How many Times were Diplomatic Relations between Russia and Bulgaria Severed
If we look at history, there are not many cases in which relations between Bulgaria and Russia at the state level were as bad as they are at the moment.
Bulgarians' Long Journey to UK
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UK law experts Nicola Rogers (R) and Rick Scannell (L) will have to find the answers to the questions Bulgarian applicants for UK business visas are asking. Photo by Yuliana Nikolova (Sofia News Agency)
By Nadya Dimitrova
Over the last few months more and more Bulgarians willing to seek their fortune in the United Kingdom are feeling fouled by the immigrants authorities. Why is that and whose fault it is, these are just a few of the questions that need urgent answers.
Most of the Bulgarian applicants for business visas are being rejected because the situation has turned into a convenient political instrument in the hands of the British politicians, experts from the BG Help association claim. The fate of over 30,000 Bulgarians currently residing in the UK as well as that of many others trying to get there has been seriously affected by the latest reforms in the UK immigration laws.
The visa scandal that hit Bulgaria, Romania and the UK attracted the interest of the Joint Council for Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI), an independent voluntary organisation, campaigning for justice and combating racism in immigration and asylum law and policy.
UK law experts Nicola Rogers and Rick Scannell, who came to Bulgaria to investigate the visa scandal, pointed out that the EC Association Agreement (ECAA) provides a fundamental right for all Bulgarian nationals: to establish themselves in business in England and all EU member states. And the heart of that important right is not to be discriminated, Mr Scannell underlined.
But is that really so? There is a dramatic difference in grant and refusal rate in 2003 and 2004. Following the visas scandal inquiry the refusals have been massively increasing with statistics showing that one in ten Bulgarian applicants is granted visa. A total of 31,812 business visa applications have been filed in the UK for the period June 1, 2003 - April 30, 2004 and just 4,070 of them came from Bulgarians.
The UK authorities are using the Bulgarian applicants as scapegoat for the mistakes into the UK policy, according to the BG Help association.
But are the British authorities the only one to be blamed? How come that Bulgarian applicants with poor knowledge in English language and with badly prepared business plans are trying to establish their own business in the UK?
No one is saying that the Bulgarian applicants are perfectly prepared, perhaps some of them need to do some more research before they decide to give up their entire life in Bulgaria and go to the UK, Nicola Rogers said. But though in some cases the UK immigration authorities have taken the right decision, there are other people who have been unfairly judged, Mrs Rogers pointed out. These are the people that have the right to appeal that decision and they should exercise it, and that is why we are here, she underlined.
Obviously there is something to be investigated and something to be cleared out. So the main question remains "Where exactly does the mistake stand?" Is it in the UK authorities, the Bulgarian applicants or is it hiding somewhere in the system. And now most of the Bulgarian applicants are looking to Nicola Rogers and Rick Scannell to answer these questions.
Over the last few months more and more Bulgarians willing to seek their fortune in the United Kingdom are feeling fouled by the immigrants authorities. Why is that and whose fault it is, these are just a few of the questions that need urgent answers.
Most of the Bulgarian applicants for business visas are being rejected because the situation has turned into a convenient political instrument in the hands of the British politicians, experts from the BG Help association claim. The fate of over 30,000 Bulgarians currently residing in the UK as well as that of many others trying to get there has been seriously affected by the latest reforms in the UK immigration laws.
The visa scandal that hit Bulgaria, Romania and the UK attracted the interest of the Joint Council for Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI), an independent voluntary organisation, campaigning for justice and combating racism in immigration and asylum law and policy.
UK law experts Nicola Rogers and Rick Scannell, who came to Bulgaria to investigate the visa scandal, pointed out that the EC Association Agreement (ECAA) provides a fundamental right for all Bulgarian nationals: to establish themselves in business in England and all EU member states. And the heart of that important right is not to be discriminated, Mr Scannell underlined.
But is that really so? There is a dramatic difference in grant and refusal rate in 2003 and 2004. Following the visas scandal inquiry the refusals have been massively increasing with statistics showing that one in ten Bulgarian applicants is granted visa. A total of 31,812 business visa applications have been filed in the UK for the period June 1, 2003 - April 30, 2004 and just 4,070 of them came from Bulgarians.
The UK authorities are using the Bulgarian applicants as scapegoat for the mistakes into the UK policy, according to the BG Help association.
But are the British authorities the only one to be blamed? How come that Bulgarian applicants with poor knowledge in English language and with badly prepared business plans are trying to establish their own business in the UK?
No one is saying that the Bulgarian applicants are perfectly prepared, perhaps some of them need to do some more research before they decide to give up their entire life in Bulgaria and go to the UK, Nicola Rogers said. But though in some cases the UK immigration authorities have taken the right decision, there are other people who have been unfairly judged, Mrs Rogers pointed out. These are the people that have the right to appeal that decision and they should exercise it, and that is why we are here, she underlined.
Obviously there is something to be investigated and something to be cleared out. So the main question remains "Where exactly does the mistake stand?" Is it in the UK authorities, the Bulgarian applicants or is it hiding somewhere in the system. And now most of the Bulgarian applicants are looking to Nicola Rogers and Rick Scannell to answer these questions.
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