Immigration newsletter 02 Nov 2005

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Canada is likely to introduce major changes to its immigration policy, including plans to take in as many as 300,000 new immigrants annually within the next five years. The country is on track to accept 245,000 immigrants this year. Canada?€™s Immigration Minister Joe Volpe wants to bring in more workers on temporary visas to fill positions in the trades - such as pipefitters and truck drivers. Canada issues about 95,000 such visas a year. Volpe says he plans to consult with the provinces, unions, businesses and immigrant-serving groups to better understand exactly what kinds of workers are needed. Volpe is also planning to introduce a new "in-Canada" application that will allow temporary workers and students to apply for landed-immigrant status once they have worked here for a certain number of months.

New immigration rules that came into force on 1 Nov. will let Australian employers recruit apprentices from overseas. Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone says the changes will benefit employers who cannot find apprentice builders, electricians and plumbers in Australia. Several new categories of visas were also made available, including one which will allow foreign students to undertake vocational study while completing a trade apprenticeship in a rural area. Another new category will allow foreign students to work for up to 12 months in Australia in their area of expertise after they complete their studies. Under the changes, backpackers who have done at least three months of harvest work, such as fruit picking, will be able to apply for a second 12-month working holiday visa. Foreigners were previously only able to apply for one such visa in their lifetime.

Business New Zealand, the country's largest advocacy group for enterprises, has raised concerns about the country?€™s new investor visa rules. In June, the New Zealand Government announced that the investor age limit would be lowered 30 years from 85 to 54, the amount of investment required would double to $2 million and the money would have to be invested with the Government. Business New Zealand said it believed this would hinder investors from coming to New Zealand. This week, the New Zealand Labour Department released statistics indicating that until June, the country was attracting about 30 investors a month. Since July, the country has received just two. Business New Zealand is calling on the government to rethink its policy.

According to the latest review of the Irish labour market, Ireland will need to recruit highly skilled workers from outside of Europe to meet skills shortages in the economy. The report says that most of Ireland's demand for unskilled labour can be met from European countries. However, Europe can't meet Ireland?€™s needs at graduate level - so Ireland must look outside the EU to find highly qualified workers. Shortage areas include construction, finance, engineering, information technology, pharmaceuticals, healthcare and sales.