Immigration newsletter 10 Sep 2008

The United Kingdom's Immigration Minister, Liam Byrne, rejected recent demands for a cap on the number of non-EU immigrants allowed to remain in Britain. A cross-party parliamentary group has called upon the government to slash the number of non-European Union migrants allowed to remain in Britain. The demands come after a recent Eurostat report estimated that the UK will have the highest population of the European Union -- 77 million -- in the next fifty years, mainly due to immigration.

From 17 September 2008 there will be a new immigration scheme called the Canadian Experience Class. The new immigration program is for certain temporary foreign workers and international student graduates with professional, managerial and skilled work experience. Under the new category, an applicant's previous experience in Canada can be considered as a "key selection factor;" those who have left Canada but otherwise meet the requirements may apply under the program, provided they do so within one year after leaving their job in Canada.

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently held two ceremonies in Iraq and Kuwait in which 235 American military personnel from 54 countries were formally given U.S. citizenship. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 amended portions of the Immigration and Nationality Act to allow overseas military personnel to be granted citizenship while serving overseas. Previously this was possible only from within the United States.

NASSCOM, an industry organization and leading advocate for India's information technology and business process outsourcing industry has voiced its support for the United Kingdom's new points based immigration system. NASSCOM urged its members to apply now for sponsorship licenses. A company must have a sponsorship license from the UK government to employ workers under the UK's upcoming Tier 2, skilled worker visa. The sponsorship requirements also apply to foreign intra-company transfers.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada has announced more than CAD $5.2 million in funding for a Toronto women's center that will provide settlement and integration services for newcomers. Settlement services administered by the Rexdale Women's Center will mainly be targeted toward helping immigrant women and their families become self-sufficient in Canadian society. A portion of the funding will go toward providing language training for immigrant children.

U.S. Republican Presidential hopeful, John McCain, surprised America by announcing Alaska's Governor, Sarah Palin, as his Vice-Presidential running mate -- a virtual unknown in U.S. politics. Her positions on immigration -- a hot topic in today's American political landscape -- remain unknown. Non-partisan political websites, such as ontheissues.org, list Palin as having no stance on immigration. Both McCain and his Democratic opponent, Barack Obama, are on the record as supporting a guest worker program that offers a path to eventual citizenship. They also both favor an increase in the nation's H-1B visa quota.

Six organizations in the Durham region of Ontario, Canada will receive a total of CAD $6 million in funding for various immigration-related programs. The funding is expected to benefit an estimated 2,400 immigrants. A portion of the funding will also go toward a youth program devoted to matching up Canadian youths with young migrants in an effort to help them adapt to the Canadian educational system.

The Economic and Social Council of Croatia (GSV), comprised of representatives from the government and various trade unions, is supporting a proposal to increase the number of work permits issued in the southern Central European nation in 2008. The increase is expected to raise the quota by about 2,000 work permits. The extra work permits are mainly for lower skilled foreign workers, such as bartenders, carpenters, masons, and farm hands.