Immigration newsletter 19 Jul 2012

Australia is a very popular immigration destination for skilled tradespeople and professionals from the UK.  There are over one million immigrants in Australia from Britain which is the largest immigrant source Country. If you are interested in Australian immigration you can apply for a skilled migration visa if sponsored by an employer or territory or if you are nominated in an occupation on the Skilled Occupation List.

The Australian government has also lowered the current pass mark for their SkillSelect program.  Australian immigration announced last month that the pass mark to qualify for EOI - SkillSelect would be lowered to 60 points from 1 July 2012.  Previously, applicants needed a points score of 65 points to meet the requirements for skilled immigration.

You should contact us now at ozvisa@workpermit.com to discuss your various Australian visa options.

We are pleased to announce that Canadian work visas are available for a range of different occupations in Canada:

Truck Drivers,  Welders, Heavy Duty Mechanics, Crane Operators and other occupations

Contact the workpermit.com Indian Office now for further details indiaoffices@workpermit.com

Canadian immigration has announced they are expanding the Temporary Foreign Worker pilot project which allows Alberta employers to hire highly skilled foreign workers in certain in-demand occupations.

The pilot program was originally launched 1 June 2011 and allows eligible immigrants to come to Alberta to work temporarily in a specific occupation. Thisvisa program issues them with a work permit that allows them to move freely between Alberta employers, without requiring authorization from Human Resources and Skills Development Canada/Service Canada. 

The US economy is being held back because the government has not increased the cap on H-1B visas for highly skilled workers, according to a new report from analysts at the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program. The study found that US employers want more H-1B visas to be made available so they can hire more foreign nationals for highly skilled, hard-to-fill jobs. The H-1B visa program is popular among US businesses wishing to employ graduate level foreign workers in specialty occupations.

New immigration statistics have revealed that Germany and Spain have a greater population of immigrants than the UK. According to provisional data, from the EU statistics office Eurostat, the UK has an estimated 4.5 million foreigners living in the country, about 7 percent of the population. Included in this figure is 2.33 million immigrants that emigrated to the UK from other EU countries.

For the first time, India was Australia's largest source of permanent immigrants, with a total of 29,018 places or 15.7 percent of the total migration program, according to Immigration Minister Chris Bowen. The second largest source of immigrants was China at 25,509 followed by 25,274 from the UK.

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has announced that Canada and the US have removed the three-year residency requirement for Canadian and US citizens to apply for the NEXUS program.

The new rules, effective 30 June 2012, extend NEXUS membership eligibility to citizens of Canada or the US currently residing abroad, or who have recently returned to Canada or the US. Previously applicants had to meet a three-year residency requirement in their respective home Country Canada or the US in order to be eligible for the NEXUS program.

Visit Britain, the UK's main tourism body, says the country is losing billions of pounds in tourist revenue due to its expensive and difficult to navigate visa system. Visit Britain believes that easing UK visitor visa rules "could deliver £2.8bn extra from tourism". Foreign tourism is worth £18bn a year to the UK economy and is the country's third largest generator of foreign income. Prime Minister David Cameron has urged tourism leaders to do more to attract foreign visitors 

Canadian immigration announced they have issued a record number of visitor visas this year with over 500,000 issued since the start of 2012. This same time last year, Canada had issued 450,000 visitor visas to foreigners visiting the country.

These numbers do not take into account the number of citizens traveling from countries who do not require visas to come to Canada. Canadian immigration estimates nearly ninety percent of visitors to Canada come from countries who do not require a visa. Citizens of countries like Australia, the UK, the US, and New Zealand do not require visas to visit Canada.

From 16 July 2012 if you are applying for British nationality from outside the UK you will have to send your application forms to the UK Border Agency'soffice in Liverpool. This change does not apply to residents of Hong Kong who can continue to submit their application at their local British High Commission or British Consulate.

US Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano traveled to Brazil this week to meet with international counterparts to discuss joint efforts to combat human trafficking, and facilitate legitimate trade and travel.

Napolitano signed a Statement of Intent with Foreign Minister Antonio de Aguiar Patriota to begin a Visa Waiver Program (VWP) Working Group in order to place Brazil on the US VWP list. Once the working group is created, the necessary actions will be taken to determine if Brazil can, in fact, be added to the VWP list.

Previously applicants could apply at the British High Commission or British Consulate in their home country. Now applicants must send their application to the UKBA's office in Liverpool and pay by completing a payment slip and sending it with their application and supporting documents.