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The UK has released its Accession Monitoring Report for the eight East European countries that joined the European Union in 2004. The report provides statistics for the Worker Registration Scheme from May of 2004 through December 2006. First time applicants for the scheme increased from 212,000 in 2005 to 232,000 in 2006. Fewer than 2,000 applications for Income Support and Jobseeker's Allowance were processed in the fourth quarter of 2006.

The North Wales police are targeting Polish migrants in a recruitment drive, aimed at improving communications with the large number of Polish immigrants living locally. Polish candidates will have to complete a national assessment just like any other person and will not receive preferential treatment.

Remittances from Polish nationals, living mainly in the UK and the European Union, now account for nearly 2.5% of the gross domestic product of Poland. The Polish economy grew by an impressive 5%...

On March 7th, the United Kingdom's Home Office announced proposed increases in various immigration-related fees. Some very dramatic increases in government fees are expected, effective from April 1st of this year.

Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, said that, when he takes over as Prime Minister later this year, Community Service will be one of the requirements to gain citizenship. Immigrants going through the naturalization process will be on a probationary period, dubbed "temporary citizenship" by Mr. Brown, until they complete their community service.

Ireland has overhauled its immigration policy, effective February of this year. New categories such as the Green Card Permit and Work Permit Scheme for employment now replace the discontinued Work Authorization scheme. The Irish Government has taken the opportunity at the same time to make a number of other changes to the Irish immigration laws. Workpermit.com has extensively updated the Irish immigration section...

Lawyers for the UK Secretary of State informed the court this week that they are prepared to remove a clause from the HSMP guidance that was added recently. Under the guidance, overseas doctors within the UK were not to be interviewed for positions if their HSMP visa was set to expire past August 1st of this year. The British Association for Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO) formed Bapio Action, Ltd. to raise a legal challenge to the provision.

A new study released in Scotland recommends that a target of at least 13,000 migrant and immigrant workers be added to the Scottish population each year to bolster the population and economic productivity. The report is the most recent effort to produce a "Strategy for a Scotland with an Ageing Population." Scotlands labor force is aging and is not being replenished due to the anemic birth rate.

The European Union...

On March 7th, the United Kingdom's Home Office announced increases in various immigration-related fees. Some very dramatic increases in government fees will come into effect from April 1st.

A reminder to our readers: the United States government will begin accepting H-1B visa applications from April 1st. The current cap on H-1B's is 60,000. Last year the quota was used up in record time, with the government not accepting applications received after May 25th. 20,000 H-1B's are available beyond the normal quota for positions requiring advanced degrees and specialized experience.

Expected to be released in in January, the British government's controlling authority for migrant workers will in May release the internal guidance documents used by caseworkers to make determinations for the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme. The office is making the guidance public in response to "a number of Freedom of Information Act requests." They have said that the guidance...