration process, disappointing applicants. However, after May 15, you can apply for adjustment of status (I-485) during the examination of the investment immigration petition (I-526). Therefore, you can get your Labor Card (EAD) and travel permit before obtaining permanent residency. Although they do not have permanent residency, they can work legally in the United States and travel to Korea if necessary. However, there is no change in the case of applying for investment immigration in Korea. As before, the petition must be approved to obtain an immigrant visa at the US embassy. Therefore, you may consider applying for an investment immigration in the United States after getting a visa first.

-If the express procedure is expanded, will the general procedure be delayed?

The Immigration Service says that even if the scope of the express procedure is expanded, the general procedure will not be delayed any further. But it remains to be seen. You can apply for express service even in the middle of the procedure. Therefore, you can apply through the general procedure first and then switch to the express procedure while observing the situation.

This year, the number of Korean immigrants pending deportation trials nationwide has turned to a declining trend.

According to the status of federal immigration court deportation lawsuits released by the Syracuse University Judicial Information Center (TRAC) on the 21st, as of the end of March, there were 991 cases of deportation of Koreans pending in immigration courts across the United States. This is a decrease of 6.2% compared to 1,057 cases in the same period of the previous year.

Looking at the trend of the number of pending deportation lawsuits by Korean immigrants, after recording 677 cases in 2004, it peaked at 1,474 cases in 2009 and 1,718 cases in 2010, followed by 1,333 cases in 2012, 976 cases in 2013, 875 cases in 2014, and 819 cases in 2015. , 666 cases in 2016, etc., continued to decrease, and then returned to an increasing trend to 672 in 2017, and has continued to rise for 5 consecutive years.

After a 20.8% surge in 2020, when the COVID-19 crisis hit, it increased by an additional 3% last year. Accordingly, some have given rise to the interpretation that the immigration authorities’ crackdown on illegal immigrants has been continuously strengthened despite the COVID-19 crisis.

By each state, California had the highest number of Koreans pending deportation proceedings with 355, and New York had the second most with 152. It was followed by New Jersey with 107, Virginia with 84, Georgia with 64, Texas with 56, Illinois with 28, Washington with 25, and Pennsylvania with 18.

Looking at the Korean immigrants pending in deportation trials by charge, 844 people, or 85.1%, were simply violating the immigration law, such as violation of the residence limit. On the other hand, 78 Koreans, or 7.8%, were referred for criminal convictions such as violations of the criminal law. In addition, it was found that the average length of time that Koreans who were handed over to deportation trials were detained was 1,194 days.

The US embassy in Ukraine, which had been withdrawn due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, reopened on the 18th in the capital Kiiu.

It has been more than three months since the embassy in Kiiu was closed on February 14, ten days before the Russian invasion, and personnel transferred to neighbouring Poland, Poland.

US Secretary of State Tony Blincoln announced in a statement that “Today we are officially resuming business at the embassy in Kiiwu.”

“A few days before Russian troops moved across Ukraine’s borders to wage a war on President Putin’s ill-choice, we lowered the Kiiu embassy flag,” Blincoln said. “We made it clear that this is not going to block our support and involvement for the Ukrainian people and government,” he said.

The US withdrew its embassy personnel from Kiiwu and worked in Poland.

Other European countries that withdrew from Kiiu are also reopening their embassies one after another.

The Korean embassy, ​​which had been serving as a diplomatic mission at the Chernivchi temporary office since last March, also resumed its work by returning to Kii earlier this month.

The Russian army attacked Kiiwu intensively at the beginning of the war and was eventually defeated.

“With our security support, the Ukrainian people are defending their country against Russia’s ruthless invasion, and the American flag is flying over the embassy once again,” Blincoln said.

“With this significant step, we have taken additional steps to strengthen the safety of our colleagues returning to Kiiwu,” he said.

