Immigration newsletter 05 Oct 2011

The United States has begun accepting applications for the DV-2013 Green Card Lottery. Applications will continue to be accepted until 5 November 2011.

Each year, the United States makes 55,000 visas available to people born in countries with low levels of immigration into the US. Winners are selected in a random basis; You can then apply for a permanent residence visa for the US.

Vivek Wadhwa, writing for the Washington Post, says the United States is experiencing its first ever brain drain and should do more to encourage skilled immigration.

"In 1980, when I came to the United States to study, this was the only land of opportunity for skilled immigrants like me," Wadhwa writes.

"If I was arriving today, I would not have taken the same path," he added.

According to New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, America is committing "suicide" by turning away skilled immigrants.

The American Dream cannot survive if we tell the dreamers to go elsewhere, Bloomberg said during a speech.

Bloomberg is a supporter for immigration reform in the US and supports increasing green card availability for highly skilled workers and entrepreneurs.

The Washington Post Wonkblog is reporting a new study from Harvard Business School which shows that not only do highly skilled immigrants help bolster the US economy, they also help drive growth of US companies abroad in the immigrant's home Country.

In a paper for the National Bureau of Economic Research, C. Fritz Foley and William R. Kerr of Harvard examined the economic benefits of immigrants who were granted patents in the US between 1975 and 2008.

Ireland, once an economic powerhouse of the European Union, is seeing a large increase in emigration as a result of a downturn in their economy.

Over 3,000 people are leaving Ireland each month, the highest figure in over a hundred years. The number has more than doubled in the last two years. Most emigrants are leaving for English speaking countries such as the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

Canada is currently struggling to deal with a backlog of immigration applications.

The backlog of immigration applications is hurting Canada's reputation as a top immigration destination for skilled migrants. In some cases people are choosing Australia as an alternative immigration destination.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said that the situation was a "huge problem". He has spoken frequently about the need to streamline the application process and get the backlog under control.

Western Australia's Chamber of Minerals and Energy (CME) has stated that more skilled migration is needed to provide the skilled labour required in the resources sector

Increased investment is driving demand for foreign workers. It is expected that just in Western Australia alone you will seen investments of about AUD $300 billion. CME CEO Reg Howard-Smith said that recent research suggests that Western Australia will require between 30,000 and 34,000 new workers in the next year to year and a half.