The world is finally opening up as COVID cases are dropping and the situation seems to be improving by the day. While many countries still haven't opened doors for Indian travellers, some of the nations have stepped up and eased the restrictions for India.

However, countries that had recently relaxed tourist visa rules for Indians including the Maldives, Nepal and the UAE, have put a ban again on Indian holidaymakers for the time-being. Below is a list of countries allowing travellers from India as of yet, with certain conditions.

1. Maldives

Flight operations to Maldives, one of the most preferred tourist destinations in the world, is about to begin next week from July 15. If you’re planning to fly from India, then please note that Go First, which was GoAir before, will be operating flights from Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai to Malé from July 15th onwards.

The flight will be available twice a week on every Thursdays and Sundays. Subsequently, from August 4, more flights will operate on Wednesdays and Saturdays. And if everything goes well, then from September 3 onwards, the flights between the two countries will start functioning on a daily basis.

2. Canada

From next week, Indians will be allowed to enter Canada by taking connecting flights as direct flights remain prohibited till July 21. The Indian travellers will have to produce a negative Covid-19 test result taken at the final point of departure to Canada.

"Fully vaccinated travellers allowed to enter Canada may be exempted from federal quarantine and day 8 testing starting July 5. Only vaccines approved by the Government of Canada will be accepted," Public Health Agency of Canada tweeted last week.

Canada has so far approved the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Astra Zeneca/Covishield, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines. However, Canada has not approved Covaxin from Bharat Biotech and Sputnik V from the Russian Gamaleya Center.

Restrictions will remain in place for those not fully vaccinated or vaccinated with a jab not authorised in Canada. Such travellers will have to complete the three-day quarantine at a hotel while awaiting results of their tests, submit to a second test on day eight of their arrival and complete the full 14-day period of self-isolation.

However, fully vaccinated individuals will be allowed to skip the mandatory three-day institutional isolation in Canada. Vaccination status will have to be uploaded on the Canadian government’s ArriveCan app before reaching Canada.

Canada eased travel restrictions will be for permanent residents, international students and temporary workers with a valid work permit.  

3. Germany

In the case of Germany, the country's health agency Robert Koch Institute has lifted its ban on travellers from five countries hit by the Delta strain COVID-19, including India, UK, Russia, Nepal, and Portugal.

Germany reclassified India under the "high-incidence areas" from "virus variant countries". The change eases a ban on entry for travellers who are not German residents or citizens. Germany had introduced "virus variant country" travel category to prevent the entry of the Delta coronavirus variant.

4. South Korea

In South Korea, Indian travellers don't need to quarantine themselves for two weeks if they have received both doses of the Covishield vaccine. However, those who have received Covaxin would need to quarantine themselves for two weeks as the Bharat Biotech vaccine is yet to get the World Health Organisation (WHO) approval.

5. Russia

Russia is among one of the few countries that is allowing Indians to arrive at tourist visas but with fewer flights operating at present, the outbound traffic isn't worth writing home about. Also, promises of 'vaccine holidays' are turning out to be false, because Russian authorities have confirmed to India Today Television that the country isn't inoculating tourists.

6. Turkey

Turkey is welcoming Indian tourists but it mandates 14-days quarantine upon landing. Travelers will have to undergo an RT-PCR test on the fourteenth day and only on testing negative, will they be allowed to leave the quarantine facility.

7. Egypt

Egypt is a destination open to Indian tourists too, but all those arriving in the country will have to take a rapid DNA test upon arrival. If found positive, travelers will either be asked to return to their point of departure or will be isolated for at least 14 days.

8. Switzerland

In a statement issued by the Swiss government, entry from a country with a “variant of the virus of concern“ will also be allowed with certain conditions, which includes countries in the “high-risk” category like India, reported India Today.

“Persons who have been vaccinated or who have recovered from the disease will be permitted to enter Switzerland from these countries or regions without having to be tested or to quarantine as long as it is certain that the vaccination offers good protection. Those who have neither been vaccinated nor have recovered must present a negative PCR test or rapid antigen test and go into quarantine on entry,” the Swiss government's statement said.

9. South Africa

South Africa hasn't imposed any travel restriction on Indian tourists since the beginning of the pandemic but flight options remain limited as do ports of entry. South Africa is currently under Level 1 curfew, which amounts to travelling under restrictions, possibly not amenable to holidaymakers. 

