Immigration newsletter 28 Sep 2011

India is set to press for a relaxation in visa rules and the easing of movement of professionals from India to the UK. The matter is expected to be discussed when the UK's Secretary of State for Justice Kenneth Clarke meets with Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma.

Both parties will discuss measures to boost trade between the countries, with migration being a pressing issue for the Indian side.

The UK Labour Party Leader Ed Miliband has said that when the Labour Party was in power their immigration policy was wrong.  

Opposition leader Ed Miliband had the following to say: ‘We got it wrong in a number of respects including underestimating the level of immigration from Poland, which had a big effect on people in Britain.

...In light of the ever increasing volume of trade between India and the US, a public/private forum was established in July of 2005 called the US-India CEO Forum. The Forum's goal is to enhance bilateral trade and investment between the two countries. The Forum met recently in Washington DC, on 22 September, 2011. in attendance were leading business figures from India and the US as well as high level political figures such as Indian Minister of Finance Pranab Mukherjee, Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma, and U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner…

On 23 September 2011, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano and others welcomed 50 new US citizens representing 29 countries at a naturalization ceremony in Washington, D.C. The ceremony took place during Constitution Day and Citizenship Day on 17 September 2011.

"We have a strong tradition as a welcoming nation, and our efforts ensure that the United States continues to draw people from across the world who contribute in important and innovative ways," Napolitano said.

Australian immigration minister Chris Evans and the Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Jobs and Workplace Relations, Chris Bowen, have announced a number of measures to make Australia's international education sector more competitive.

The new measures are a response to a report Strategic Review of the Student Visa Program 2011, authored by the Honorable Michael Knight AO.

Immigration to New Zealand rose for the first time in six months in August 2011, supporting evidence that their economy is recovering.

Permanent arrivals exceeded departures by 200 in August, according to Statistics New Zealand. In the year ending on 31 August, arrivals topped departures by 2,257, the lowest level since the 12 months ending in October 2001.

The UK Border Agency (UKBA) is considering the effects of a judgement in the case of Ruiz Zambrano that granted him the right to stay in the UK as the sole carer of a British citizen.

According to the UKBA, the judgement "creates a right to reside and work for the sole carer of a dependent British citizen when that carer has no other right of residence in the UK and removing the carer from the UK would mean the British citizen would have to leave the EuropeanmUnion."