Russia to Launch Pilot Project to Fingerprint Visa Applicants

• The Moscow Times
• Sep. 28 2014 17:15

Russian embassies and consulates in four countries will soon launch a pilot project requiring visa applicants to submit their fingerprints, Interfax reported Sunday, citing the Foreign Ministry's consular division.

Starting in January 2015, Russian consulates in Britain, Denmark, Myanmar and Namibia will begin implementing fingerprinting technology, the report said.

The initiative will help determine the feasibility of collecting biometric data at other Russian diplomatic and consular facilities, according to Yevgeny Ivanov, the director of the Foreign Ministry's consular department.

Ivanov said that the project had been under consideration for several years and that it was not intended to indicate a tightening of requirements for Russian visa applicants.

He added that Schengen countries are set to begin collecting the biometric data of Russian visa applicants next year.

Read at http://www.themoscowtimes.com/article/507937.html

Thousands of Americans give up their US citizenship because of restrictive new tax laws.

Thousands of Americans abroad are giving up their citizenship as the implementation of a complex new tax law causes banks to shut down accounts for US expatriates.

Until 2012, Moon was actually an American – albeit one who had lived in Canada for 32 years. She settled in so well that in 2008, she added Canadian citizenship to her US one.

But Moon cut ties with America three years ago, after new banking laws aimed at tax evaders required expats like her to file more thorough US tax returns. She was five years behind on the news. “I was terrified we’d lose all our money,” she says.

After back-filing years of tax returns, Moon renounced her US citizenship in 2012. It was a defiant act she describes as being one of the first canaries to leave the coalmine as US banking laws make life more difficult for American expatriates. She wasn’t pleased she had to do it.

“It was like cutting off my right arm,” to not be American any more, says Moon, who only became a Canadian citizen in 2008. “Now, I’m simply angry.”

In February this year, the US and Canadian governments signed an intergovernmental agreement to co-operate on Fatca. The Foreign Accounts Taxation Compliance Act required all foreign banks to disclose the financial information of any American with assets over $50,000 sitting in banks outside of the US.

Steep penalties add muscle to the law. If a foreign bank – not just in Canada, but anywhere – fails to report even a single US citizen as a customer to the IRS, the US Treasury department would withhold 30% of the banks’ US income as penalty.

Foreign banks, some of whom earned a reputation as tax scofflaws, are now deeply afraid of the Internal Revenue Service. Scared of running afoul of US banking laws, foreign banks are taking extreme steps to limit US citizens to a narrow range of services. 

The complications have become so prevalent that, as a last resort, thousands of Americans have asked US Consulates abroad to cancel their citizenship. In 2013, 2,999 Americans renounced their citizenship; in 2014 so far, it’s a little more than 1,500 people. 

Possibly to stem the tide, the state department raised the fee for citizenship renunciation fourfold on September 12, from $450 to $2,350. Officials seem to be hoping the steep fee will discourage more people from giving up their passports.

Read more at http://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/sep/24/americans-chased-by-irs-give-up-citizenship-after-being-forced-out-of-bank-accounts?CMP=fb_gu

DV-2016 Green Card Lottery Entry Period to open on October 1, 2014 until November 3, 2014.

DV Lottery 2016 (Green Card Lottery) entry period will be open October 1 to November 3, 2014. Entries can be submitted ONLY during this month. The entry period will close on November 3, 2014.

For DV-2016, natives of the following countries are NOT eligible to apply, because more than 50,000 

natives of these countries immigrated to the United States in the previous five years:

Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (mainland-born), Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, 

El Salvador, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, South Korea, 

United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam.

Persons born in Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR, and Taiwan are eligible.

There are no changes in eligibility this year.

Completing your Electronic Entry for the DV-2016 Program.

Submit your Electronic Diversity Visa Entry Form (E-DV Entry Form or DS-5501), online at 

www.dvlottery.state.gov. Incomplete entries will not be accepted. 

There is no cost to register for the DV Program.

When can I submit my entry?

The DV-2016 entry period will run from 12:00 pm (noon), Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4), Wednesday, 

October 1, 2014, until 12:00 pm (noon), Eastern Standard Time (EST) (GMT-5), Monday, November 3, 2014. 

Each year, millions of people submit entries. Holding the entry period on these dates ensures that selectees 

are notified in a timely manner and gives both the visa applicants and our embassies and consulates time to 

prepare and complete cases for visa issuance. You are strongly encouraged to enter early during the registration period. 

Excessive demand at the end of the registration period may slow the system down. No entries will be accepted after noon EST on Monday, November 3, 2014

See instructions at http://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/DV-2016-Instructions-Translations/DV_2016_Instructions_English.pdf

***If you require assistance with submitting your entry into the next year DV Lottery program, you are welcome to email me for assistance, and I will forward to you our questionnaire and list of requirements.***

Luba Smal.

Immigration Attorney.

Note: This response is provided for legal information purposes only and should not be considered a legal advice; it doesn't create an attorney-client relationship. In some jurisdictions it might be considered an attorney advertising. For more information or to schedule a consultation please visit http://www.law-visa-usa.com/contact_us.html or email at Attorney@law-visa-usa.com