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The United Kingdom's Home Office announced a general increase in most existing immigration fees. The government is downplaying the size of the increases but, in some cases, fees will go up as much as 33% or more. Most fees, however, will only increase slightly. In the announcement, the government said that the new fee increases will take effect "in the near future." Some new fees will be introduced, as well. Among the changes, businesses hiring workers from outside the European Economic Area will now have to pay a one-time, "sponsorship license" fee.

Immigrants applying for permanent residence in the UK and who don't pass the "knowledge of language and life" requirements will continue to have their applications considered as an extension application to their current temporary leave to remain. Previously, the Border and Immigration Agency (BIA) had announced that this arrangement would be discontinued on January 31st. The BIA...

The Chinese Lunar New Year began on February 7th, marking the Year of the Rat for 2008. Called the "Spring Festival" in China, it is considered the most important of traditional Chinese holidays. The festival traditionally begins on the first day of the first lunar month, and it is an important holiday throughout East Asia. This Year of the Rat will last until January 25th, 2009, and will be controlled under the elemental sign of Earth.

The United Kingdom's Border and Immigration Agency (BIA) announced that the new points-based system will start from February 29th. The first immigrants required to use the Tier 1 points system are those currently in the UK under the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP) who wish to extend their leave to remain. From April, hopeful immigrants applying from India will be required to come under the new Tier 1 rules for highly skilled migrants....

The United Kingdom will begin the phased introduction of the new Tier 1 rules for highly skilled immigrants over the next few weeks. Applying for an HSMP visa now has the benefit of coming under a slightly easier English language requirement. Another benefit is that you may take advantage of the MBA provision before it is removed under Tier 1. For HSMP holders who don't score enough points to extend their leave to remain under Tier 1, transitional arrangements are in place to assist them in transferring to another Tier, such as Tier 2 for skilled workers.

On April 1st, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin accepting applications for H-1B visas. In 2007, the USCIS received more than double the number of applications needed to fill the 65,000 quota on the first day. This year is expected to be very similar. Many U.S. business interests...

From February 29th, the United Kingdom is replacing the rules for highly skilled migrants with existing HSMP visas who need to extend their leave to remain. Immigrants must now qualify under the new Tier 1 category for General Highly Skilled Migrants. People will need to score enough points under the Tier 1 system without the MBA provision previously available under HSMP. However, the English language requirements are waived for extension applications.

The number of highly skilled migrants coming into the United Kingdom continues to exceed the number leaving the country, according to a new study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The study also found that highly skilled migrants coming in are significantly better educated than their UK-born counterparts. 38.4% of foreign-born adults in Britain have degrees in higher education, compared to 20.1% of the native-born population. Even with the large influx of highly skilled migrants,...