Immigration newsletter 27 Aug 2008

The UK Border and Immigration Agency (BIA) has published statistics which shows further reductions in the number of Eastern European immigrants coming to the United Kingdom continues to decrease. The UK was one of three EU member states to allow unrestricted free movement of labor for A8 citizens in 2004.

The economies and labor rates in the new EU nations have since gone up, so there is less incentive today for Eastern European citizens to come to the UK. This could be good news for non-EU nationals hoping to live and work in the UK; fewer Eastern European immigrants in the UK could mean improved labor market prospects for others.

For the second quarter (April through June) of 2008, there were 40,000 applications under the UK's Worker Registration Scheme for EU nationals, compared to the same period for 2007 when there were 54,000 applications.a

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), the nation's federal immigration department, has announced funding for the city of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan to assist immigrants integrate into Canadian society and the work force. Moose Jaw is located in the south-central area of the province and is best known as a retirement and tourist city.

The new funding of CAD $390,434 for the Moose Jaw Multicultural Council will provide settlement services such as language and employment programs. The funding is intended to cover language and employment services through March 2009.

A press release by Australian Immigration Minister Chris Evans highlights findings from a recent report by Access Economics, The study shows that new immigrants in Australia contribute hundreds of millions of Australian dollars to the nation's budget and economy every year. Evans said the Access Economics report dispelled the myth that immigrants impose a huge cost on the taxpayer. 

The economic analyst's report, entitled Migrant Fiscal Impact Model: 2008 Update, looked at the costs that immigrants impose on health, education, welfare, employment services, and settlement services, compared to the fiscal benefits from taxation and visa charges.

For the 2006-07 fiscal immigration year, all immigrants from that period contributed AUD $536 million in the first year. Then AUD $856 million contributed to Australia in the second year. This would grow steadily over time and reach AUD $1.5 billion by the 20th year in Australia. For the 2008-09 fiscal, the benefits to Australia are AUD $829 million in the first year, $1.16 billion in the second year, then eventually $1.8 billion by year 20.

Australia's largest project development and contracting company wants the government to extend the nation's temporary 457 visa scheme across all categories of workers, according to Australia's ABC News. The chief executive officer, Wal King, said that his company has more than 500 employees working under 457 visas. "The labor market should be completely opened up," he said.

King said that the program is very effective at alleviating skills shortages. He notes that certain classes of workers, such as truck drivers, are excluded from the program -- even though they are desperately needed.Australia's Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIaC) recently announced new data showing a 27 percent increase in the temporary 457 visa program for the 2007-08 financial year.

New findings from Ireland's Central Statistics Office show that the population of Ireland is decreasing. The statistics show that the main cause is a general slowing of immigration into the country, coupled with increased emigration of Irish citizens to countries such as Australia.

The total number of immigrants coming into Ireland in the year ending April 2008 was 83,800. This is 26,000 lower than the previous year. During the same period, the number of emigrants increased marginally to 45,300. Of the 19,800 Irish citizens who left (to what the statistics called the "Rest of the world" -- countries outside the EU, the USA, and the United Kingdom), 11,300 are estimated to have immigrated into 'Australia and Oceania.'