Newsletter archive

A new report examines the lives of migrants who have come to the United Kingdom from Central and Eastern Europe before and after the European Union expansion in 2004. It focused on lifestyles of migrants primarily in construction and agriculture, as well as those working as au pairs. The study tried to determine how much societal information migrants managed to obtain, details of their accommodation, leisure activities, social relationships, and their long-term plans. Many migrants did not have some important information on how to access basic services and on their labor rights. One conclusion is that the "evidence we have presented here makes a strong case for a review of national policy towards these and other new migrants."

France's new Immigration Minister, Brice Hortefeux, has proposed that France pay legal immigrants $8000 to leave France. The program would be similar to another one from 2005 and 2006 in which...

On June 14th & 15th, there will be a judicial review by the High Court of the United Kingdom regarding changes to British immigration law that were applied retrospectively. The Court will specifically examine a change that means that people will have to reside in Britain for five years instead of four to gain Indefinite Leave to Remain. The question to be decided upon is the legality of making changes to the law and then applying those changes retrospectively to people who obtained visas under the previous rules. The determination may affect other changes, such as those to the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP).

Russia and Norway have signed an agreement to ease visa and travel procedures between the countries. Russia has begun adjusting visa and travel requirements with European nations, with a number of agreements coming into effect from June 1st of this year. Norway's prime minister, Jens...

The Shadow Immigration Minister for the United Kingdom, Damian Green, has asked the British government to suspend changes to the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme that were put into effect last year. Mr. Green sharply criticized the retrospective application of the changes to people who qualified for the HSMP visa under the old rules. The High Court of the United Kingdom is conducting a judicial review into the legality of similar retrospective changes to the Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) scheme. The Commission for Racial Equality has said that the changes to the HSMP scheme are in violation of Racial Equality legislation.

The Home Office has released the 'Managing Global Migration' report for 2007. It outlines a strategy for immigration reform and changes for the next several years. Border security and identification of all people in the United Kingdom are mentioned in the report. The new five-tier, points-based system for...

A proposed amendment to the United Kingdom's Borders Bill is intended "to keep children safe from harm." Liam Byrne announced that the Code of Practice "will provide a robust and transparent basis" to help keep children safe who are caught up in Border & Immigration Agency (BIA) actions. Official policy currently allows force to be used on children if it 'can be argued' that the "safety of the child or others would have been endangered had restraint not been used." It also permits taking migrant children from their schools in order to detain them with their families.

A major international staffing company has published a report that points toward Eastern Europe as the "best source" of skilled migrants for companies in the United Kingdom. The report surveyed many business interests to evaluate their experiences with the skills shortage "crisis" in the UK. Many businesses are planning incentives, such as...