Immigration newsletter 07 Apr 2010

You should note that many UK visa application fees will change from Tuesday 6 April 2010. Therefore, it is important for you to make sure that you are paying the correct fee when making an UK visa application. As mentioned in a previous news report some visa fees for dependent applications will double or triple in price.

If you wish to apply for Canadian skilled immigration you should bear in mind that there will be changes to the procedure for assessing English and French language ability from 10 April 2010. 

You can still either submit a written submission but now only once or an independent third party test (IELTS). A written submission should normally only be done if you are a native English or French speaker. If you do not meet the language requirements the first time then normally your application will be refused.

The UK Prime Minister Gordon Brownsaid in a recent speech that the UK immigration system is now based on a "controlled and fair" points-based system. Home Secretary Alan Johnson was also present during the speech delivered in Shoreditch, East London.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown also mentioned that unskilled migrant workers from outside the EU will not be allowed entry under the points based system. It should be noted that in many cases dependents and relatives of migrants (who may have gained entry under the points based system) and certain others can work freely in the UK.

UK Immigration has announced that following a visa waiver test for seven Countries in the Eastern Caribbean there may in future be a visit visa requirement for nationals of Dominica and St Lucia.

The UK visa waiver test considers “risk factors” to the UK caused by visitors such as illegal immigration, crime and security. UK immigration feels that following the visa waiver test visit visas should be required by nationals of Dominica and St Lucia. Both of these Countries are amongst the smallest Countries in the World. Dominica has a population of about 73,000 and St Lucia a population of about 174,000.

From Tuesday 6 April 2010 you can use the new UKBA super premium service for certain types of visa applications. For a fee of 15,000 pounds an UKBA officer will visit you at a location of your choice to process your visa application in the UK. You will then provide your biometric information which consists of your fingerprints and photograph. This is probably the highest fee ever charged by UK immigration for one of their services.