Immigration newsletter 05 Mar 2014

Do you have a professional level contract in the UK paying at least £180 per day? If so, we can help you find a sponsor and obtain a UK Tier 2 (General) skilled worker visa. It is easier to switch if you already have a Tier 1 PSW visa or a Tier 4 student visa. The UK Tier 1 Entrepreneur scheme may also be an option. Why not contact the London office on 0344 991 9222 for further details.

UK benefits from EU immigration, says European Commissioner

The European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion Laszlo Andor has delivered a speech in which he said that EU immigration has been of great benefit to the UK. He added that claims by the UK government that EU citizens were coming to the UK to claim benefits were completely untrue.

Mr Andor travelled to the UK to give his speech. He addressed an audience at Bristol University on Monday 10th February. He admitted that, in recent times 'In Britain, and some other EU countries, we have been witnessing increasing unease, animosity, and sometimes hostility towards migrant EU workers, in particular as regards the rights of citizens from other EU Member States to various forms of social benefits in host countries'.

Australian immigration criticised over cricketer's citizenship

Australia's former immigration ministers Chris Bowen and Brendan O'Connor have been criticised for decisions to grant visas to a Pakistani asylum seeker, Fawad Ahmed, and to change the law so that Mr Ahmed's citizenship could be granted more quickly.

Mr Ahmed entered Australia and claimed asylum in 2010. He said he had been threatened by the Taliban and feared for his life. He was granted Australian citizenship in July 2013 despite the fact that the Department of Immigration and Border Protection had advised that his asylum claim did not appear to be justified.

US immigration to inspect L-1 visa employers

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) are to expand their US site inspection program to take in the employers of L-1 visas as well as H-1B visas. They will make unannounced site visits to prevent abuse of the L-1 visa by firms breaching 'anti job-shop rules'.

The visits are expected to begin in the first quarter of the 2014-15 fiscal year. The US fiscal year begins on October 1st. It is not yet clear whether site visits will only be made to sites where new L-1 petitions have been made or whether there will also be visits to existing L-1 sponsors.

Canada to make immigrants wait four years for citizenship

Canada's immigration minister, Chris Alexander, has introduced legislation in the Canadian parliament that would increase the required residency period before immigrants could apply for citizenship to four years from the current three years.

Mr Alexander announced the bill at a press conference at Fort York in Toronto, the site of a historic battle between Canada and the United States in 1812. He said that the bill would 'increase, reinforce the value of Canadian citizenship which we all sense but which needs to be renewed in every generation'.

Oxford academic blames 'Kafkaesque' student visa system on UK PM

A leading British historian has denounced the UK's student visa regime as 'stupid, incoherent, short-sighted, cack-handed, intrusive and counter-productive'.

Professor Timothy Garton Ash, Professor of European Studies at St Antony's College, Oxford University derides the UK's Coalition government for introducing a 'Kafkaesque, intrusive bureaucracy' where 'everyone is treated as a suspect'.

UK immigration inspector investigates sham marriages

The UK's Chief Inspector of Immigration, John Vine, has been conducting research into abuse of the marriage system by immigrants seeking to obtain residence in the UK.

Mr Vine has warned that sham marriages are 'a massive loophole' which is allowing thousands of people to enter the UK and remain in the country illegally.

Mr Vine said 'Sham marriages between non-Europeans and EU nationals are an increasing threat to immigration control. If not detected, they allow individuals to settle in the UK on the basis of relationships that are not genuine'.