Susie
09-28-2006, 04:01 PM
Hi
For your info
http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060928/REPORTER/609280319/1177
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Published Thursday, September 28, 2006
THE BRITISH AREN'T COMING!
London Makes Visa Process Longer and More Expensive
By MICHAEL W. FREEMAN
The Reporter Editor
FOUR CORNERS -- In the past 12 months, the waiting time for a visa from the United Kingdom to the U.S. has been extended from one month to up to nine months. For businesses in Four Corners that rely on a steady and solid influx of British vacationers, that spells a potential disaster.
Michael Eckersley, director of Sunsplash Vacation Homes in Davenport, said any tightening of the visa rules could become detrimental to a region that hosts 7,088 vacation rental properties in Polk County alone. He noted that some British residents are now paying $1,000 to "fast track" their visa approval, but are still waiting several months just to get an appointments at the London Embassy.
"We've got one guy who has been waiting six months for a renewal," Eckersley said. "And six months is nothing."
The tightening of the once loose visa rules for British visitors to the U.S. has a lot of local vacation rental property owners nervous. The story of Four Corners would be incomplete without mentioning how popular the region is with British tourists, who not only spend weeks or even months each year in the area, but have purchased many of the new homes built here in the past five years. British pubs are multiplying along sections of U.S. 27 and U.S. 192, British tabloid newspapers are easy to find in convenience stores in Four Corners, and specialized British foods are sold in area stores, including the Wal-Mart Superstore on U.S. 27 in South Lake County.
So it's no surprise that property managers like Eckersley, who rely on those visitors, are worried about the changes coming about in their native country's visa program. Last week, Eckersley took his concerns to a group that clearly shares them, the Central Florida Property Managers Association, which held its monthly meeting at the Mystic Dunes Golf Club near ChampionsGate.
Eckersley blamed London for the tougher visa requirements.
"They're the ones dragging their feet," he said. "London is the problem. They don't understand the problem here in Central Florida. London is seeing repeated applications for visa renewals. I think it has frightened them."
The delay in getting a visa has become an expensive nightmare for many British property owners in the region, he said, noting that the cost of traveling back to the U.K. to renew a visa can be as high as $15,000. He also noted that those selling local businesses and vacation rental properties don't want to wait several months for a visa to be obtained, which has caused potential investors to start looking elsewhere.
Another problem, he said, is that the children of visa holders get penalized when they reach age 21, and technically have to leave this country -- regardless of the fact that many were brought up as Americans in local schools.
"We are going to request that at the age of 16, or after three years in the U.S., they should be able to apply for citizenship," he said.
Eckersley also noted that when a visa holder dies, that person's spouse is given three weeks to prepare for a funeral and burial -- then asked to sell the family business and all property before being required to leave the country.
"You are breaking up a family," he said.
These difficulties are having an impact on service industries like vacation rentals, Eckersley said.
"The immigration personnel do not seem to be aware that there are some 25,000 private homes in the Four Corners area, making it the equivalent of a 100,000-bed hotel," he said. "That would require a minimum staff of 70,000. Most of these (short-term rental) companies are not huge conglomerates. They're mom-and-pop shops, and they add a lot to the economy. People having to wait so long for their visas are not putting money into any more of their property."
Eckersley has been asking British visitors and property managers to contact him by e-mail at Rentals@sunsplash.com. and let him know if they've had similar problems. He hopes to put together a report that can be sent to the London Embassy, letting officials there know just how problematic the visa delays have become.
"We have to understand their problems," he said. "We have to try to give them and the politicians the answers they're looking for."
"We should really learn all the facts and figures and be in a position to throw them at anyone who is in a position of authority," said David Leather, president of the Central Florida Property Managers Association.
For your info
http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060928/REPORTER/609280319/1177
The Reporter Printer-Friendly Version
E-Mail This Article
Discuss This Article
Published Thursday, September 28, 2006
THE BRITISH AREN'T COMING!
London Makes Visa Process Longer and More Expensive
By MICHAEL W. FREEMAN
The Reporter Editor
FOUR CORNERS -- In the past 12 months, the waiting time for a visa from the United Kingdom to the U.S. has been extended from one month to up to nine months. For businesses in Four Corners that rely on a steady and solid influx of British vacationers, that spells a potential disaster.
Michael Eckersley, director of Sunsplash Vacation Homes in Davenport, said any tightening of the visa rules could become detrimental to a region that hosts 7,088 vacation rental properties in Polk County alone. He noted that some British residents are now paying $1,000 to "fast track" their visa approval, but are still waiting several months just to get an appointments at the London Embassy.
"We've got one guy who has been waiting six months for a renewal," Eckersley said. "And six months is nothing."
The tightening of the once loose visa rules for British visitors to the U.S. has a lot of local vacation rental property owners nervous. The story of Four Corners would be incomplete without mentioning how popular the region is with British tourists, who not only spend weeks or even months each year in the area, but have purchased many of the new homes built here in the past five years. British pubs are multiplying along sections of U.S. 27 and U.S. 192, British tabloid newspapers are easy to find in convenience stores in Four Corners, and specialized British foods are sold in area stores, including the Wal-Mart Superstore on U.S. 27 in South Lake County.
So it's no surprise that property managers like Eckersley, who rely on those visitors, are worried about the changes coming about in their native country's visa program. Last week, Eckersley took his concerns to a group that clearly shares them, the Central Florida Property Managers Association, which held its monthly meeting at the Mystic Dunes Golf Club near ChampionsGate.
Eckersley blamed London for the tougher visa requirements.
"They're the ones dragging their feet," he said. "London is the problem. They don't understand the problem here in Central Florida. London is seeing repeated applications for visa renewals. I think it has frightened them."
The delay in getting a visa has become an expensive nightmare for many British property owners in the region, he said, noting that the cost of traveling back to the U.K. to renew a visa can be as high as $15,000. He also noted that those selling local businesses and vacation rental properties don't want to wait several months for a visa to be obtained, which has caused potential investors to start looking elsewhere.
Another problem, he said, is that the children of visa holders get penalized when they reach age 21, and technically have to leave this country -- regardless of the fact that many were brought up as Americans in local schools.
"We are going to request that at the age of 16, or after three years in the U.S., they should be able to apply for citizenship," he said.
Eckersley also noted that when a visa holder dies, that person's spouse is given three weeks to prepare for a funeral and burial -- then asked to sell the family business and all property before being required to leave the country.
"You are breaking up a family," he said.
These difficulties are having an impact on service industries like vacation rentals, Eckersley said.
"The immigration personnel do not seem to be aware that there are some 25,000 private homes in the Four Corners area, making it the equivalent of a 100,000-bed hotel," he said. "That would require a minimum staff of 70,000. Most of these (short-term rental) companies are not huge conglomerates. They're mom-and-pop shops, and they add a lot to the economy. People having to wait so long for their visas are not putting money into any more of their property."
Eckersley has been asking British visitors and property managers to contact him by e-mail at Rentals@sunsplash.com. and let him know if they've had similar problems. He hopes to put together a report that can be sent to the London Embassy, letting officials there know just how problematic the visa delays have become.
"We have to understand their problems," he said. "We have to try to give them and the politicians the answers they're looking for."
"We should really learn all the facts and figures and be in a position to throw them at anyone who is in a position of authority," said David Leather, president of the Central Florida Property Managers Association.