Many people want a visa

Translated from the Norwegian

Sudden changes are generally easy to spot, so too sudden changes in foreign policy. But some changes take place over time and do not attract the attention they deserve. Migration and the increasing pressure of applications for visas to Norway is one such field. It reflects a world that is undergoing great change.

Gradually too, the diplomatic and consular service is also changing; more and more resources are needed to handle visa applications, and this task is indirectly eating up time and resources that we could have spend on other areas. We may or may not like this fact, but a fact it is.

Last year, an experienced ambassador said to me, “Twenty years ago, visa applications were the responsibility of the ambassador’s secretary, and this work was fairly low priority. Today it demands almost all of my time.”

One thing is very clear: today visa applications have direct relevance for foreign policy, and the way they are dealt with is very significant for Norway’s image in many countries.

This week, I visited Murmansk. The Consulate General’s work with visa applications is perhaps one of the best examples of how a changing world changes the diplomatic and consular service as well.

Behind the dry figures, there are real-life stories of people on the move. This is something we welcome; it is part of the High North strategy to encourage people-to-people contact over national borders. During the Cold War, around 1000 people crossed the Norwegian–Russian border at Storskog. In 2007, a total of 108 708 crossed at the same point. They crossed the border in connection with schooling, work, culture, research, travel, communications, friendships and family ties.

On the Russian side of the border, the Norwegian diplomatic and consular service now has 20 employees working on visa applications at three diplomatic and consular missions: the Embassy in Moscow and the Consulates General in Murmansk and St Petersburg. Respectively, these missions dealt with 28%, 35% and 40% more visa applications in 2007 than in 2006, and the increase is continuing at the same rate this year. Around 98% of applications are granted.

Norway’s European policy

We are not only implementing our High North strategy, we also have people working on Norway’s European policy. They are seeking to find a difficult balance between an open-door policy and ensuring the right level of control for ourselves and for our partners in the Schengen area.

This is the picture at our border with Russia. If we move further afield, the picture is the same: a huge increase in the number of applications for visa and other types of permit to enter Norway. At our Embassy in New Delhi, the number of applications for family immigration has increased by 40%. We are also seeing increases in Beijing, in Islamabad, in Ankara and in Bangkok, and in many other places all over the world. More of our employees have to spend more of their time on more applications. These are cases that have to be handled on an individual basis, and most of them require investigations of and interviews with the applicant.

Globalisation has changed the general migration picture. As a result of tourism, labour migration, research, education, culture and private sector activities, more families are being established across national and continental borders. The increase in international migration is one of the most visible consequences of increasing globalisation.

What we are seeing in the north is how migration policy is linked to foreign policy, regional policy and policies vis-à-vis our neighbouring countries. Another clear development both in the EU and at the global level is that migration policy is being linked to international development policy, and to health, education and employment policy.

At the same time, Norwegians are travelling abroad in their thousands, and to less familiar areas. The diplomatic and consular service has experienced a major increase in requests for assistance from Norwegians in connection with major and minor crises. For example, our figures from 2007 show that around 2300 Norwegians who fell ill abroad received help from the diplomatic and consular service, and that 17 000 passports were issued from our missions. We take this task seriously. But I want to make it very clear to all Norwegians travelling abroad that they cannot expect to find a fully operative Norwegian welfare service far away from home. Travellers still need to ensure that they have sensible insurance coverage. People have to think for themselves.

We will be there for people travelling abroad, and we will help those who want to travel to Norway. These are not new tasks for the diplomatic and consular service. What is new is their scope and complexity.

Norway’s image

Our diplomatic and consular missions are very different. On the busiest day last summer, 397 visa cases were dealt with at our Embassy in Moscow. At other missions, staff have to remind themselves of the rules each of the eight to ten times a year such a case arises. Our staff are not necessarily working in a team of experts; many are the only people with this competence at a mission where there may be only two or three Norwegians posted. Besides, when you are at work in Manila, your colleagues in Norway are at home, asleep.

Diplomatic and consular service employees dealing with visa applications form part of Norway’s public image. They are applicants’ fist meeting with Norway and with an immigration administration under strong pressure.

Applying for a visa involves meeting in person. The diplomatic and consular service meets more people in connection with immigration than in any other area. This means that our work in this field is of great significance for Norway’s image.

The immigration administration is important for those who are “out there”, those who want to come to Norway. But in practice, it is equally important for those “back home”, in connection with business operations, tourism and for the many Norwegians with immigrant origins who receive visits from family and friends. Today, there are 629 000 people in Norway with immigrant origins. Of these, 47% have Norwegian citizenship. We know that this segment of society will increase. There are also many Norwegians who do not have immigrant origins, but who are married to people who have.

All in all, this means more work for the whole of the immigration administration. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs carries out an important part of this service. When the flow of immigration into Norway increases, so does the pressure on us, and there is little we can do to “regulate” it.  Our aim is to help to foster an effective immigrant administration; we take this task very seriously and we seek to find ways of ensuring that our users receive the services they need.

I will review the working conditions for all the competent officials we have posted all around the world, not only the diplomats, but also the local employees who are helping every day to make distances shorter in our globalised world. These tasks are demanding an increasing part of our time; we cannot ignore them, but we must be aware that they may be taking attention away from other high priority tasks.