PASSPORTS AND VISAS 101

UPDATED November 26, 2022 (Please see information below under "Other things to consider")

Seattle is the largest city in the state of Washington and is also the largest city in America’s Pacific Northwest region.  Known as the “Emerald City”, Seattle is situated in a magnificent natural environment along the Puget Sound, surrounded by evergreen forests, mountains, and water.  The Seattle metropolitan area (the fifteenth-largest metropolis in the United States) has a population of 4 million people and includes the cities of Tacoma, Bellevue, Kent, Everett, Renton, Kirkland, and Redmond.  The area is home to several famous companies such as Nordstrom, Costco, Amazon, Microsoft, Expedia, Redfin, Zillow, and Starbucks.  This base of companies makes Seattle an attractive destination for jobseekers from around the world, including workers from the Philippines.  Immigrants from the Philippines have a long history in Seattle that goes back over 100 years starting when the first Filipinos came to the city to study at the University of Washington.  Nowadays there are over 100,000 Filipinos and Americans with ethnic heritage from the Philippines living in the Seattle metropolitan area.  Seattle is home to several Filipino cultural and community organizations that host annual festivals and events like the Pagdiriwang Philippine Festival, Pista sa Nayon, and the Diwa Filipino Film Festival. 

Atlanta has a population of 6.2 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, Conyers, and others.  Atlanta has become a diverse and international city that includes a growing Asian population, including about 5,000 residents that immigrated to the area from Laos (or who were born in the U.S. but have parents who immigrated from Laos).  Known as Laotian Americans, this group initially came to America in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s as refugees escaping the turmoil of their country after the Vietnam War.  In recent years, other immigrants from Laos have moved to Atlanta through family sponsorship or through cultural and education exchanges.  Atlanta is home to the Laotian American Society of Georgia, an organization that hosts community events throughout the year and celebrates the culture of Laos.  Atlanta is also home to four Lao Buddhist temples.

New York is America’s most-populous city, and its metropolitan area has over 20 million people.  New York City contains the five boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and the Bronx.  The New York metropolitan area includes New York City, Long Island, and the Mid and Lower Hudson Valley.  It also includes several large cities in New Jersey such as Newark, Edison, Elizabeth, Paterson, Jersey City, and Hoboken, along with cities in Connecticut that include New Haven, Bridgeport, and Stamford.  New York is considered “Capital of the World”, not only due to its economic power, but also because it is a center of diplomacy and culture.  The city is home to the United Nations and there are over 800 languages spoken here, including Vietnamese.  There are an estimated 15,000 ethnic Vietnamese in New York City and about 40,000 living in the New York metropolitan area.  Unlike other major U.S. cities, there is no “Little Saigon” where Vietnamese businesses congregate.  However, New York is home to the Vietnam Heritage Center, a nonprofit organization that promotes Vietnamese traditions and teaches the Vietnamese language.  They also host annual events such as the Vietnamese Lunar New Year (Tết) and Vietnamese Mid-Autumn Moon Festival (Tết Trung Thu).

The city of Tampa, located on the Gulf Coast of Florida, is one of the three principal cities (the other two being St. Petersburg and Clearwater) that make up the Tampa Bay area.  The Tampa Bay area is the 18th-largest metropolis in the United States and has a population of 3.1 million people.  The metropolis is home to several Fortune 500 companies and has a strong foundation of financial services and information technology firms.   The metro area includes the counties of Hillsborough, Pinellas, Citrus, and Manatee, along with the towns of Brandon, Palm Harbor, Dunedin, Largo, Tarpon Springs, and Bradenton.  There are an estimated 80,000 Tampa residents with Cuban heritage, making this the third-largest population of Cuban Americans in the United States.  Tampa has deep ties to Cuba that go back to the cigar factories built here in the 19^th century.  These factories were constructed in the Ybor City neighborhood of Tampa, which became known as the “Cigar Capital of the World”.  Along with Cuban tobacco, the factories imported workers from Cuba with the skills needed to make hand rolled cigars.  There are thousands of people in Tampa today that descended from these Cuban immigrants.  Tampa is home to El Circulo Cubano, the oldest Cuban American assocation in the United States.

UPDATED January 21, 2024

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 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 China.  There are 15,000 Chinese living in the Orlando area—the majority either moving directly from China or from other parts of the U.S. to purchase real estate.  Orlando has been one of the top American cities for Chinese home purchases in recent years because of the area’s lower prices and variety of high-end lakefront and golf community properties.  Before the pandemic, Orlando had about 300,000 annual visitors from China.  Chinese attend trade shows and sports camps and enjoy Orlando’s theme parks and golf courses.