Earlier on the 25th of last month, President Joe Biden appointed veteran diplomat Brigitte Brink, Slovak ambassador to Slovakia, as the vacant US ambassador to Ukraine.

It is estimated that there are 280,000 Korean permanent residents legally residing in the United States.

According to ‘Estimated Permanent Resident Statistics by Country of Origin’ released by the Federal Homeland Security Administration (DHS) on the 9th, the number of Korean immigrants holding permanent residence cards in the United States as of January 2021 was 280,000, maintaining the same level as the previous year.

This estimate of Korean permanent residents’ accounts for 2.1% of all 13.11 million permanent residents in the United States, the ninth largest by country of origin. The country with the largest number of permanent residents was Mexico with 3.01 million, followed by China with 820,000, the Dominican Republic with 560,000, India with 550,000, the Philippines with 540,000, and Cuba with 530,000.

According to the survey, 71.4% of the 280,000 Korean permanent residents, or 200,000, were found to be eligible for citizenship.

More than 2 out of 3 Korean permanent residents do not or delay acquiring citizenship even though they are eligible. For permanent residents to acquire citizenship, the status is granted after 5 years (3 years of spouse of a citizen) after receiving permanent residence.

Meanwhile, looking at the trend of Korean permanent residents, it recorded 301,000 in 2002, decreased to 270,000 in 2006, and slightly increased to 280,000 in 2007. However, it remained at the level of 270,000 for three consecutive years from 2008 to 2010, and recovered to the level of 290,000 in 2012, and then decreased to 280,000 again from 2020.

High gas prices are causing some recreational vehicle (RV) owners to reconsider their summer vacation plans. Could lovers of long getaways turn to models with electric motors to reduce the bill and pollute less? Not now. This does not prevent some campers from pulling a trailer with their electric car.

Faced with a gas price of nearly $2 per litre, many campers will go less far than expected during their next vacation, reveals a survey by the Fédération québécoise de camping et de caravanning (FQCC). Nearly 17% of group members surveyed on the web will camp closer to home and about one in five campers thinks they will stay longer in the same place in order to limit their expenses.

But not all campers intend to change their summer plans, if the FQCC’s probe is to be believed. On the contrary. Some 20% of respondents will save money elsewhere to offset increased transport costs and 37% will not change their plans. After two summers when their movements were restricted by measures to limit the spread of COVID-19, campers are thirsty for freedom, judge Louise Gagnon, director of communications at the FQCC. “As they can start traveling again, people are not going to help it. Several campsites are already full for the summer. »

Sales director at Horizon Lussier, an RV dealer located in Marieville, Serge Maheux believes that large, motorized buyers are not concerned about the price of gasoline. “When you spend $200,000, $300,000 or $400,000 on a motorhome, I don’t think it has an impact,” he observes.

The fact remains that with the constant increase in prices at the pump, and an ecological conscience accentuated by the climate crisis, small recreational vehicles are gaining in popularity.

And why not turn to RVs with electric motors? Because even if there are some prototypes, we do not find any on the market yet. Technology does not allow products to be offered with sufficient autonomy, underlines Dominique Nadeau, president of Safari Condo, a Quebec company that fits RVs in commercial vehicles.

Even if GM announces the arrival of trucks with greater autonomy, up to 640 km, it will still be necessary to find where to place the water and propane tanks if the batteries already occupy the entire underside of the vehicle. “There are studies to be done to see how we can adapt the products,” says Ms. Nadeau. For now, we have no concrete plans. »

However, Safari Condo, which also manufactures trailers, has been offering one designed to be towed by an electric vehicle for two years already. The A2124 is the result of a collaboration with Redmond Hayes, a retiree who bought a Tesla Model X in 2017 with the intention of traveling around North America while camping. Dissatisfied with the performance of his car with his F1743 retractable roof trailer, and after tinkering with a plastic part to try to improve it, Mr. Hayes was invited to work with the Safari Condo team.

