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How one elderly couple made their big move to Italy

US couple Tony Smarrelli, 74, and his wife, Francine, 75, were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary in Venice, Italy when they decided to move to Italy for good. The Smarrelli's, who are retired elementary teachers from New York and both of Italian descent relocated to the picturesque coastal town of Scalea in southern Italy. “We were in St Mark’s Square (in Venice) when a quartet started playing (classic Italian song) Malafemmina,” Tony recalled the day they decided to make the big move. “It brought tears to my eyes, because my father would put on his Italian records every Sunday for dinner and would sing that song to my mother.” Looking to reconnect with their Italian roots, they purchased a 139 metre property with three bedrooms, a dining room and a walk-in-closet for for €150,000 ($A247,754) in November 2023. “We flew to Italy for the second time in 2023 and put an offer in for that home. We then secured our visas in the US in three hours, sold our home (in the US), packed up our belongings and flew back to Italy in December 2023,” Tony said. While their home in the peaceful coastal time was already livable when they bought it, the couple chose to renovate it, spending an extra €80,000 (about $A132,086) to retile the property, add a new plumbing and electric system, as well as two new bathrooms, an entire kitchen, doors, windows and screens. The property was renovated within four-months, and they said that a similar home in the US would have been nearly impossible for them to afford. “It would be easily $US1 ($A1.5) million to $2 million to live on a coast of South California or (a place with) any coastal views on the Eastern Seaboard,” Tony said. Tony's father and grandfather initially immigrated to the US in 1983 to make a better life for themselves, now 86 years later, Tony has returned to his homeland. “Some of my best friends said it takes a lot of guts to pick up and move to another country at 74 years of age. “I tell them it took guts for my father and grandfather to come to another country on a boat for eight weeks with no home, no work, very little money, no resources to make a better life for themselves,” Tony said. “In our modern world, it’s just a lifestyle change and for us, it was a good choice.” The couple said since their big move, they've cut back nearly y $3000 ($A4574) per month on expenses, which amounts to $36,000 ($A54,894) a year. The couple now spends about $1200 ($A1825) a month between the two of them. Back in the US, the couple's mortgage alone was $US1500 per month ($A2281) “Monthly expenses in the US before leaving were between $US4800 to $US5000 a month. In all we are about $US3000 less monthly living here in Italy,” Tony said. Tony plans to apply for an Italian citizenship, and while his father was naturalised as an American citizen before he was born, he plans to rectify this by appealing to a local court. Images: CNN

International Travel

"20 years to life": Bali's brutal new law

Major changers are coming into effect for foreigners in Bali. Indonesia's Department of Immigration has doubled down on its zero-tolerance approach to unruly tourists, as those found in breach of immigration laws or have overstayed their visas could be sentenced to life behind bars. Crimes that were previously punishable with sentences from six months to one year in prison are increasing to jail-time of up to 20 years, according to The Bali Sun. “Indonesia is a country that upholds the tourism sector, but comfort must be accompanied by order. We want foreign nationals who come to Indonesia to understand and follow the rules and norms that apply in this country,” Director General of Immigration Law and Human Rights Silmy Karim said, according to local newspaper Nusa Bali. “We also try to ensure that those who come are quality tourists, through strengthening intelligence co-operation and information exchange with other countries.” There will also be an increase in immigration checkpoint officers, patrol officers and investigators, and more mobile taskforces. The rules won't affect tourists who apply for temporary visas on arrival and leave with in the mandated 30-day period or extend their visa and leave within 60 days. The Indonesian government has recently cracked down on foreigners overstaying their welcome, deporting more than 400 people this year alone for violating immigration laws. Just last year, a dozen Australians were among more than 200 foreigners kicked out of Bali for abusing the visa system by doing illegal business or working in Bali. This follows the introduction of the tourist tax and the release of their tourist dos and don'ts list, as they attempt to monitor foreigners' activities. Image: AsiaTravel / Shutterstock.com

Legal

The immigration numbers bidding war is pointless – there are limits to how many migrants Australia can accept

