Immigration newsletter 18 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.

We are OISC registered and, if you are already in the UK, we can submit your visa application and get it processed on the same day! 

Please note that we only have a limited number of slots each week, so it is advisable to apply as early as possible. Call our London Office on 0344 991 9222 for further details. 

The registration period for this year’s US Green Card Lottery began on October 2nd. It will run until November 3rd.

After, a draw, The United States will issue 50,000 permanent residency visas to applicants from countries with low levels of immigration to the US.

In order to be eligible, you must have completed secondary education or two years' work in a job that requires at least two years training. 

For a small fee, workpermit.com can help you with your application. We also have an US Attorney who can assist

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 some of these licences will expire on November 26th 2012.

Employers must ensure they renew their licence before the old one expires. If they do not, they will lose their licence and their foreign employees will have to leave the UK.

We can help employers apply for renewal. If you would like help with your application, call our London office on 0344 991 9222 for further details. 

Indian firms are reporting that it is increasingly difficult to obtain L-1 category US visas for their staff. Ameet Nivsarkar, of Nasscom, the Indian software industry body, says visa refusals have hit Indian companies very hard. 

L-1 visas entitle firms with offices in the US and in elsewhere to transfer staff to their US. L-1A visas are for managers and can last for up to seven years and L-1B visas are for skilled staff and can last for five years. 

It is not clear quite why there have been more refusals. It may be that a suspicion that L-1 visas are being abused is affecting US consular decisions.

If you are a senior employee of an overseas firm that does not yet have a presence in the UK but wants to establish one, you may be eligible for a visa to visit as ‘the sole representative of an overseas business’. 

If these circumstances apply to you or one of you wish to send an employee to the UK in this capacity, workpermit.com can help. Call our London Office on 0344 991 9222 for further details.  

Jason Kenney, Canada's Immigration Minister visits the UK this week. He will stay for five days.

Mr Kenney wants to persuade UK graduates to think of emigrating to Canada rather than Australia. Mr Kenney says that he will extend the duration of Canadian working holiday visas from one to two years. 

Additionally, migrants will only have to work in skilled employment in Canada for one year, rather than two, to qualify for permanent residency.

The Ontario Expert Round Table on Immigration, which advises the Ontario, Canada provincial government on immigration policy, says that Ontario should increase immigration to 135,000 people annually.

The number of immigrants settling in Ontario has fallen dramatically recently and must increase because of an ageing population and a growing skills shortage.

The Round Table also recommends that greater efforts to be made to attract entrepreneurs to the province and says that the Canadian government must continue to honour its traditional commitment to refugees.

New Zealand has announced the establishment of the Christchurch Skills and Employment Hub to find workers for the rebuilding of Christchurch after the 2011 earthquake.

The Hub will help to match workers with job vacancies. The jobs will be advertised internationally online if no New Zealanders are available. 
The Hub is expected to 'go live' in November 2012.