Immigration newsletter 11 Aug 2011

Firstly, workpermit.com reminds you that at the moment the two English speaking Countries with the best skilled immigration sponsored immigration programmes are probably Canada and Australia.  In comparison the UK Tier 1 Exceptional Talent visa category is very difficult to come under.

Western Australia (WA) has a number of resource projects requiring workers in skills shortage areas. Australian firms will have to hire overseas talent to deal with these labour shortages.

If you have skills in an occupation listed on WA's skilled occupation list, you may be able to qualify for a Skilled Sponsored or Skilled Regional Sponsored migration visa to live and work in WA. These Australian visas are processed quite quickly. State sponsored visa applications have higher priority for processing by Australia's Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) than independent skilled immigration visas.

Australia has doubled the number of skilled migration visas set aside for regional Australia, "ensuring critical skills needs in high-demand sectors and regional areas were being addressed."

The government has released details of migration numbers for the 2010-11 migration program; This showed that skilled migration accounted for 67.4 percent of the total number of immigrants admitted under the Australian Migration Program.

"The government is supporting our growing economy and meeting family reunion objectives, while ensuring we meet the skill shortages in areas of high demand," Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said in a statement.

In a recent global poll, researchers found that Australia, Canada and Brazil had the highest percentage of citizens who viewed immigration in a positive light.

Brazil led the polls with 47 percent of respondents saying that immigration benefited Brazilian society, followed by Canada (43 percent) and Australia (36 percent). The study was undertaken by UK and Irish research company Ipsos.

The US government has outlined a series of "policy, operational, and outreach efforts" which it hopes will drive economic growth and stimulate investment by encouraging foreign entrepreneurs to immigrate to the United States.

The new initiatives were announced by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) director Alejandro Mayorkas and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano.