Immigration newsletter 01 Aug 2012

There are several job openings in Canada for Power Line Technicians, Oil/Gas drillers, and Mechanics that need to be filled immediately. Some vacancies already have an approved Labour Market Opinion (LMO), while others are in the process of being approved or will start the process once they retain clients. If you have the necessary experience and wish to immigrate to Canada please send your detailed CV/Resume to indiaoffices@workpermit.com.

The planned 24-hour strike by UK immigration staff, which had been called for Thursday 26th July, the eve of the London Olympic Games, was called off on Wednesday by the Public and Commercial Services Union less than 48 hours before the Games' opening ceremony. Mark Serwotka, the general secretary of the PCS, said that the union had not abandoned the threat of industrial action and that he was now proposing a sustained campaign of industrial action in the autumn if the union's demands were not met.

The United Kingdom's Immigration Minister, Damian Green, has denied that the government intends to recruit 1,100 new staff in its immigration and passport service, as claimed by Mark Serwotka, the general secretary of the PCS Union. On Wednesday, Mr Serwotka, said that the government was planning to recruit the staff and that this had influenced his decision to call off the 24 hour strike planned for Thursday 26th July. The strike would have affected Britain's airports on the eve of the London Olympic Games.

From 3 September 2012 Australia's Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) will open two Australian Visa Application Centres (AVACs) in Beijing and Shanghai. The AVACs, operated by VFS Global, will accept visa applications and visa fees, handle basic enquiries from clients before their application is submitted, and return passports.

These changes mean that from 3 September 2012, Australian visa applicants who reside in provinces within the Beijing and Shanghai areas should submit their application at an AVAC in either Beijing or Shanghai.

Sudbury, Ontario MP Glenn Thibeault believes the closure of Canada's Citizenship and Immigration office in Sudbury this spring is making it harder for mining companies to deal with the severe skilled labour shortage. The federal government decided to centralize Citizenship and Immigration Offices in Ontario as part of the spring 2012 budget. 

UK Ambassador to the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, John Tucknott, opened the new UK visa application centre in Kathmandu, Nepal this month. Simon Dadd, Regional Manager of the UK Border Agency for South Asia, said that UK visa applicants from Nepal can expect a more efficient and convenient visa application service. The visa centre processes visas like the Tier 2 visa which is popular with companies wishing to transfer staff to the UK and to fillhighly skilled shortage occupations in the UK. The Tier 2 visa can also be used for sports people and ministers of religion.

The European Commission, the executive body of the European Union (EU), has proposed a plan to deploy drones across the Mediterranean Sea to catch illegal immigrants. The Mediterranean is a major transit point for undocumented immigration. Already 170 immigrants have died trying to reach southern European shores this year.

The US Department of Agriculture reported that foreign holdings in US forests and farmland increased by 6.7 percent in the last 10 months of 2010. The department report revealed that investors from Canada and the Netherlands have almost half of all foreign forest and farmland holdings in the US. Canadian holdings were mostly in timber companies.

In Maine, roughly 16 percent of privately owned land has foreign owners or leasers, almost twice that of any other state. The USDA reported Maine's foreign holdings grew by about 232,000 acres in 2010.