Immigration newsletter 29 Aug 2012

There are several vacancies available in Australia that need to be filled immediately. Employers in Perth, Western Australia are seeking metal fabricators, boilermakers and carpenters. Australian work visas are available for the right candidates. 

If you have UK or EU experience in any of those trades and wish to work in Australia please send your detailed CV/Resume to workpermit.com . 

One of the founders of Workpermit.com, Sanwar Ali, will be in Delhi for the next few days. He would be delighted to meet for consultations. If you would like to meet him please contact us by telephone at our Delhi office on +91 11 4120 7222 or by email at indiaoffices@workpermit.com

The Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) predicts that annual net immigration will rise slowly to about 208,000 in 2016 from its current level of 198,000. DIAC predicts that around 45,900 skilled workers will gain permanent residency in 2016. Many will come from the UK, India and China. Skilled workers include
 

• Nurses
• Accountants
• Engineers
• electricians,
• plumbers,
• and carpenters

DIAC will also grant an increasing number of Temporary Business (Long Stay) 457 visas. ‘457 visas’ allow skilled workers to gain residency for up to four years. If you believe that you have the right skills and wish to emigrate to, or work in, Australia please send your detailed CV/Resume toOzvisa@workpermit.com.

The UK Border Agency has opened two mobile biometric clinics in the on the island of Borneo; one in Kuching, Sarawak and the other in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. The clinics enable Malaysians from Borneo to submit biometric information without travelling to the Malaysian mainland. Full details of documentation required with an application for a UK visa can be found on the UKBA website.

Jason Kenney, the Canadian immigration minister has announced reforms to the Canadian Federal Skilled Worker Program. The Program assesses applicants on a points 'grid' that measures their 'overall capacity to adapt to Canada's labour market.' The grid measures factors including education, work experience, age and knowledge of English or French. 

CIC proposes the following changes to the program.
 

• increasing the number of points awarded for linguistic ability.
• Awarding more points to younger applicants.
• Increasing points for Canadian work experience 
• Simplifying the ‘arranged employment process’.
• Awarding points for spousal language ability and Canadian work experience.

CIC also proposes introducing the Educational Credential Assessment which will check foreign qualifications for academic merit. The new arrangements will come into force in January 2013.

A UK Border Agency spokesman says that UK immigration staff have removed 2,000 illegal workers from the UK since May. On 21^st July 2012 UKBA officers raided a Tesco warehouse in Croydon, south London. 22 people were arrested on suspicion of working illegally. Tesco may have to pay a fine of £10,000 per employee. Tesco says it is cooperating fully with the UKBA.

Mitt Romney will campaign for the presidency of the United States in November on a hard line anti-illegal immigration policy. The Republicans adopted the policy days before the party's National Congress. It may make it difficult for Mr Romney to gain support among Hispanic voters. 

In a recent poll, Mr Romney scored 28% among Latino voters to President Obama's 63%. The Republicans say they would also withhold funding from
 

• universities that allow illegal immigrants to pay reduced tuition fees and
• so-called 'sanctuary cities' which refuse to enforce immigration law

John Kennan, an economist from the University of Wisconsin, says that wages in the developing world would more than double to an average of over US$19,000 if global immigration controls were abolished. The research will be published this month by the National Bureau of Economic Research, a think tank based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Abolishing immigration controls would, Mr Kennan’s model predicts, effectively double the available labour supply, causing a massive economic boom.