Immigration newsletter 28 Nov 2007

The United States Diversity Visa 2009 Green Card Lottery is open for only a few more days. It will close on Sunday, December 2nd, 12:00 noon EST. Applications MUST be submitted online. workpermit.com offers services to evaluate and submit your entry for you. It is strongly advised that people not wait until the last day, since the servers may be too busy to process all applications on time.

UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, is promoting the need for up to 5 million new immigrants to meet Britain's labor needs during the next ten years. He also said that Britain must "create a stronger sense that residence and citizenship means responsibilities too." 

The government is preparing for major changes to immigration policy to take effect from February of next year. A new Australian-style points system will be implemented, and biometric ID cards for foreign nationals will become mandatory. It is expected that the current demand for unskilled workers will soon go down from the current 6 million to only about half a million. However, there are 9 million highly qualified workers currently in Britain, a need that is estimated to increase to about 14 million.

The Home Office announced a new policy that will dramatically increase fines and introduce the possibility of incarceration for employers who hire immigrants who do not have the legal right to work in the UK. The new policies will come into effect in February, along with the new points-based system and mandatory biometric ID cards. 

Under the new rules, employers who unknowingly hire immigrants who do not have the legal right to work could face a maximum civil penalty fine of up to 10,000 pounds for each illegal worker. Employers who knowingly hire illegal workers will be subject to "unlimited fines" and may be sent to prison. 

The numbers of international students enrolled in United States colleges and universities has increased for the first time since the 2002-2003 academic year. This is against a background of increased global competition for talent, as well as expanded higher education options in many competing nations. There is increasing concern that the best students might in the future not choose to come to America. 

The U.S. government is trying to improve America's image as a welcoming destination for international students. Recent initiatives have been taken to reduce the difficulty of getting student visas. The United States Senate is considering a bill that would both increase H-1B visa quotas and increase post-graduation work time from 12 to 29 months.

A new World Bank report, issued on November 26th, shows that women now comprise nearly half of the world's immigrants. And, that number is increasing. "The fact that women now account for almost half the total migrant population is having enormous effects on development," said Andrew Morrison, a lead economist at the World Bank's Gender Group. 

The report suggests several options to increase the positive effects of migrating women, including the development of mechanisms to increase a migrant woman's ability to influence allocation of household spending. Expanding guest worker programs targeted specifically toward migrant women are also recommended.

Kevin Rudd emerged as Australia's new Prime Minister in the November 24th elections. He immediately reaffirmed one of his election campaign promises to scrap Australia's offshore immigrant detention center in Nauru. 

No time frame was specified, and it's unclear whether this is indicative of a more general softening of Australia's asylum policies. However, the statement strongly implies that "the Pacific Solution," the name given to Australia's policy of transporting asylum seekers to detention centers on small islands in the Pacific Ocean, may well be scrapped under the new government.

On November 26th, New Zealand introduced a replacement to its current investor immigration scheme, now called the Active Investor Migrant policy. The former policy did not prove to be very popular and failed to "connect investors with New Zealand businesses." 

The Active Investor Migrant policy is subdivided into three categories which have different requirements: General (Active) investors, Professional investors, and Global investors. Generally, each category is a four-year program. During the 2nd and 4th years, participants are required to submit proof that they fulfill the requirements of the program.