Immigration newsletter 13 Sep 2006

Call us for visa advice at our London office: +44 (0) 20 7842 0800.

Effective September 11th, a new subcategory to the TWES for British work permits is available. Qualified medical students and professionals are eligible for the Medical Training Initiatives (MTI). Sponsorship by the Royal Colleges and other organizations within the medical field is required.

A new record was set in the 12-month period previous to April of this year for immigration into Ireland. Nearly 87 thousand people entered. The net population increase of 2.5% brings the residents of Ireland to 4.2 million.

French interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy has sharply criticized the Spanish and Italian policies of regularizing illegal immigrants. He noted that within the Schengen zone, massive regularization of illegal migrants should not be undertaken without consulting other Member States.

The president of the Spanish Canary Islands has called the arrival of 1,000 people by sea in one day as "Spain's worst humanitarian crisis since the Civil War." Over 2,500 people arrived in a five-day period.

The European Commission has said Spain is partly to blame. Africans arriving illegally in the Canaries refuse to reveal their nationality. They are flown to mainland Spain where they are released with a request to leave the country.

Australian trade unions are characterizing the 457 visa as unfair, citing the case of a Chinese worker in Melbourne was forced to pay his employer and an agent excessive fees while being severely underpaid. Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone defended the 457 class visa and cited the case as actually proving how well the temporary migration system is working since the immigrant was granted the right to persue a claim in the Australian court system.

The Homeland Security Department for the United States used outdated information in 2004 when it detrermined the 27 countries to be included in the visa waiver program. Congress will review the list of countries again and may revise the agreements.

Effective from 31 December, all travel across the U.S. border by plane or by boat will require a valid passport, and an appropriate visa as needed. For 2008, any border crossing into or out of the U.S. will require a passport.

Civil rights campaigners have filed to sue the Pennsylvania town of Hazleton, claiming it has violated the U.S. Constitution. The Illegal Immigration Relief Act denies business permits to companies that hire illegal aliens and fines landlords who rent homes to them.

Numerous states and 17 more cities are considering similar measures. Only the federal government can remove illegal aliens from the country, but individual jurisdictions are attempting to take other actions.