Immigration newsletter 17 Jan 2007

Highly skilled migrants in the United Kingdom organized a demonstration last week against recent changes to the HSMP. Changes on 07 November seventh last year are estimated by the organizers to affect up to 49,000 immigrants. Migrants already in the UK under HSMP visas must meet the new requirements of the updated points-based system to qualify for extensions.

The director of the National Training and Employment Authority, Rody Molloy, says that Ireland needs 500,000 immigrants in the coming decade to remain competitive. A comprehensive review of Ireland's immigration policy has begun in the Parliament, with a number of changes expected to be proposed and debated in the near future.

Top law enforcement officials of the European Union announced Monday that police of all Member States will have access to all EU national databases containing fingerprints, DNA samples and other biometric data. German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble said there is a "broad consensus" among EU governments to expand the current 7-nation data-sharing agreement to the entire EU-27.

New Zealand's Department of Labour has released immigration statistics for 2006. The detailed report listed Britons as the largest demographic granted permanent residency, followed by Chinese. The number of visas issued increased by 21% over the previous year.

Migrants interested in obtaining an Australian citizenship will now be required to take a test. To help them prepare, the Australian government has introduced a new study tool, titled 'A Guide to Australian Life.' Designed to teach migrants about Australian life and values, the guide is compulsory reading and is inspired by a similar UK booklet.

Some Canadians could unknowingly lose their citizenship because of a newly enforced and little known law called the Citizenship Act of 1977. The law requires that citizens born outside of Canada to parents who were also born outside of the country must re-register their citizenship by their 28th birthday.

The Canadian government unveiled a new program to increase border control on the United States-Canadian border. The bulk of the allocated funds will be used for a new system of electronic manifests - the eManifest Program - that cargo carriers must file in advance of shipment. The U.S. will also begin to use unmanned spy planes to patrol the US-Canada border sometime this summer.

In a recent survey, nine out of ten farmers feel there is an unfair burden on them to prove that their workers are not illegal immigrants. Current regulations force the employers to perform some of the duties of federal immigration officials. They feel that they do not have the ability to perform proper background checks.