Immigration newsletter 02 Oct 2012

Some UK visas can take months to be processed by UK Immigration. Or you may have to attend in person at the public enquiry office to have your application processed.

We are OISC registered and, if you are already in the UK, we can submit your UK visa application to UKBA to be dealt with on the same day!

Please note that we only have a limited number of slots at UKBA each week, so it is best to apply as far in advance as possible. Call the London Office on 0344 991 9222 for further details. 

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.

Australia is a very popular immigration destination for skilled tradespeople and professionals from the UK.  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.

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

We would like to remind UK employers who have licences to sponsor foreign nationals for tier 2 skilled worker visas or tier 5 working holiday visas that the first batch of these licences will expire on November 26th 2012.

It is the responsibility of employers to ensure that they renew their licence before the old one expires. If they do not, then they will lose their licence and their foreign employees will have to leave the UK.

We can help employers apply for a renewal of their licences. If you would like help applying for a licence then call our London office on 0344 991 9222 for further details.  

A High Court judge has ordered that overseas students studying at London Metropolitan University should be allowed to continue with their courses. In August the UK Border Agency banned London Metropolitan from teaching students from outside Europe because of failures in its systems for monitoring students.

On Friday 21st September 2012 Mr Justice Irwin also granted London Metropolitan the right to challenge the UKBA decision to bar it from teaching overseas students in the High Court. The case will be heard next year.

A study has questioned claims by the UK government that the UK is attracting 'the brightest and the best' international students to British universities. The study shows that only 5% of international students attend the top ten universities in the country. 

Sir Andrew Green of Migrationwatch UK, said the students were propping up the finances of lesser universities'. However, James Pitman, of the Study Group, an education company, said that the figures were misleading because many of the UK's top business schools are housed in universities which are not in the top ten. 

The Policy Exchange think tank says that the UK could become a world centre for hi-tech industry by granting probationary visas to international graduatesin hi-tech subjects.
The UK now attracts 18,000 technology students annually. Policy Exchange says that the UK should adjust its points-based visa system to allow them to stay and work in start-up companies. 

The UK government is to appeal against a decision which requires it to disclose an 'immigration blacklist' of 44 countries. Citizens of countries on the list face extra immigration checks and are required to provide more evidence in support of visa applications because of higher levels of immigration fraud.

The UK government says disclosure of the list would cause offence to the countries named on it and might lead to retaliatory action.