Immigration newsletter 22 Jan 2014

If you have a professional level contract with a daily rate of £180 or more, we can help you find a Tier 2 sponsor and transfer to the Tier 2 (General) skilled worker visa stream. The requirements are easier if you are switching from a Tier 1 PSW or Tier 4 Student visa (at degree level) to a Tier 2 Visa.

If you have a contract and would like help finding a sponsor call the London office on 0344 991 9222 or email us at uk@workpermit.com

European Commission seeks power to prevent Malta 'citizenship sale'

The Maltese government says it intends to launch the Individual Investor Program which will ‘sell citizenship’ for €1.15m. Applicants will have to pay a €650,000 fee, purchase property worth €350,000 and invest at least €150,000 in Maltese stocks or bonds to qualify. Successful applicants will be able to purchase additional visas for their spouse, children, parents and grandparents. Because Malta is in the EU, Maltese citizens can live anywhere in Europe.

The scheme faces a legal challenge from the European Commission. Vice-president Viviane Reding has said that EU citizenship is not for sale.

US Secretary of Commerce says immigration reform 'doable' in 2014

Penny Pritzker, the US's Secretary of Commerce, says there is a good chance of US immigration reform in 2014. Ms Pritzker told journalists in Las Vegas on January 8th that she hopes the House of Representatives will pass a reform bill which has already passed by the Senate. She told her audience that she thought reform was possible before June.

Mrs Pritzker says that reform is 'a moral as well as an economic issue that will create a huge 'economic opportunity' for the US. She added that it was 'crazy' that many of the world's brightest students are educated at US universities but the US does not allow them to stay and work.

Canadian immigration minister promises better service in 2014

Canada's immigration minister Chris Alexander has promised to improve Canada’s immigration service in 2014. His chief focus will be on decreasing waiting times. He says that he wants waiting times for the Federal Skilled Worker Program, Canada’s main skilled worker immigration programme, to be halved to six months.

He told journalists that Canada is on track to introduce an ‘Expression of Interest’ system for skilled workers in January 2015. He said this system will reduce waiting times and ensure that Canada gives priority to the immigrants it needs.

UK 'misguided' on EU immigration policy says EU commissioner

Laszlo Andor, the EU's commissioner for social affairs, says that the debate on migration within the EU, especially in Germany and the UK, has become 'emotional and misguided'. He blames the press for printing 'myths' about immigration.

Mr Andor told journalists in Brussels that EU citizens would soon learn to disregard their politicians, after arecent immigration scare story proved false. Mr Andor was referring to press reports predicting that thousands of Romanians and Bulgarians would travel to seek work in the UK on 1st January 2014, after controls barring them from working in the west were removed. In fact, since 1st January, fewer than 50 people from the two countries have moved to the UK.

Indian diplomat accused of visa fraud returns to India

An Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade, has left the US after being charged with visa fraud. Mrs Khobragade, the deputy consul in the Indian consulate in New York, is alleged to have made false statements to obtain an A-3 visa for her daughter’s nanny.

US immigration authorities allege that Mrs Khobragade falsely claimed that the nanny, Sangeeta Richard, was paid the US minimum wage of $9.75 per hour as US law requires. Ms Richard says she was paid $3.30. The Indian government has retaliated by expelling a US diplomat from the US embassy in New Delhi.

UK's top immigration expert says migrants better educated than UK youth

The chairman of the UK’s Migration Advisory Committee has told a parliamentary committee that UK employers preferforeign-born workers for low-paid work because they are likely to work harder, learn faster and be more highly motivated than their English counterparts. Professor David Metcalf suggested that this might be because English schools are failing to educate pupils properly.