Since late last year, various business lobby groups, the <a href="https://www.afr.com/politics/australia-needs-explosive-surge-of-2-million-migrants-20211011-p58z0n" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NSW government</a>, management consultant <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/skilled-migrant-cap-stifles-economy-kpmg-analysis/news-story/dbeec35037ef1b117114bb8e6bdad394" target="_blank" rel="noopener">KPMG</a>, the <a href="https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/migration-boost-critical-to-recovery-business-council-20220217-p59xfc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Business Council</a> and now a number of <a href="https://theconversation.com/when-we-open-up-lets-open-up-big-top-economists-say-we-need-more-migrants-177359" target="_blank" rel="noopener">economists</a> have been throwing numbers around, talking up the need for higher levels of immigration. I have written previously on the <a href="https://johnmenadue.com/australias-facile-immigration-policy-debate/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">facile nature</a> of the immigration debate in Australia, on the part of both the groups calling for “immigration to be cut wherever possible” and the groups calling for a bigger Australia. The problem is the debate focuses on targets and numbers for permanent migration, often confusing this permanent migration program with what matters for population which is net migration. At the same time, too little attention is paid to how migration targets would be delivered, the risks involved, and how the risks would be managed. So let’s start with basics. <h2>What matters is net migration</h2> The <a href="https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/what-we-do/migration-program-planning-levels" target="_blank" rel="noopener">official migration program</a> reflects the number of permanent resident visas issued in any one year, irrespective of whether the person is already in Australia (perhaps for a long time on a different sort of visa) or has been living overseas. Over the past 15 years, more than half of these permanent resident visas have been issued to people who have already been living long-term in Australia. <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/migration-australia/latest-release" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Net migration</a> as calculated by the Australian Bureau of Statistics is a measure of long-term and permanent arrivals, including new people issued these visas, less departures of people who have been living long-term in Australia and intend to remain overseas for 12 out of the next 16 months. It is blind to visa status or citizenship. Net migration can fall sharply even when the migration program is large, as happened in <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/migration-australia/latest-release" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2014-15</a> when we had one of the largest permanent migration programs in Australia’s history, yet net migration fell to 180,000. A sharp fall in net migration is usually associated with a weak labour market leading to large outflows of Australians, or Australians deciding not to return, as happened in 1975-76, 1982-83, 1991-92 and 2008-09. On the other hand, even when the migration program is being cut, net migration can be forecast to rise. This is what happened in the 2019 budget, when Treasury forecast the <a href="https://archive.budget.gov.au/2019-20/bp1/download/bp1.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">highest</a> sustained level of net migration in our history, after a year in which the migration program was <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/plan-australias-future-population" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cut</a> from 190,000 to 160,000 per year. <h2>How many migrants, and which ones?</h2> Before discussing the various immigration targets that have recently been proposed, it’s useful to understand the government’s current forecasts and how it intends to deliver them – something surprisingly few do. The 2021-22 program has been set at <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/plan-australias-future-population" target="_blank" rel="noopener">160,000</a> per year. But Treasury’s 2021 Population Statement assumed to increase to <a href="https://population.gov.au/publications/statements/2021-population-statement" target="_blank" rel="noopener">190,000</a> per year from 2023-24. There is no official government commitment to this increase to 190,000 – and there probably won’t be ahead of the election. There has also been no indication of the composition of this larger program, or what might be needed to deliver it. Planning documents say the 2021-22 migration program will be <a href="https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/what-we-do/migration-program-planning-levels" target="_blank" rel="noopener">split evenly</a> between the family stream and the skill stream. This is because the government is at last clearing the very large <a href="https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/home-affairs-and-the-great-partner-visa-cover-up,14574" target="_blank" rel="noopener">backlog</a> of