Immigration newsletter 07 Sep 2005

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Across the US, a small group of businesses is testing a Department of Homeland Security program that can check immigration status with a few clicks on the Internet. The program would help employers determine if a new employee is in the US legally or illegally. Under the "Basic Pilot Program," employers enter a person's name, birth date and other data on a Web site. The information is then run through databases maintained by the Social Security Administration and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Applicants can appeal if they disagree with the results.

The Scottish government is reassuring its citizens that although the country wants to boost its immigration numbers, it will work with current and future immigrants to make sure they are integrated into Scottish society. Scotland's first minister Jack McConnell last year introduced his "Fresh Talent" policy to attract more immigrants. Commenting for the first time since a UK-wide debate on immigration and identity opened up in the wake of the suicide attacks in London in July, the first minister said even more work needed to be done with young Muslims to help them integrate into Scottish society.

Workers on container ships will be subject to electronic clearance before arrival at Australian sea ports from March 2006. This adds a layer of security for arrivals by sea, to bring them to the same level of security as air arrivals. The system, called Advance Passenger Processing, requires the ship to send certain information about its crew via the internet before arriving in Australia. If the Australian authorities feel that the crew should not be admitted to Australia, the crew could be confined on board, or other security measures could be put in place.

The fee for enrolment in the UK's Workers Registration Scheme (WRS) will increase from ?50 to ?70, starting from 1 October 2005. The Home Office said this change will ensure that the full cost of providing this service is recovered without charge to the UK taxpayer while maintaining a high standard of service. The WRS is for nationals of the new EU member states to work and live in the UK.

According to the think-tank Migrationwatch UK, net migration to the UK has added more than 1.2 million to the UK population in the past seven years, accounting for 81% of the total population growth during that period. The group says that this amounts to the population of Birmingham and Nottingham combined and is equivalent to an average growth in population due to immigration of 177,000 each year. Migrationwatch used the government's recently published mid-year population estimates to compile the figures.