Immigration newsletter 24 Sep 2008

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) began accepting applications under the Canadian Experience Class, on 17 September 2008. The Canadian Experience Class visa allows certain temporary foreign workers and foreign graduates of Canadian colleges and universities to gain permanent residence in Canada, based upon their professional, managerial, and skilled work experience.

Applicants are also able to apply from within Canada under the Canadian Experience Class. People who have left Canada can also apply, so long as they do so within 1 year of leaving their job in Canada.

Two Canadian Liberal MPs have authored an article in which they state that a Liberal government would deal with the nation's immigration backlogs and Canada's labor shortages. In June, changes to Canada's Immigration and Refugee Act give broad discretionary powers to the federal government (through the immigration minister) to decide which applications for skilled immigration may receive priority for consideration and processing. The Liberal MPs see it another way: they stated that a Liberal government would immediately reverse the changes to the Immigration and Refugee Act, modernize the immigration system, and deal with the backlogs.

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that two non-minister categories in the Special Immigrant Religious Worker program will expire on 01 October 2008. The expiration date could be extended if legislation - which has already passed the United States House of Representatives - passes the U.S. Senate.

The two categories within the Special Immigrant Religious Worker program are for religious workers in "professional or non-professional capacities within a religious vocation or occupation." The expiration date of October 1st will also affect the accompanying spouses and children of religious workers.

The United States held special ceremonies for 39,000 new citizens across the country, hosted by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in celebration of Constitution Week and Citizenship Day. The ceremonies were held 17-23 September 2008. According to the USCIS, hundreds of thousands of immigrants are naturalized each year. Since 2000, more than 4.4 million immigrants have become US citizens. Most immigrants during this period originated from Mexico and India.

People in and near Dublin, Ireland who would like to learn about immigrating to Australia or New Zealand have an opportunity to head over to the Royal Dublin Society (RDS) for the Down Under Expo. The event will be held on September 27 and 28 2008; admission is 10 Euros. The event will provide a unique opportunity to meet Australian and New Zealand employers. People will also be able to speak directly with State and local government representatives and obtain valuable information on requirements for living and working in New Zealand or Australia.

The Australian government is introducing new regulations that will allow Pacific Islanders to come to Australia as seasonal guest workers under the subclass 416 visa program. The subclass 416 (special program) visa allows Pacific Islanders to live and work in Australia for 7 months out of any 12 month period. There will be no restrictions on the number of times workers may come under the scheme.

The new regulations will expand the existing 416 visa to cover workers who have been invited by an approved organization to participate in the test seasonal worker scheme. The scheme will place an estimated 2500 workers in regions of Australia that have "unmet demand" for low skilled workers for employment in horticultural occupations.