partner applications it (unlawfully in my view) allowed to build up. If the planned 72,000 partner visas in 2021-22 are delivered, the government might only need to allocate around 50,000 places for partners in future years because it will have cleared much of the backlog it has allowed to build up, which will result in a future overall family stream of around 60,000. This means that to deliver its total program of 160,000 from 2022-23, the government will need an extra 22,000 skilled migrants, and from 2023-24 when the total program increases to 190,000, an extra 52,000 skilled migrants. The current skill stream planning level of 79,600 has four main components. <ul> <li><a href="https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/employing-and-sponsoring-someone/sponsoring-workers/learn-about-sponsoring" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Employer-sponsored migration</a>: 23,503</li> </ul> There is scope to boost the number of these visas by processing them faster. However, even with a very strong labour market, it is highly unlikely that demand would rise much above 35,000 per year, especially if a more robust minimum salary requirement and strong monitoring of compliance with employer obligations are re-introduced to minimise the risk of wage theft. <ul> <li><a href="https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/business-innovation-and-investment-188" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Business innovation and investment</a>: 11,198</li> </ul> The passive investment subset of these visas, which provides visas to people who make a financial investment for a set period of time, is essentially a “<a href="https://johnmenadue.com/abul-rizvi-business-migration-should-focus-on-establishing-businesses-not-passive-investment/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">buy a visa</a>” scheme. It should be either abolished or modified to ensure active investment. I resisted establishment of the passive investment component until I left the department of immigration in 2007. Long-term, removing it would cut the number of business innovation and investment visas to around 5,000 per year. <ul> <li><a href="https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/the-folly-of-the-global-talent-independent-visa,14617" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Global talent independent</a> 9,584</li> </ul> This visa is highly susceptible to cronyism and corruption and attracts few migrants who wouldn’t otherwise qualify for other more robust visa categories. It should either be abolished or pared back to a few hundred per year for highly exceptional candidates. <ul> <li><a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/language/english/immigration-update-australian-states-open-skilled-visa-nomination-programs-for-2021-2022" target="_blank" rel="noopener">State and government sponsored and regional</a> 27,853</li> </ul> While the labour market is strong, there would be merit in increasing the allocation of places for these visas, as state governments are well placed to understand the needs of their jurisdictions. But it is unlikely they would be able to fill more than an additional 10,000 places per year, given the occupational targeting and employment criteria they have in place. <ul> <li><a href="https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/skilled-independent-189" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Skilled independent</a> 7,213</li> </ul> Once again, while the labour market is strong, there is scope to increase the size of this category, but there are also risks that would need to be managed. As these migrants have no confirmed job and face a four year wait for access to social security, diluting criteria for this visa to increase the numbers would mean a rising portion would struggle to secure a skilled job. Those with options may leave to another country where job prospects are stronger. Others would be forced to take whatever job they can, including at exploitative wages. In my experience, increasing the size of this visa category to more than around 25,000 would involve substantial risks, especially if the labour market weakens once current stimulus measures are removed. <h2>190,000 won’t be easy to deliver</h2> In total, what I foresee gives us a skill stream of around 100,000. Together with a family stream of 60,000, that provides only enough to fill the existing program of 160,000 per year – not enough to increase it to the 190,000 proposed by Treasury or the 220,000 proposed by the <a href="https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/migration-boost-critical-to-recovery-business-council-20220217-p59xfc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Business Council of Australia</a>. Those proposing much higher levels of immigration need to demonstrate how they would be delivered and how the risks of what might be a weaker labour market would be managed. And they need to acknowledge that the size of the migration program doesn’t determine net migration. That’s in large measure determined by the economy and how many Australians and migrants decide to leave, decide to stay overseas, or decide to return. This article originally appeared on The Conversation.

