Immigration newsletter 12 Jan 2012

Firstly, we would like to take this opportunity to remind you again that Australian immigration from 1 July 2012 will be introducing significant changes to their skilled migration program. If you wish to come under the current skilled immigration programme you should apply for a skills assessment as soon as possible.  You need to be ready with your skills assessment and, have passed the English language test before you can submit your immigration application.  It could take many months for you to be ready to submit your application.

According to new research half of all foreign professionals would consider immigrating to London if they ever looked to work overseas. Next on the list of popular destination cities was New York at 28 percent, Singapore at 16 percent, Paris at 15 percent and Sydney at 10 percent.  Dubai, Tokyo, and Shanghai were also in the top destination Cities for foreign professionals.

The research revealed that London with its banking, legal and creative industries is a major attraction to workers from all over the world.

Canada's Federal Skilled Worker visa programis filling up fast. This skilled immigration program is for people in a range of different occupations; If you have skills and experience in occupations listed on the Priority Occupation List you will not need sponsorship by an employer.

A new report released by the Economist Intelligence Unit, says that Australia ranks third in the Asia-Pacific region for Countries with the most positive competitive conditions for IT firms. Only South Korea, and Taiwan do better. Australia's IT industry is experiencing an increased demand for IT professionals and many Australian employers are now looking oversees to recruit and employ skilled IT professionals on Australia's 457 visas.

A recent study has shown that there has been a sharp decline in the number of nurses emigrating to the UK. It is widely thought that this is due to UK immigration bringing in tougher immigration controls on overseas nurses.

Colorado US Senator Michael Bennet introduced a bill last month that would grant greencard visasto foreign students graduating in specialties in science, technology, engineering and maths. The hope, he said, is that international students trained in America will stay in the country to help fill shortages in high-tech fields instead of returning to their home countries and perhaps ending up helping overseas companies compete with US companies.

There has been a decline in the approval rate for US L-1 visas for Indian professionals. New data shows that the US L-1 visa denial rate is higher in India than in any other country. The National Foundation for American Policy has released data showing the number of L-1 visas issued to Indian nationals fell by 28 percent in the period 2010 to 2011.