Passports and Visas

Greater Houston is the fifth most-populous metropolitan area in the United States and has a population 7.2 million residents.  Greater Houston encompasses nine counties and includes the cities of Sugar Land, Baytown, Conroe, Pasadena, Pearland, Galveston, and The Woodlands.  Houston is one of America’s most ethnically diverse cities.  With over 145 different languages being spoken here, it is no surprise that Houston has plenty of great restaurants offering delicious cuisine from all over the world.  Houston even has a coffee shop (Bluestone Lane) that borrows from the Australian coffee culture that is becoming popular around the world, along with an Australian themed brewery (Platypus Brewing) that serves meat pies.  There are an estimated 2,000 Australians living in Houston and the city is home to the Australian American Chamber of Commerce Texas, which helps facilitate business relations between our two countries.  There are several Australian companies with offices in Houston such as BHP Petroleum, Worley, Petrosys, and others that deal in the energy industry.  Houston is also home to The Australia and New Zealand Society of Texas, which celebrates annual events like Australia Day.  United Airlines has direct flights to Sydney from Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport. 

Detroit is the largest city in the state of Michigan and the second largest metropolitan area in the Midwest.  Detroit is better known by its nickname “Motor City”, or “Motown”, because of its prominence as the global center of the automotive industry.  Although the city has certainly had its share of ups and downs, Detroit remains an important and influential American city.  The Detroit metropolitan area, known as Metro Detroit, has a population of 4.3 million and includes the towns of Dearborn, Royal Oak, Auburn Hills, Livonia, Southfield, Rochester Hills, Pontiac, Sterling Heights, and Warren—an important community for immigrants from Bangladesh.  The town of Hamtramck is another important town for Bangladeshi people and is home to “Banglatown”, a Detroit neighborhood with several Bangladesh restaurants, grocery stores, and clothing shops.  Bangladesh immigrants first came to Detroit in the 1930’s to find jobs in the auto industry, but in the past 20 years the population has grown rapidly thanks to the area’s low housing costs.  There could be as many as 25,000 Bangladeshi people in Metro Detroit and double that number throughout the state of Michigan.  Detroit is home to the Bangladesh Association of Michigan and there is a Bangladesh Student Association at Wayne State University.

San Francisco, known as the “City by the Bay”, is one of America’s most famous and beautiful cities.  Located in Northern California, San Francisco is just one of the many cities that together make up the San Francisco Bay Area, or Bay Area for short.  The 14-county combined statistical area (that comprises the Bay Area) has nearly 10 million people, making it the fifth-most populous region in the United States.  The Bay Area includes cities such as Oakland, Berkeley, Vallejo, Concord, Pleasanton, Fremont, San Jose, San Mateo, Palo Alto, and San Rafael.  The economy of the Bay Area is one of the most vigorous and entrepreneurial on the planet.  San Francisco has attracted engineers from all over the world, including those from Australia.  The United States has a close relationship with Australia and offers its citizens a preferential visa (the E-3 visa) that provides opportunities for Australian engineers and scientists a pathway to work for Bay Area life science and information technologies companies.  There are about 25,000 Australians living in the Bay Area and the city of San Francisco is home to the Australian American Chamber of Commerce and several Australian social organizations and clubs.  United Airlines offers a daily flight to Sydney, Australia from San Francisco International Airport (SFO). 

The city of Orlando, located in the Central Florida region of the United States and known as “the City Beautiful”, is ranked as America’s 23rd most-populous city.  The Orlando metropolitan area includes various cities and towns such as Kissimmee, Sanford, Winter Garden, Winter Park, Altamonte Springs, and Apopka.  The metro area has a population of 2.6 million people and is home to several theme parks including Walt Disney World, SeaWorld, and Universal Studios.  Orlando’s theme parks, natural attractions, and year-round warm weather make it one of the most-visited cities in the world.  The Orlando economy is expanding thanks to the internal migration of Americans from slow growth states along with the flow of immigrants from all over the world, including from Vietnam.  Although a growing number of “secondary migrants” have been coming to the Central Florida region for education purposes and to open small businesses in recent years, Orlando is home to one of the oldest Vietnamese immigrant communities in the United States.  Vietnamese originally came to Orlando as refugees after the Fall of Saigon in 1975.  They would establish “Little Vietnam”, a business district near downtown Orlando with numerous Vietnamese restaurants, markets, and other small businesses.   

Atlanta has a population of over 6 million people, making it the 9th most populous metropolitan area in the United States.  Atlanta is the capital of Georgia, which is the 8th most populous of the 50 states.  The city and surrounding area—known as the Atlanta metropolitan area—is also the commercial capital of the Southeast United States.  The metropolitan area includes the municipalities of Dunwoody, Sandy Springs, Chamblee, Roswell, Alpharetta, Marietta, Duluth, Norcross, Tucker, Decatur, Mableton, Forest Park, Clarkston, Conyers, and others.  Atlanta has become an extremely diverse and international city that includes a large population of Vietnamese.  There are over 50,000 Vietnamese and Vietnamese Americans living in Atlanta, making it the 8^th largest city for Vietnamese in the United States.  Vietnamese immigrants originally came to Atlanta as refugees in 1975 after the Fall of Saigon, but in recent decades, Vietnamese have been coming to the metro area as international students to study business and engineering, and as investors running small businesses.  Vietnamese small businesses, restaurants, grocery stores are found along the Buford Highway corridor in Chamblee and Doraville.  There are also Vietnamese communities in Gwinnett and Clayton counties. 