Travel Trouble

Djokovic escorted out of Australia

Images: Getty An “extremely disappointed” Novak Djokovic has been deported from Australia after last-ditch efforts to challenge a decision to cancel his visa failed. The World No.1 was seen being escorted by Australian Federal Police officers onto an Emirates flight to Dubai which left Melbourne’s Tullamarine airport at 10:30 on Sunday night. <img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7846842/new-project-1.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/5c3b8412f9ea44809da47b413d370bcd" /> The dramatic moment brings to an end an 11-day saga that captured the attention of the world and threw the Australian Open into chaos. <img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7846841/new-project.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/1b4e5e9c88234743820b896faa6a0664" /> The grand slam starts today without Djokovic, who is at risk of losing his world No.1 ranking to either Daniil Medvedev or Alexander Zverev should one of them win the tournament. Djokvoic had promised he would leave the country as soon as possible in a statement released after a three-judge panel of the Federal Court ruled unanimously against him. “I am extremely disappointed with the Court ruling,” Djokovic wrote on Sunday. “I respect the Court’s ruling and I will cooperate with the relevant authorities in relation to my departure from the country. “I am uncomfortable that the focus of the past weeks has been on me and I hope that we can all now focus on the game and tournament I love.” A three-judge panel ruled unanimously against Djokovic in a full court judicial review of Immigration Minister Alex Hawke’s decision to cancel his visa. The 34-year-old, who now also faces a potential three-year ban on re-entering Australia, was ordered to pay all legal costs incurred by the government. The judges did not provide reasons for their decisions but said they would do so in the coming days. The decision came after Immigration Minister Alex Hawke had cancelled Djokovic’s visa for a second time on Friday, citing a risk to public health and the chance the unvaccinated star’s presence in Australia could excite anti-vaccination sentiment. “Australia’s strong border protection policies have kept us safe during the pandemic,” Mr Hawke said in a statement after the court decision. “Strong border protection policies are also fundamental to safe-guarding Australia’s social cohesion which continues to strengthen despite the pandemic.” Chief Justice James Allsop said the court ruling was based on the lawfulness and legality of the minister’s decision in the context of the rounds of appeal lodged by Djokovic’s legal team. “It is no part of the function of the court to decide upon the merits or wisdom of the decision,” he explained. Under Australia’s Migration Act, certain deported people are unable to be granted a visa while offshore for a period of three years, meaning Djokovic could be barred from playing in the 2023 and 2024 Australian Opens as well. Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews told Sunrise the harsh penalty can be waived in certain situations, including compelling circumstances that affect the interests of Australia, or compassionate circumstances that affect the interests of an Australian citizen or permanent resident.

News

New visa twist as more Novak accusations emerge

After the decision to cancel Novak Djokovic's visa was overturned in Federal Court on Monday, the Serbian tennis champ is still at risk of being deported ahead of the Australian Open. Questions are now being asked about the information Novak provided on his Australia Travel Declaration form, as Australian Border Force officials are investigating if he lied on the document. Djokovic is facing allegations of traveling from his native Serbia to Spain in the 14 days before he flew to Australia last week. In his Travel Declaration form, the tennis champ ticked a box saying he has not travelled, and was not planning to travel, in the fortnight before his trip to Melbourne. A statement on the form reads, “Note: Giving false or misleading information is a serious offence. You may also be liable to a civil penalty for giving false or misleading information.” Djokovic flew from Spain to Dubai on January 4th, then boarded a flight from Dubai to Melbourne on January 5th. Following social media posts of Novak appearing to be in the Serbian capital of Belgrade over Christmas, multiple reports from international media outlets claim that Novak was in fact in Spain in early January to prepare for the Australian Open, which begins next week. On January 4, the <a rel="noopener" href="https://tennishead.net/its-disappointing-declares-two-time-slam-finalist-on-novak-djokovic-uncertainty/" target="_blank" class="body-link">Tennis Head </a>website reported: “Djokovic is still training in Marbella, Spain on the same surface and with the official balls for the Australian Open.” <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> We can confirm <a href="https://twitter.com/DjokerNole?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DjokerNole</a> is ready for <a href="https://twitter.com/AustralianOpen?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AustralianOpen</a> if possible! <a href="https://t.co/q9WJFzBU41">pic.twitter.com/q9WJFzBU41</a> — SotoTennis Academy (@SotoTennis) <a href="https://twitter.com/SotoTennis/status/1476898807795392527?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 31, 2021</a></blockquote> On Monday night, a spokesman for Federal Immigration Alex Hawke said “it remains within (his) ... discretion to consider cancelling Mr Djokovic’s visa under his personal power of cancellation within section 133C (3) of the Migration Act”. “The Minister is currently considering the matter and the process remains ongoing,” the spokesman said. Government lawyer Christopher Tran said that if the Immigration Minister chooses to exercise his "personal power of cancellation", Novak would be unable to return to Australia for three years. Image credits: Getty Images

