Immigration newsletter 16 Jan 2013

We remind you again that if you are in the UK on a long-term visa and looking to stay longer it is still often possible to make a same-day application at UKBA.  We can help with this.  Call the London office on 0344 991 9222 for further details.

Many UK employers are finding that their Tier 2 Sponsorship Licence is coming up for renewal. We can also help with this.

Canada’s new immigration programme for skilled tradespeople, the Federal Skilled Trades Program, opened for applications on 2nd January 2013. The program allows people skilled in various trades to apply for permanent resident status. Among the eligible trades are
 

• Electricians
• Plumbers
• Gasfitters
• Mechanics and
• Supervisors

This year only 3,000 applications will be accepted. We recommend you to apply quickly. We can help with applications. Contact us oncanvisa@workpermit.com. The sooner you apply, the better your chances.

The number of US H-class visas granted in India rose from 114,000 in 2011 to 130,000 in 2012. In the same year, the number of L-1 visas granted fell slightly.

The main H category work visa for which Indians apply is the H-1B work visa for graduates skilled in a 'specialty occupation' often in IT, engineering or science. 65,000 H-1B visas are issued annually. They are valid for three years but can be extended. Successful applicants can bring close family members with them. 

The UK Border Agency has issued advice for international students at London Metropolitan University. On 29th August 2012, the UKBA revoked the university’s licence to sponsor international students for Tier 4 student visas. This meant that some 2,500 students faced expulsion from the UK.

If you are an international student at LMU, you should receive a letter shortly, if you have not done so already, telling you whether you have permission to continue at London Met. If you have applied to study at another institution, you should hear whether you have been accepted by 18th January. If the UKBA considers that you are ineligible, it will order you to leave the UK within 60 days.

The chief executive of Universities UK has said that UK government speeches and policy initiatives are driving international students away. Nicola Dandridge warns that this could have negative consequences for UK export education. Ms Dandridge said that among the factors deterring international students are
 

• the UKBA decision to prevent London Metropolitan University teaching international students,
• A chaotic police registration system for international students in London in September 2012, which caused them to miss the beginning of term and
• speeches by UK government ministers attacking immigrants.

Ms Dandridge says that factors like these have helped drive international students to study in Australia, the US and Canada. She said that applications to UK universities from India, Pakistan and China have fallen.

Jason Kenney, the Canadian immigration minister, has warned Sri Lankans not to pay a 'human smuggler' to help them get into Canada. Mr Kenney was speaking in Colombo, on January 7th during an official visit to Sri Lanka. He said that those who tried to get into Canada ‘through the back door’ would not succeed and would be wasting their money.

There is now a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years for those convicted of people smuggling into Canada. 

A new report issued by the London School of Economics estimates that there are 863,000 people living illegally in the UK. 70% of these live in London. It states that the most illegal immigrants come from India, Nigeria, Pakistan, China and Bangladesh.

The UK's immigration minister Mark Harper blamed the figure on the previous Labour government of the UK which was in power between 1997 and 2010.