Immigration newsletter 03 Feb 2009

More than 151,000 overseas nationals from outside the EU were granted permission to work: almost four times the level when Labor took power in 1997. It was announced to MPs that 151,635 work visa applications were granted between December 2007 and November last year.

The greatest numbers of visas were issued to enable to following nationalities to work in the UK: Indians: 49,950, Americans: 28,835, Chinese Nationals: 8,090.

The UK Border Agency reminds Universities, Colleges and Schools that they must apply by 2 February 2009 if they wish to sponsor students when the new student Tier 4 is introduced at the end of March 2009. So far eight hundred educational institutional have been approved under the scheme.

The new UK points based system covers work, business and student based entry into the UK. The student tier, Tier 4 will complete the rollout of the points-based system.

An increasing number of Asians particularly from India and China are emigrating to Australia. The Australian Bureau of Statistics report "Portrait of a Nation" said that almost one-fifth of the new arrivals in Australia between 1996 and 2006 came from China and India. Asia may eventually overtake Europe as the main source of immigrants to Australia. However, the most common country of origin remains the UK with twenty-four percent of foreign born residents (92,000) arriving from the UK between 1996 and 2006.

The new Obama administration in the US proposed immigration policy which favours an increase in the number of legal immigrants may benefit Indians. Many of the legal immigrants in the US are Indians.

"Fix the dysfunctional immigration bureaucracy and increase the number of legal immigrants to keep families together and meet the demand for jobs that employers cannot fill," according to the White House document that details immigration policy for the new administration.

Australian citizenship was introduced in 1949 following the Nationality and Citizenship Act 1948. Before this time most Australian residents were British subjects.

The first citizenship ceremony was at Albert Hall, Canberra, on 3 February 1949. Seven men from Czechoslovakia, Denmark, France, Greece, Norway, Spain and Yugoslavia became citizens – one to represent each state and the ACT.

On 23 January 2009 the UK Border Agency announced changes to the treatment of application for private servants in diplomatic households. This follows a commitment by Ministers that private servants will still be able to apply for settlement (indefinite leave to remain) under the new Tier 5 of the points system at the end of five years.

On 23 January 2009 the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) reminded Australian employers to check that their staff have the right to work in Australia.

"Checking work entitlements make good business sense," a DIAC spokesman said. "The last thing a business owner wants is to lose a worker because they do not have a valid visa to work in Australia."