The loss of autonomy is not so much related to the weight you pull, but really to the aerodynamics of the whole.

A U.S. passenger has been arrested by police after landing on the runway and opening the emergency exit of an airliner and walking over the wing.

Chicago Police said they had arrested a passenger on United Airlines Flight 2478 from San Diego at 4:30 a.m. on the 5th at Chicago O’Hare International Airport.

According to the police, the passenger abruptly opened the emergency exit of the passenger plane while moving to the gate after landing on the runway and walked out onto the wing.

Witnesses said the passenger was seated next to the emergency exit and was acting suspiciously.

An airline ground crew found the passenger in question and stopped him, and the police, who received a report and arrived at the scene, arrested him and are investigating the circumstances.

It was confirmed that the arrival time of the plane was delayed by 20 minutes due to the accident.

Some passengers responded, “I wonder why we couldn’t wait 5 more minutes at the most to arrive at the gate.”

A United Airlines spokesperson said: “Despite the accident, the plane landed well at the gate and all passengers and passengers disembarked safely.”

The Chicago Aviation Administration also said in a statement, “A passenger-related accident occurred early this morning at O’Hare International Airport, and one person was arrested and imprisoned, but no one was injured.”

After the quarantine exemption was enforced, a Korean businessman, Kim, who was looking for a flight ticket for a visit to Korea, which he had been waiting for, had to be embarrassed by the price that was too high. This is because, as before the Corona crisis, the usual unrestricted business class ticket amounted to a whopping $7,000. “No matter how many Koreans want to go to Korea, the number of flights has decreased,” Kim said.

 

As the Korean government lifted the mandatory quarantine for overseas arrivals, demand for flights to Korea from Korean Americans exploded, and the popularity of business class seats on airplanes is also skyrocketing. As the consumer sentiment for retaliatory travel, which was suppressed by the COVID-19 outbreak, has worked and the recovery of business seats has been slow, it is not only difficult to obtain business class tickets, but also prices are skyrocketing.

According to the Korean travel industry, the reservation sales rate is also rising sharply as the demand for business class on flights to Korea has increased recently. As a result, business class reservations close earlier than economy class reservations at some times, and prices have also skyrocketed.

The basic price of business class tickets for national airlines such as Korean Air and Asiana Airlines is $4,200, but as reservations are quickly sold out until next month and June, the price of the remaining business class tickets is well above $4,000 and $5,000. In the case of a business class ticket that departs SF in early June and returns to SF on the 20th, the cheapest is on sale at around $4,500. For weekend departures, the price of a business class ticket goes up to $7,000.

SF Korean Air said, “As more Koreans are looking for business class, the price of business class tickets has risen significantly.” “For flights departing from SF in May and June, more than 90% of both economy and business class reservations are occupied, and business class flight prices remain. “It has skyrocketed to $7,000,” he said.

Asiana Airlines branch manager Jang Yoon-jong also said, “Since the self-quarantine was lifted, the demand for both economy and business class has soared and is currently around 80% full.”

In addition, national airlines will start increasing flights from next month, but the shortage of business class is also a factor in the surge in business class ticket prices.

Based on flights departing from SF, Korean Air has 30 business class seats and Asiana Airlines has 28 seats per flight.

Due to this situation, it has become even more difficult to upgrade seats or purchase business class tickets using unused mileage due to the COVID-19 crisis. As the popularity of business class increases, the number of Koreans who want to purchase business class tickets for the second half of this year in advance is also increasing significantly.

As the demand for Korean-bound travel continues to surge, the concerns of national airlines are deepening. Although we are considering increasing the number of flights or changing the type of aircraft by comprehensively reviewing aviation demand, it is expected that it will take some time before this becomes a reality.

An official of the national airline said, “Currently, we are analyzing whether the explosive demand for travel to Korea is an optical illusion caused by the atmospheric effect or a temporary phenomenon. It will take some time,” he said.