Immigration newsletter 12 Nov 2011

Firstly, If you are interested in immigration to an English-speaking country you should consider immigration to Australia or Canada.  Australia has severe skills shortages in many areas so there are plenty of opportunities for tradespeople and professional level employees. Canada is also a great option, however, unless you have an occupation on the Canadian skilled worker occupation list you will probably need to have a job offer first.

The UK government is facing strong criticism after it was revealed the UK Border Agency had been downgrading immigration and visa checks. Head of the Border Force, Brodie Clark, resigned over claims that staff were told to relax the checks made on non-EU nationals arriving in the UK.

Canada is attracting increasing numbers of economic immigrants applying for permanent residence through the Canadian Experience Class immigration stream, according to Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney. The Canadian Experience Class program fast-tracks permanent residency applications for skilled and highly skilled temporary foreign workers and graduate students who have spent time in Canada on temporary visas. 

It is currently the Department of Citizenship and Immigration’s fastest-growing immigration program.

Australia is expected to face a serious shortage of professionals and tradespeople within the next 15 years; According to an analysis of retirement patterns in by the Australian Bureau of Statistics many Australians will be reaching retirement age over this period. This means Australia will need to recruit more and more overseas skilled workers to address the looming workforce shortage. In particular Australia needs health, engineering, and education professionals.

Additionally, Australian Immigration officials are continuing their outreach program this month with planned events in the New England and Queensland region to discuss immigration issues and explain the skilled migration visa and immigration system to employers and Subclass 457 visa holders.

Canadian Immigration announced on Monday they will expand the Provincial Nominee Program, under which immigrants with skill sets the province deems desirable, or individuals most likely to invest and create jobs, are able to have their permanent resident applications fast-tracked.

The Philippine's Department of Foreign Affairs reminds Filipino caregivers working in the UK about the new immigration rules that specifies a minimum hourly wage for caregivers seeking permanent residence. According to the new policy, before settlement visas can be issued to foreign caregivers, they must be receiving an hourly wage of at least £7.02. Only those receiving this amount would be eligible to apply for an Indefinite Leave to Remain visas, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said.

The UK Border Agency is set to announce new policies to make it quicker for British employers to hire migrant workers under the Tier 2 and Tier 5 visa system by paying a substantial additional fee to the government.

UK Immigration plans to introduce a new “fast track” migrant worker scheme which will expedite the process for companies who wish to recruit foreign nationals.

The first stage of a series of changes in Australian student visa laws is being implemented as part of the government's response to the Knight Review. The changes include less financial requirements for certain visas, quicker  admission process, and confirmation of enrollment.