The second wave of the coronavirus pandemic in India brought a host of flight bans to foreign countries. These include preferred holiday destinations such as the United Kingdom, United States, Europe, United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Thailand and Sri Lanka among others.

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The UK Immigration rules require that certain immigration routes must fulfil an English Language requirement.

In this post, we discuss specifically discuss the requirements that applicants have to meet for some UK family and partner visa applications. 

Family Visa routes and the English Language Requirement 

Persons applying as a fiancé(e), proposed civil partners, civil partners, spouses, unmarried partners and same-sex partners of British citizens or persons settled in the UK must fulfil an English Language Requirement. The same requirement applies to persons applying as the parent of a child in the UK. Partners of members of the HM Forces who are British citizens or have settled status also have to fulfil the English Language Requirement. 

How to fulfil the English Language Requirement 

Applicants can fulfil the English Language requirement in several ways:

• You have to pass a test at or above the required Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) level with an approved provider; or  
• You are a national of a majority English speaking country; or 
• Have an academic qualification (Bachelor, Master’s or PhD) awarded in the UK; or 
• You have a similar academic qualification awarded outside the UK. It is deemed by Ecctis (previously known as UK NARIC) to meet or exceed the UK standard and was taught in English at or above the CEFR level. 

Many South Africans think that they automatically fulfil the English language requirement as they are from a majority English speaking country or because their mother tongue is English. Unfortunately, the Home Office does not recognise South Africa as a majority English speaking country, and South Africans have to meet the English language requirement in one of the other ways. 

We strongly advise that visa applicants who need to sit an English language test speak to a consultant to ensure they sit the English test at the correct level from an approved provider. The Home Office will not accept tests results from providers that are not approved by them or not at the correct level. 

Exemptions from the English Language Requirement 

The Home Office exempt certain categories of persons from the English Language Requirement. This include: 

• Applicants that are 65 years or older at the date of the UK visa application; 
• Applicants who have a physical or mental condition that prevents them from meeting the requirement; 
• Or in cases where exceptional circumstances are preventing a person from meeting the requirement. In such cases, we strongly recommend that you seek advice from our  consultant

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Service provider has 48 hours to repair system crashes

The department of home affairs, which processes millions of documents each year, bought a cheap package of network services that takes its service provider up to two days to repair when the system crashes. 

Long queues are the order of the day at home affairs offices with the public frequently told as an explanation that “the system is down”. Network services are procured through the State Information and Technology Agency (Sita), which either provides them itself or uses external service providers. .

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The investment captured through 'gold' visas fell 81% in May, in homologous terms, to 27.7 million Euros, according to the calculations made by Lusa based on SEF data.

In May last year, the investment had amounted to 146.1 million Euros.

Compared to April (51.2 million Euros), investment resulting from the Residence Permit for Investment (ARI) programme fell 45.8 percent.

According to data from the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF), 52 golden visas were granted in May, of which 46 were for the purchase of real estate (11 for urban rehabilitation), five for capital transfers and one for job creation.

The purchase of real estate totalled 26 million Euros in May, of which 4.2 million Euros in acquisition for urban rehabilitation, while the transfer of capital was responsible for 1.6 million Euros.

By countries, 24 golden visas were granted to China, four to South Africa, three to Canada, three to the United States and two to Vietnam.

In the first five months of the year 378 golden visas were granted, of which 55 were in January, 100 in February, 73 in March and 98 in April.

The investment raised between January and May totalled €201.1 million, down 31.5 percent compared to the same period in 2020.

The ARI concession programme, launched in October 2012, recorded until last May - in accumulated terms - an investment €5,840,181,311.08. Of this amount, most corresponds to the purchase of real estate, which after more than eight years of the programme amounts to €5,283,041,677.44, with the purchase for urban rehabilitation totalling €309,889,741.74.

The investment resulting from the capital transfer is 557,139,633.64 Euros.

Since the creation of The ARI concession programme, which aims to attract foreign investment, 9,767 ARI have been granted: two in 2012, 494 in 2013, 1,526 in 2014, 766 in 2015, 1,414 in 2016, 1,351 in 2017, 1,409 in 2018, 1,245 in 2019, 1,182 in 2020 and 378 in 2021.

By May, 9,170 visas had been granted by way of purchase of real estate, of which 859 with a view to urban rehabilitation.

By requirement of capital transfer, the visas granted total 578 and the ARI obtained by job creation rises to 19.

