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<TITLE>COOL6 - potential problem</TITLE>
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<P ALIGN=LEFT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Following the</FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">announcement</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> of the dates and venue for the 6</FONT><SUP><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">th</FONT></SUP><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> International Conference on Oceanic</FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Linguistics</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"></FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">-</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> Hilo, July 2004</FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">-</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> a possible problem has come to my</FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">attention</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">. Recent media reports have</FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">indicated</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"></FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">that</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> the US</FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Immigration</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> Service is</FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">tightening</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> up its visa</FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">processing</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> re</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">gulation</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">s, and</FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">requires that each applicant from</FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">certain</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"></FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">countries</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"></FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">-</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> I cannot estab</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">l</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">ish which - attend a personal interview at the embassy, as</FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">well</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> as paying</FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">a</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> fee of US $100.</FONT></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">In the case of participants who are citizens</FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">of</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"></FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Oceanic</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">-speaking</FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">countries</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">, this will require travel outside their home</FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">country</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"></FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">simply</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> to have a shot at getting a visa, with no guarantee of success. In my</FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">own</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> case, for</FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">example</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">, as a citizen of Vanuatu, I</FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">would</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> first have to travel to Papua New Guinea, where the embassy</FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">responsible</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> for Vanuatu is located,</FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">then</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> return here, then travel to Hilo via Fiji, Australia or New Zealand.</FONT></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">One of the</FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">intentions</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> behind</FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">the</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> Oceanic</FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Conferences</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> was to try to encourage</FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">native-speaker linguists</FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">from Pacific</FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">countries</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"></FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">to attend. These</FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">regulations</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> will make that extremely difficult, because of the additional expense involved. I am not sure to how many other</FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">countries</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> these regulations apply, but perhaps someone on the list</FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">might</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> be able</FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">to</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> get better information. (My email messages to the</FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">US</FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">embassy in PNG keep bouncing and those to the US</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> embassy in Fiji go</FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">unanswered</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">).</FONT></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">John Lynch</FONT></P>
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<P ALIGN=LEFT><FONT SIZE=1 FACE="Arial">XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX</FONT></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><FONT SIZE=1 FACE="Arial">John Lynch</FONT></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><FONT SIZE=1 FACE="Arial">Pro-VC and Director Pacific Languages Unit</FONT></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><FONT SIZE=1 FACE="Arial">Emalus Campus - USP</FONT></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><FONT SIZE=1 FACE="Arial">PMB 072</FONT></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><FONT SIZE=1 FACE="Arial">Port Vila. Vanuatu.</FONT></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><FONT SIZE=1 FACE="Arial">Phone: +678 22748. Fax: +678 22633</FONT></P>
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