Immigration newsletter 29 Dec 2012

This is the last newsletter of 2012.  We wish all of you Seasons Greetings and a Happy New Year.  We are also pleased to announce that 2013 is our 25th anniversary year.

We remind you again that if you are in the UK it is still possible in many cases to make a same day application at UKBA.  We can help with this.  Call the London office on 0344 991 9222 for further details. 

Canada will launch the new Canadian Federal Skilled Trades Program or FSTP on January 2nd 2013. The FSTP will allow skilled tradespeople to apply for Canadian permanent resident status if they have a job offer in Canada, speak adequate English and have two years’ experience in a skilled trade. 3,000 applications will be accepted in the first year.

Canadian immigration minister Jason Kenney said the FSTP would help address serious labour shortages in some parts of Canada.

The UK's sponsorship licence system has now been in place for over four years. This is the time that a UKBA sponsorship licence lasts so organisations that registered in 2008 and 2009 will soon be required to renew their licences, if they have not had to do so already.

Rob Whiteman, the head of the UK Border Agency (UKBA) has said that he thinks that the UK Border Agency's system of checks on UK employers who register to sponsor overseas workers for UK visas is working well. 

Mr Whiteman was appearing before the Home Affairs Committee of the UK's House of Commons on 18th December 2012. Mr Whiteman is obliged to appear before the committee four times a year to answer MPs' questions.

We can help with UK Tier 2 Sponsorship Licenses.  Contact the London office for further details.

Canada has announced that the Federal skilled Worker Program (FSWP) is to reopen in May 2013. The FSWP is Canada's main skilled migration programme and enables applicants to apply for permanent resident status if they have adequate skills and experience.

Speaking at an Ottawa press conference on 19th December 2012, Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney told journalists that the FSWP would re-open to applicants on 4th May 2013 using a revised points-based selection system. He also revealed the new selection criteria that will be in place when the system goes live.

Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has issued a statement wishing Canadian citizen Santa Claus good luck as he prepares to set off on an epic round-the-world voyage.

Mr Claus became a Canadian citizen on 20th December 2010 at a special ceremony presided over by Mr Kenney. This was good news for Mr Claus who was able to enter Canadian airspace that year without the need to obtain a visa for the first time.

Ed Miliband, the leader of the UK's Labour opposition gave a speech on 14th December 2012 in which he said that the last Labour government had made mistakes in its immigration policy when it was in power between 1997 and 2010. During that time, it is believed that four to five million people from overseas came to live in the UK. Critics of Labour allege that the government had an 'open-door immigration policy' which allowed mass immigration to continue unchecked.