News

How to cut queues at immigration – with maths

When going on holiday to a foreign country, there’s one part of the journey that everybody dreads: border control. Everyone has to have their passport checked by an immigration official when entering a new country – and even when leaving some – so queues are almost inevitable. At Heathrow airport – <a href="https://www.internationalairportreview.com/article/32311/top-20-largest-airports-world-passenger-number/">one of the largest in the world</a> – many arriving passengers are <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-6030399/BA-boss-criticises-two-hour-queues-Heathrow-Airport-border-farce.html">experiencing waiting times</a> of up to two hours at passport control. Border control officials seek to manage these queues through staff rosters – and when there aren’t enough staff rostered on to meet the number of arriving passengers, then queues at passport control can become excessively long. Staff rostering presents what’s known in industry as an “optimisation problem”. It is used in hospitals for nurses, in call centres and even in schools, <a href="http://www.optimisationintherealworld.co.uk/2018/04/13/challenges-in-producing-a-staff-roster/">for playground supervision</a>. The main goals are typically to ensure that services are completed in a reasonable amount of time, and to reduce the cost of staff. But these two goals are often contradictory – since paying more staff usually leads to better service. And because of this contradiction, staff rostering can be a very difficult optimisation problem to solve. Meeting requirements To balance these two aspects of staff rostering, organisations or regulatory bodies typically impose “service requirements”, in the form of expected service times. At Heathrow airport, the <a href="https://www.heathrow.com/company/company-news-and-information/performance/airport-operations/border-force">service requirements</a> state that 95% of passengers should be processed at passport control within 25 minutes for EEA citizens and 45 minutes for everyone else. Unfortunately, the border force at Heathrow has been unable to meet the services requirements for non-EEA immigrants since February 2018. July saw the worst performance, with 24.5% of all passengers entering the UK through terminals three and four experiencing waiting times of more than 45 minutes at passport control. In <a href="https://www.express.co.uk/travel/articles/977533/british-airways-heathrow-airport-passport-control-queues-UK">June</a>, <a href="https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/991733/summer-holiday-travel-delay-Heathrow-airport-luton-airport-manchester-airport">July</a> and <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-6030399/BA-boss-criticises-two-hour-queues-Heathrow-Airport-border-farce.html">August</a>, there have been reports of passengers waiting longer than two hours. Having lots of valid data is critical to making a good roster and reducing waiting times. The main components of staff rostering are modelling demand, scheduling days off and assigning staff to shifts or tasks. If the demand is known exactly in advance – for example, if the number of playground supervision tasks are the same every day throughout the school year – then staff rostering only needs to consider the last two components. In more dynamic environments, such as airport arrivals, demand modelling plays a crucial role in staff rostering. In an airport, the demand for passport control is directly related to the arrival times of aircraft, which can in turn be delayed. For example, in May 2015 only <a href="https://www.caa.co.uk/Data-and-analysis/UK-aviation-market/Flight-reliability/Datasets/Punctuality-data/Punctuality-statistics-2018/">75.93%</a> of flights arriving into Heathrow airport were on time. <a href="https://www.caa.co.uk/Data-and-analysis/UK-aviation-market/Flight-reliability/Datasets/Punctuality-data/Punctuality-statistics-2018/">Of the remaining flights</a>, 17% were delayed by less than an hour, and about 7% were delayed by longer. Since <a href="https://www.heathrow.com/company/company-news-and-information/company-information/facts-and-figures">94% of passengers</a> are international travellers, border control is massively affected by flight delays. Digging into the data One of the worst options, in regard to meeting service requirements, is to roster staff according to the scheduled arrival time of all flights. Although this would be relatively cheap, it ignores the fact that air travel is routinely subject to delays. A better way for border force to reduce delays at passport control is to roster staff so that the largest expected demand can be served within the set service requirements. Basically, this would mean opening as many booths at passport control as possible, at the busiest time for arrivals – taking into account any expected delays. But this is a very impractical and expensive solution, and there are limitations with respect to the number of available staff – especially since <a href="https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmhaff/421/42105.htm">border force is already struggling</a> with insufficient numbers of staff. Fortunately, there is lots and lots of data relating to air travel, which can be used to model demand more accurately, and roster staff and employ other available technologies accordingly. Historical records of flight arrivals, the number of EEA and non-EEA citizens arriving and the demand at passport control are all available. Through the use of statistical and data science techniques, such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forecasting">forecasting</a>, a sophisticated model of demand at passport control can be developed. Performing staff rostering with such a demand model may be conservative, meaning a higher overall cost, but it will be more likely to fit with the reality of air transportation. Yet proper demand modelling can also highlight situations – periods of time when predominately EEA citizens are arriving – where automatic passport scanners could provide flexibility in rostering staff, and which could decrease costs. Given the excessive delays reported at Heathrow border control, we can only assume that there is significant limitations to the demand model currently being used for staff rostering. By making better use of statistical techniques and drawing on the large amount of data that is available, it’s possible to significantly reduce the waiting time for passport control – even when flights are delayed.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/100988/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> Written by Stephen J Maher, EPSRC Research Fellow, Lancaster University. Republished with permission of <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-cut-queues-at-immigration-with-maths-100988" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.

