Immigration newsletter 22 Jun 2010

If you’re in a hurry and do not wish to wait in some cases six months there are a wide range of applications that can be dealt with on a same day basis at the UKBA public enquiry office including the following:
 

• Indefinite leave to remain after five years on a Tier 1 visa and/or Tier 2 visa 
• Tier 1 Visa for highly skilled workers – This gives you the freedom to work for any employer or be self-employed.

Tier 2 Visa for employer sponsored skilled workers

Immigration Minister Chris Evans has said recently that changes to the skilled migration system will help Western Australian business find the Migrants that they need to fill their skilled labour needs. He had the following to say:

'There were thousands of cooks and hairdressers placed in the queue ahead of highly skilled occupations such as of doctors, nurses and engineers.

'This was an unsustainable system that was bad for our economy. The Rudd Government has implemented sweeping reforms to create a demand-driven migration system…”

Immigration Minister Kenney in a meeting with provincial ministers in  Ottawa to discuss improvements to the Canadian immigration system had the following to say:

 “If Canada wants to succeed in the global economy, our country must be able to attract and retain immigrants with the skills it needs today while preparing us to face the challenges of the future.”

The Canadian Government feels that immigration is increasingly important to maintain Canada’s competitiveness in the future; Immigrants are desperately needed for Canada’s future labour force needs.

In future immigrants from non European Union Countries who wish to join their spouse or settled partner (those with permanent residence or British Citizenship) in the UK will need to pass an English language test. From Autumn 2010 immigrants will need to show that they are at a high enough English ability to deal with everyday life in the UK.

You will be affected if you apply under the following immigration categories:
 

• Husband or wife
• Civil Partner
• Unmarried Partner
• Same-sex Partner
• Fiance/e

Recently Australian immigration has introduced legislation that it is hoped will enable the Australian Government to have greater flexibility when setting immigration caps. The new Bill proposals are that the immigration minister could decide to end applications early, if for example it was felt that that there were enough applicants in a particular occupation. This will it is hoped enable the immigration minister to better target occupations that it is felt are needed by the Australian economy in the medium to long term.