Immigration newsletter 27 Jul 2011

A parliamentary committee has taken the UK Government to task over its recent tightening of student immigration rules, saying that the new restrictions could cost the UK economy £3.6 billion over the next four years.

UK universities depend heavily on fees from non-EU students who pay up to three times as much as students from Britain and the EU.

The Home Affairs Select Committee of the House of Commons accused Home Secretary Theresa May of recklessly implementing the new rules without regard to the economic consequences. The committee noted that the Government did not properly consider all the relevant factors when formulating student visa policy.

Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney says that his government recognises the importance of nominee programs to help provinces and territories obtain the skilled migrants they need to fill labor shortages.

"That is why we plan to admit about 40,000 immigrants in the provincial nominee category in 2011, five times more than the 8,000 welcomed in 2005," he said during a speech at the Vancouver Board of Trade.

"The previous high was 36,428 provincial nominees in 2010," he added.

Approximately 20,500 United States H-1B non-immigrant visa applications have been lodged as of 15 July 2011, leaving an estimated 44,500 regular H-1B visas available for Fiscal Year 2012.

An additional 20,000 H-1B visas are made available each year for people who hold a Masters degree or higher. 12,800 have already been lodged during FY 2012, leaving 7,200 available.

On 22 July 2011, Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's first prime minister after the end of British Rule, defended the ruling People's Action Party's stance on encouraging skilled immigration to spur the city-state's economy.

During a South Asian Diaspora Convention, Lee said that foreigners who come to Singapore do so to become citizens; He went onto say that he was a "firm believer that the more talent you have in a society, the better the society will grow."

Spain will be introducing work visa requirements for citizens of Romania.

Spain was one of four European Union countries to lift work restrictions on Romanian citizens when Romania joined the EU in 2007. However, due to Spain's high unemployment rate of 21.3 percent, the country has chosen to impose work visa requirements.