International Travel

How to get off the plane and through immigration in 12 minutes

Airport organisation is something of an art form, and like everything, practice makes perfect. Knowing when to pull documents out of your bag, when to put them back, taking advantage of people movers and leaving your phone tightly secure in your bag will help you to make it through the arrivals gate fast, with belongings and sanity still intact. So, the planes landed, and the lights in the cabin have flickered on. Here we go; Step 1: Be prepared Ensure you have everything ready to go, so you’re not one of those people fumbling around in the aisle, stuffing their books and customs papers into your carry-on. You should already have everything conveniently placed in your bags, and any bags in the overhead locker should have been check on so as to manoeuvre them into an easy-to-grab position. Step 2: Keep important items close Make sure your custom card and passport are either in your pocket, your hand, or an extremely accessible compartment of your handbag. Step 3: Be a little pushier than usual No one likes those obnoxious people that push their way to the front of the cabin before the door is even open. However, a lot of us are overly polite on airplanes and wait unnecessarily for others. If you see potential to get stuck behind a family of seven children with about 42 carry-on bags, it’s okay to be a little assertive. Step 4: Power walk! Don’t linger on the ramp for the rest of your group as it disrupts the flow of traffic. Walk as fast as is comfortable for you, keeping to the left hand side of the ramp. If your partner is a little held up behind aforementioned family of seven, and they don’t need your assistance walking, wait for them outside the gate. Also, don’t make any calls or even pull out your phone at this point-it will only slow you down. Step 5: Don’t go to the bathroom unless it’s an emergency Think about it, the bathrooms on this side of customs are going to not only be a lot busier, but a lot dirtier. If you can, wait till you’ve gone through. If you’re someone with a small bladder, make going to the bathroom a part of your pre-landing routine. Step 6: People movers Travelators and escalators are there to make your life easier. If you want an extra speed boost or just need a rest, jump on all of these you can. Step 7: Be alert Once you join the queue for the immigration line, pay attention to what the expeditor tells you. Have your papers ready. Don’t have your cell phone out. Take off your hat. Open your passport to the page with your photo and present it to the immigration officer already open. If you have a visa you have to present upon entry, flag that page with a sticky note so it’s easy for the officer to find. Do you have any tips for getting through immigration fast? Let us know in the comments section below. Related links: <a href="/travel/international-travel/2016/05/aerial-tour-of-beautiful-flower-field-in-the-netherlands/">Aerial tour of beautiful flower field in the Netherlands</a> <a href="/travel/international-travel/2016/05/10-gorgeous-photos-from-seaside-towns-in-italy/">10 gorgeous photos from seaside towns in Italy</a> <a href="/travel/international-travel/2016/05/10-breathtaking-photos-new-zealand-beautiful-roads/">10 breathtaking photos of New Zealand’s beautiful roads</a>

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How one elderly couple made their big move to Italy

"20 years to life": Bali's brutal new law

The immigration numbers bidding war is pointless – there are limits to how many migrants Australia can accept

Djokovic escorted out of Australia

New visa twist as more Novak accusations emerge

How to cut queues at immigration – with maths

How to get off the plane and through immigration in 12 minutes