Immigration newsletter 06 Mar 2013

There will be a 35% increase in UK visa fees for dependents applying from within the UK from 6 April 2013. There will also be significant increases in visa fees for a number of other visa categories and Tier 2 visa changes from 6 April 2013. Call 0344 991 9222 if you would like help with your application.

Apply now and avoid the fee increase and come under the current more liberal immigration laws. We also remind you that for those of you applying for UK indefinite leave to remain or citizenship the Life in the UK test will become more difficult from 25 March 2013.

If you need to apply for UK visas by post, they can take months to process. We can submit your application for you and get it processed, sometimes on the same day. We can help with indefinite leave to remain applications, tier 1 extensions, etc.

Please call our London Office on 0344 991 9222 for further details. Our slots are allocated on a first-come-first-served basis so call early if you are in a rush.

The UK Border Agency will be increasing fees from April 6th 2013. The main changes are

• A huge increase in fees for dependants. -Dependants applying in the UK currently pay only half the full fee. From April, they will pay 75%. 
• A 3% across-the-board fee increase
• The fee for applications for indefinite leave to remain will rise by 6% - or £60 to £1051. 

We can help with applications. Apply now. Fees rise in one month.

Over 250,000 people acquired Canadian permanent resident status in 2012. This means that Canadian immigration has been at record levels for the last seven years. Immigration minister, Jason Kenney says Canada's immigration target will remain unchanged at 240,000 to 265,000 for the next few years at least.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron says he will introduce a simple residence test to determine whether immigrants should be entitled to any UK social benefits such as legal aid, healthcare or unemployment benefit.

Mr Cameron said that Britain was a fair country but should not be ‘a soft touch’. He said he wanted immigrants to come to the UK to work, not to get healthcare or social housing.

Australian immigration minister Brendan O'Connor has said that he will impose new restrictions on companies applying to employ foreign workers under the457 temporary work visa programme because it is being abused. Mr O'Connor said that some Australian firms were getting foreign workers approved for 457 visas by claiming that their roles were skilled when they were not.

Mr O'Connor said he will introduce legislation to ensure that 457 visas can only be granted where there is a genuine skills shortage and when there are no Australians who could do the job. 

Australian unions have said they are pleased but a spokeswoman for Australian IT recruiters said  that further restrictions on 457 visas could lead firms to outsource IT jobs to countries such as India.

New Zealand immigration minister Michael Woodhouse has said that the New Zealand immigration system is working well. He said that, in the last year, waiting times for work visas and visitor visas had fallen by 50% and the wait for student visas has fallen by two thirds. The quality of decision making has also improved and customer satisfaction stood at 87% in 2012. He said he expects new online visa management services to improve services yet further in 2013.