Immigration newsletter 31 May 2006

U.S. immigration reform continues to be one of the biggest immigration stories at this time. 

Sparked by Mexican border issue and statistics revealing an estimated 13 million illegal residents in the US, the topic quickly became an election-year issue. While rhetoric and debate is strong right now, there will be far-reaching changes in US immigration law as a result. 

The intense fight in the US Congress will eventually yield a compromise bill that will be sent to the White House shortly. 

There are many important changes proposed. It is likely that the number of H-1B visas will be increased. The Senate proposes a new annual cap of 115,000 (increased from the current 66,000) with selected specialists in target skill areas being exempt from the cap. This may result in an estimated increase of up to 20% beyond the final cap decided upon. 

The current H-1B cap is 58,200, with special treaties with Chile and Singapore raising the over-all total to 66,000 annually. As of 25 May, 7,718 visas have been approved, with 41,316 pending review and approval. This leaves 9,166 available after the special set-asides. 

An as-yet undefined guest worker program is also being proposed, which is proposed to allow 200,000 additional work visas in the new category annually. 

Increased funding to police and penalties for companies that hire undocumented workers is also likely. A strong push is on to eliminate the illegal work opportunities, the theory being that it will reduce the incentive to enter the country illegally. 

It is generally acknowledged that removing 13 million illegals from the US would have serious side effects, many of which would not be desirable. While some people are proposing just that, a majority favour some sort of 'path toward citizenship,' once penalties and fees have been applied for breaking immigration and work laws. 

People who can document they have now serious problems with American law and have resided in the country for over five years will be targeted for most favourable consideration. People in the US between 2 and 5 years illegally would have to leave the country and apply for entry. People in the country for less than two years will be required to leave immediately and be processed through normal immigration and visa protocols. 

The US government estimates there is a potential population increase of up to eight million in US by 2016 under current Senate proposals.

The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg ruled this week that the treaty allowing collection of private data on passengers entering the United States is illegal. The treaty was ratified in May, 2004 by the European Commission and several individual European nations. The European Parliament protested the treaty strongly at the time and asked the Court for an annulment. 

There will be no immediate change in the collection and transmission of data to the US government, but changes are expected by September of this year, including tighter restrictions on who may view the data. The Court found that the terms of the treaty violated privacy laws of the European Union. 

34 pieces of information about each passenger - including name, address and credit card details - must be transmitted to the US within 15 minutes of departure. Data may currently be retained in excess of 3 1/2 years.

New Zealand released its preliminary census update from March 7th of this year. 4,116,900 people are currently living in New Zealand, an increase of 7.8% (296,150) since 2001. These counts include overseas visitors, but exclude New Zealand residents temporarily overseas on census night. Shortly before December of this year, more fully refined data will be released to give an exact count of permanent residents and citizens. 

These figures are important for allocating budget funds for various services. The New Zealand budget released this month allocates a $9.6 (NZD) billion increase over the next four years, plus an additional $2.7 billion in capital. Primary targets are for border control ($16 million increase), immigration and visa processing updates, and health care ($3 billion) and education ($1 billion) services. 

New Zealand continues to aggressively recruit foreigners for skilled and educated work. In particular demand are teachers, health care workers and information technology specialists. A marketing campaign was launched this year and was rolled out this month to lure back some of the estimated 455,000 expatriates currently residing in Australia. Many of the New Zealanders in Australia have critical skill sets needed, in addition to generally already being acclimated to the culture.

The US dollar has made slight gains over the past several days and appears to be stabilizing in general during the past week. Exchange rates are hovering at 1.28 US dollars to the euro and 1.86 USD to the GBP. 

A number of mixed signs from the US economy are being reported this week, but the current lull is expected to continue in upcoming months. Consumer confidence fell sharply by seven points, although not quite as sharply as the nine points predicted. The stock market has also seen losses, with the Dow Jones Industrial plummeting 1.62% on Tuesday. 

For workers, the hourly earnings of production and non-supervisory workers, which is most of the private sector, grew 3.8% in the past year, the fastest in nearly five years. Construction hiring has been setting a fast pace and manufacturing added 19,000 jobs in April, with factory employment rising by 50,000 jobs since October. Sixty-five percent of employers in 2005-06 are offering signing bonuses for technology-related positions, according to a poll by Mercer Human Resource Consulting. 

This may be an excellent time to consider the purchasing power of foreign currencies in the United States for travel, immigration and student fees. Tourism and travel in the US this summer may also be at very favourable exchange rates. 

Gasoline is at record highs of $3 USD to the gallon, while the inflation index is at a 13-month high at 2.1%. 

World oil remains above $71 USD per barrel and is considered a major factor in these numbers.

We look forward to continuing to bring you latest news on visas and work permits Worldwide.