Immigration newsletter 27 Jul 2005

The Australian government is making an effort to attract more skilled workers, and it shows. The country is seeing the largest number of new skilled immigrants since the 1980s. If you are interested in finding out if you might qualify for skilled immigration to Australia, please try our free points calculator.

New Zealand reports that it is attracting many young, female immigrants. The reasons aren't exactly clear, but it could be because New Zealand's men are marrying abroad and bringing their foreign brides home. Additionally, New Zealand is trying to attract nurses and care givers, which are jobs traditionally held by women. Whatever the reason, between the ages of 20 to 49, there are now 53,000 more women than men in New Zealand. You can learn more about immigration to New Zealand on workpermit.com.

The UK is currently revising its immigration system to introduce more skilled migrant visa schemes, which will be a major change. The UK government hopes the new system will be less complicated. Immigration Minister Tony McNulty said he wanted to hear the views of employers, educational institutions, prospective migrants and the public over the coming four months. The new system is not expected to begin until the middle of 2006 at the earliest. Learn about the UK's current immigration system on our website.

A recent study has found that immigrants in the US are not hurting the US health care system. It is often believed that immigrants' use of the health care system adds to its high costs. According to the study, immigrants use the health care system much less than native-born Americans, but still pay into the system.