Immigration newsletter 19 Oct 2009

Australia is the first G20 State to increase interest rates since the Worldwide economic downturn. Australia’s unemployment rate went down from 5.8% to 5.7% in September and GDP rose 0.6 percent in the second quarter. 

Economic conditions in Australia were better than expected largely due to growth in China an important trading partner for Australia.  Another sign of growth in the economy is the recent increase in house prices in Australia. In the last two years Australia’s economy has done much better than the economy in many other Countries.  The Australian economy is said to be the only advanced economy that did not go into recession in the last year.

We are taking the opportunity to remind everyone that the US State Department is now accepting applicants under the electronic diversity visa lottery program popularly known as the Green Card Lottery. The entry period is from 2 October to 30 November 2009.

Please note that applications will not be accepted outside this period of time. If you miss the entry period this year you will have to wait for about a year to apply again.

On 9 October 2009 Canadian Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney announced proposed changes to the Canadian Temporary Foreign Worker Program.

A new local immigration partnership initiative in Canada will result in improved access to services for immigrants to enable them to integrate into society.  This was announced jointly by Kitchener Centre MP Stephen Woodworth and Region of Waterloo Regional Chair Ken Seiling. Over the last ten years 26,081 people have emigrated to Waterloo.

On 12 October the Scottish Qualifications Authority English language tests were added to the lists of approved English language tests, for UK Tier 1 and Tier 2 visa applications.   This is welcome news as it means that it is now in effect easier for some people to come under the Tier 1 and Tier 2 visa.

On 1 October 2009 the Canadian Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney announced special measures to help Philippine residents applying for Canadian immigration who have been seriously affected by Typhoon Ketsana.