By nationalities, China leads the allocation of visas (4,923), followed by Brazil (1,021), Turkey (464), South Africa (403) and Russia (375).

Since the beginning of the programme 16,615 residence permits have been granted to reunited family members, of which 565 this year.

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Some South African students studying at Wuhan University in Hubei province in China have not received their stipends for the past three months. Photo: Wuhan University/LinkedIn

Some South African students studying at Wuhan University in Hubei province in China have not received their stipends for the past three months because the Free State government allegedly instructed embassy officials in that country to stop the payments.

City Press understands that this issue is just the tip of the iceberg, as the 27 students are allegedly owed more than R25 million for books and visa permit allowances that have allegedly not been paid for the past three years.

The Free State government confirmed that there were “delays” in stipend payments, including late tuition fees. The provincial government attributed this to the repatriation of the students due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The province, however, did not respond to claims relating to unpaid funds for books and visa permit allowances, only stating that it was “working around the clock to resolve other issues” raised by the students.

Ruben Sondag, leader of a National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) branch that represents the students, said the stipends were stopped in March this year. 

“Most of the people arrived early in 2020. We all received our stipends via our Chinese bank cards. March was the last time we got our stipends. What officials are saying is just an excuse. “The embassy was told to stop paying our stipends by April. The mission was advised not to proceed [paying] any student who was in South Africa,” Sondag said.

He said the nonpayment of stipends resulted in some of them being unable to buy data for online exams and to conduct research.

Sondag said those affected included three medical students, four finance, five accounting, and 15 international economics and trading students.

All we need is help from the Free State government to pay our stipends and tuition so that we can continue with our studies

Newman Chingwaru

Each of them, he said, was supposed to receive a R5 550 monthly stipend as well as a R23 430 annual book allowance and R2 400 for their visa permit.

Newman Chingwaru, deputy leader in the Nehawu branch, said students were willing to return to China when the pandemic had subsided and things return to normality.

“We need help to continue with our studies and online classes, which we have to finish before the end of this semester. Failure to so will lead to our repeating the year. All we need is help from the Free State government to pay our stipends and tuition so that we can continue with our studies,” Chingwaru said.

Fruitless interaction with embassy authorities

City Press has in its possession a trail of communication between the students and embassy officials in China. In an email dated April 7, the students asked the embassy whether their funds had been received.

Lesego Pelompe, who is referred to as a third secretary for corporate services and consular affairs on the department of international relations and cooperation’s website, responded on April 17, saying: “As previously mentioned, the mission has not received any new approvals from April 2021/22, therefore no payments can be done until approvals are received. As I said previously, it would be appreciated if you follow up with the relevant department in this regard.”

On April 19, the students sent another email to ask when their stipends would be paid, as they were busy with online exams and theses. “Most of them don’t have internet access and can’t afford to buy data,” the email reads.

In an email sent on April 27, Pelompe responded that “the mission was advised not to process any payments, as students are still in South Africa”.

She then referred students to the Free State government for further clarity.

‘Unintended delays’

Setjhaba Maphalla, spokesperson for Free State Premier Sisi Ntombela’s office, said that despite “unintended delays due to ratification and internal Public Finance Management Act processes, there was approval granted for payment of stipends and tuition for the students”.

The delay, Maphalla said, was also due to the fact that students had been back in the country since the beginning of the national state of disaster, which was declared in March last year.

The caring government of the Free State has attended to the matter expeditiously

Setjhaba Maphalla, spokesperson for Free State Premier Sisi Ntombela

“The students were part of the cohort [that was] repatriated by the national government during the beginning of the lockdown in 2020. As such, a benchmarking process had to be undertaken in consultation with the provincial treasury and the higher education, science [and innovation] department to ensure that the money paid was appropriate and justified, as students were no longer in the People’s Republic of China, but studying online and remotely from their respective homes. 

“The students will thus get a stipend in line with the standards of living in South Africa, considering issues such as data for online studies, and not the R5 500 as stipulated by your publication, as they are no longer in China. After thorough considerations, the students will thus receive R2 500. “The caring government of the Free State has attended to the matter expeditiously ... Government continues to work around the clock to resolve other issues raised by the students,” Maphalla said

He added that the provincial government had a good story to tell as it had helped about 1 000 students to study abroad, pursuing degrees in subjects in areas that were identified as critical to the development of the province, including agriculture, engineering, trade, economics and business, as well as humanities and medicine.

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