Immigration newsletter 30 Nov 2011

Firstly, Australian Immigration has announced this week that they will implement a new visa fee system starting 1 January 2012. Student visa application fees will decrease by 5 percent while fees for a range of Skills and Business immigration visas will increase by between 5 percent and 15 percent.

If you are interested in immigrating to Australia - you should apply now and avoid the visa fee increases!

If you are from India and are interested in the latest student visa opportunities from around the World you should contact the workpermit.com Indian office for further details on +91 11 4120 7222.

Many Indians study abroad.  If you are from India and are looking for overseas study opportunities contact Work Permit dot com’s Indian office.  One of our consultants in India would be delighted to help you.

British Ambassador to Kuwait, Frank Baker, announced the launch of the 2011 British Council UK Education Exhibition, which aims to help Kuwaiti students learn more about the UK education system's range of courses available and student visa requirements.

The event, which runs for two days, gives prospective students the opportunity to speak with alumni and British Council experts. In addition, the UK Border Agency will also present useful tips and information about study and student visa requirements and UK immigration rules.

UK immigration Minister Damien Green announced on Wednesday that UK immigration will keep work restrictions on Romanians and Bulgarians wishing to work in Britain until the end of 2013. The restrictions, which have been in force since the two countries joined the EU in 2007, only allow Romanian and Bulgarian nationals to work in the UK if they meet the requirements of a particular visa category.

It is interesting to note that a number of visa categories that were discontinued for non-EU citizens are still available for Romanians and Bulgarians; The highly-skilled migrant programme, the work permit scheme and the season agricultural workers scheme.

Currently registered nurses are in great demand in Australia and those looking to emigrate can apply under the General Skilled Migration (GSM) Program. GSM is for professionals and other skilled migrants who have skills in particular occupations required in Australia and who are not sponsored by an employer. Australian Immigration uses a Skilled Occupation List (SOL) as part of their points system. In order to qualify for skilled migration to Australia, you must nominate an occupation from the SOL.

Canada has a large demand for doctors and dentists and those looking to emigrate can apply under the Federal Skilled Worker program. The program is for tradespeople, professionals and other skilled migrants who are not sponsored by an employer and have skills in occupations listed on the Priority Occupation List for the Canadian skilled worker visa category.

The USDepartment of Homeland Security has announced that Russian nationals visiting Guam will be able to come under the US visit visa waiver scheme, but they did not immediately announce a timeline for when the new policy would go into place.

The announcement from DHS came last week and states the new policy will permit Russian visitors to visit Guam without US visas for up to 45 days. The visa waiver will also allow, on a case-by-case basis, eligible Russian nationals to visit the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands for tourism.

Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announced last week that federal funding of immigrant settlement services in most Canadian provinces and territories will be increased for the 2012-2013 fiscal year. The funding goes towards services that help new immigrants settle in Canada.

Australian immigration is opening two new Australian visa application centres in New Zealand, making it more convenient for people to apply for Australian visas. The two new application centres will be based in Auckland and Christchurch.

The new Australian visa application centres will make it easier and quicker for people to access Australian immigration and citizenship services and apply for the necessary documentation to travel to Australia.