Phoenix is the capital of Arizona and is the largest city in the Mountain Time Zone.  The Phoenix Metropolitan Area has a population of 4.8 million and is one of the fastest growing cities in America.  New residents and businesses come here for the low cost of living and year-round warm weather.  Phoenix gets more sunshine than any other major city on the planet.  The Phoenix Metropolitan Area, also known as the Valley of the Sun, includes the cities of Casa Grande, Chandler, Gilbert, Glendale, Maricopa, Mesa, Peoria, Scottsdale, Surprise, and Tempe.  The Valley has a strong base of semiconductor, electronics, and aerospace manufacturers.  Real estate, construction, healthcare, financial services, and tourism are also major components of the Phoenix economy, which has over 200 golf courses, 500 hotels, and 40 resorts.  These attractions make Phoenix a very popular destinations for the one million Canadians who visit the area each year.  Thousands of Canadians own second homes in Phoenix, many of them living in golf and condominium communities.  Phoenix is sister cities with Calgary, a city in the western Canadian province of Alberta.  Each year the Phoenix Sister Cities organization hosts the Great Canadian Picnic, a social event celebrating Canadian heritage.

Washington, D.C. is the capital of the United States and is an important global city that attracts visitors from all over the world.  The Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area—which includes the District of Columbia and parts of Virginia, Maryland, and West Virginia—is America’s sixth-largest metropolis and has a population of 6.3 million people.  Cities within this area (apart from the District of Columbia) include Alexandria, Annandale, Arlington, Fairfax, Falls Church, and Reston—all in Virginia—along with the Maryland towns of Bethesda, College Park, Frederick, Gaithersburg, Rockville, and Silver Spring.  With a population of about 15,000, the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area has the second largest population of Bangladeshi immigrants in the United States.  Concentrated in Northern Virginia, the area is home to a few Bangladesh markets and restaurants serving halal foods and favorite dishes like Mughlai paratha, briyani, shorshe ilish, haleem, and chana masala.  There are religious and community organizations in the area such as the Bangladesh Islamic Center and Bangladesh Association of Greater Washington DC, as well as cultural organizations like Bornomala Shikkhangon and Bangladesh Center for Community Development that teach the Bangla language. 

San Francisco, known as the “City by the Bay”, is one of America’s most famous and beautiful cities.  Located in Northern California, San Francisco is just one of the many cities that together make up the San Francisco Bay Area, or Bay Area for short.  The 14-county combined statistical area (that comprises the Bay Area) has nearly 10 million people, making it the fifth-most populous region in the United States.  The Bay Area includes cities such as Oakland, Berkeley, Vallejo, Concord, Pleasanton, Fremont, San Jose, San Mateo, Palo Alto, and San Rafael.  The economy of the Bay Area is one of the most vigorous and entrepreneurial on the planet.  Silicon Valley (in the southern part of the Bay Area) has attracted engineers from all over the world, including those from Canada.  Canada has also been an attractive market for San Francisco’s tech giants like Salesforce and Google, who have established offices north of the border to tap into the country’s engineering talent.  The San Francisco Bay Area has a strong foundation of nonprofit organizations and social clubs that support Canadian expats such as the Digital Moose Lounge and Canadian Women’s Club.  There is even a meetup spot (Augie’s Montreal Deli in Berkeley) where Canadians can watch NHL hockey and Toronto Raptors games.

Peru ranks as one of the world’s most appealing countries for retirees due to its scenic beauty, low cost of living, and rich culture.  Best known for the Incan city of Machu Picchu, one of the “New Seven Wonders of the World,” Peru is also home to 12 UNESCO World Heritage sites.  Retirees are drawn to the country’s lush Amazon jungles, laid-back beach towns, ancient villages, and the towering Andes Mountains.  Living costs average more than 50 percent less than those in the United States (https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/country_result.jsp?country=Peru).  The country also features modern infrastructure, restored historic buildings, modern supermarkets, shopping venues, and a vibrant culinary scene.

The Republic of Peru encourages retirees and their families to take up residence through its Rentista (“person of independent means”) visa program.  Publications such as International Living rank Peru as one of the top retiree destinations in South America and among the easiest for obtaining a retiree visa.  More than 100,000 foreigners live in Peru (including retirees, employees, students, and digital nomads), of whom 10 percent originated from the United States.  The largest expat community is in the capital city of Lima, although foreign residents are also common in Arequipa, Cusco, Mancora, and other cities across the country.

Greater Houston is the fifth most-populous metropolitan area in the United States and has a population of over 7 million residents.  Greater Houston encompasses nine counties and includes the cities of Sugar Land, Baytown, Conroe, Pasadena, Pearland, Galveston, and The Woodlands, which is a popular neighborhood for Canadian expats.  Houston is one of America’s most ethnically diverse cities.  With over 145 different languages being spoken here, it is no surprise that Houston has plenty of great restaurants offering delicious cuisine from all over the world.  Houston even has a bar (The Maple Leaf Pub) that serves poutine and plenty of Canadian beer.  And a little piece of Canada is coming to Houston this year with the arrival of Tim Hortons, the beloved Canadian doughnut franchise.  This is a fast-growing and youthful city that attracts entrepreneurs, corporate businesspeople, and students from Canada.  There are an estimated 20,000 Canadians living in Greater Houston; many of them working in the oil and gas business, but there are also Canadians working in health care, electronics, financial services, logistics, industrial manufacturing, and aerospace.  Houston is home to the Canada-Texas Chamber of Commerce, and the city has direct flights to five Canadian cities.