Peru’s fast-growing economy and free trade agreements with the United States continue to offer business opportunities for companies in Atlanta and across the Southeast.  As the COVID-19 pandemic fades, more businesspeople are considering obtaining visas that allow them to spend days or months in Peru to pursue those prospects.

Situated in the western part of South America along the Pacific Ocean and the Andes Mountains, Peru is bordered by Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, and Ecuador.  The country covers 1.3 million square feet spanning three regions: Coast (Costa), Highlands (Sierras) and Jungle (Amazonia).  The multicultural nation of 31.5 million Spanish and Quechua-speaking inhabitants features the cosmopolitan capital city of Lima alongside vast natural reserves and colorful indigenous traditions.  Lima is roughly a seven-hour direct flight from Atlanta via Delta Air Lines.

UPDATED November 26, 2022 (Please see information below under "Other things to consider")

San Diego is America’s 17th-most populous city and is the third-most populous urban area in California.  This metropolis of 3.3 million residents shares a 15-mile border with Mexico, where just to the other side sits Tijuana—Mexico’s sixth-most populous city.  San Diego is well known for its mild Mediterranean climate that attracts over 35 million visitors each year.  This is a city that has nearly year-round perfect weather, plenty of scenic vistas, and miles of spectacular beaches.  The San Diego metropolitan area includes cities such as Carlsbad, Chula Vista, El Cajon, San Marcos, Santee, La Mesa, National City, Oceanside, Vista, and Encinitas.  San Diego is home to the largest Pacific Islander population in the country, including over 200,000 people with ethnic heritage from the Philippines.  Filipinos first set foot in San Diego in the 18^th century as sailors working for the Spanish expeditions.  In the early 20^th century, the first Filipinos joined the U.S Navy where they would make many contributions.  They also played a major role in establishing San Diego’s Filipino American community.  Today many Filipinos live in the Mira Mesa neighborhood of San Diego, which is only a few miles from the old Miramar Naval Air Station.  There are also Filipino communities in National City and Oceanside.

UPDATED January 21, 2024

Atlanta has a population of 6.2 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, Conyers, and others.  Atlanta has become a diverse and international city that includes a growing Asian population, including about 50,000 Chinese, the majority of whom come from Mainland China.  This number also includes 7,000 international students from China studying at colleges and universities around the state.  Despite the recent tensions between the United States in China over trade disputes involving theft of intellectual property and numerous political issues, including the origins of the coronavirus, China remains the top source of imports for the state of Georgia and its third largest export market.  China and Chinese culture also remain a subject of curiosity for Atlanta students and several high schools, colleges, and universities in the area offer Mandarin language courses.

New York is America’s most-populous city, and its metropolitan area has over 20 million people.  New York City contains the five boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and the Bronx.  The New York metropolitan area includes New York City, Long Island, and the Mid and Lower Hudson Valley.  It also includes several large cities in New Jersey such as Newark, Edison, Elizabeth, Paterson, Jersey City, and Hoboken, along with cities in Connecticut such as New Haven, Bridgeport, and Stamford.  New York is one of the most important economic regions in the world and has the highest concentration of Fortune 500 companies in the United States.  New York is considered “Capital of the World”, not only due to its economic power, but also as headquarters of the United Nations, it is a center of diplomacy and culture.  It is also one of America’s most important centers of Hispanic culture and influence.  There are an estimated five million Hispanics in the New York metropolitan area, including about 150,000 Cubans (either born in Cuba or having Cuban heritage).  New York and Cuba have a deep history that goes back to the sugar trade starting in the 18^th century.  New York has long been a home for many of Cuba’s thought leaders, businesspeople, athletes, and artists. 

Charlotte is the 23rd-most populous city in the United States and is the most populous city in the state of North Carolina.  The Charlotte metropolitan area is a sixteen-county region that stretches into the state of South Carolina and includes the towns of Concord, Gastonia, Huntersville, Kannapolis, Indian Trail, Mooresville, Monroe, Salisbury, Matthews, Statesville, Rock Hill (SC), and Fort Mill (SC).  Known as the Queen City, this metropolis of 2.6 million people has been one of the country’s fastest-growing cities the past two decades.  Charlotte’s youthful population, low cost of living, and geographic location in America’s Sun Belt, have made it an attractive destination for business investment.  It’s also become a popular destination for relocation from other parts of the United States as well as for immigrants from other countries, including newcomers from East Asia.  There are a few thousand Chinese living in the Charlotte area, some of whom originally immigrated to America from Taiwan.  The city is home to the Charlotte Taiwanese American Association, a cultural and social organization hosting annual events like Chinese New Year and Mid-Autumn Festival.  There is also the Charlotte Chinese School where children can learn Traditional Chinese, which is still used in Taiwan today.  Charlotte area colleges and universities like Queens University, UNC Charlotte, and Davidson College offer courses in Mandarin.