Newsletter archive

Firstly I remind you that 6 April 2011 is an important day for UK immigration. Tier 1 Highly skilled immigration in effect no longer exists from this day. There are major changes to the Tier 2 sponsored work visa scheme on this day and most UK visa fees go up on this day.

5 April 2011 is the last day to apply for your Tier 1 General Highly Skilled Visa, but only from within the UK. From tomorrow the only independent skilled migration visa that will be available is the Tier 1 Exceptional Talent Visa which will be almost impossible to obtain and will be limited to only one thousand people a year Worldwide.

All immigrants wishing entry to the UK under the Tier 2 Visa must be filling a graduate level position. You do not necessarily need to have an academic position. However, you will need to...

Firstly, now may be the time to think of new immigration destinations. Perhaps think of Singapore, Hong Hong, etc. Countries such as the UK, Canada and Australia have made immigration more difficult in recent years.

The Immigration Minister in the UK Damian Green has said that the changes that have been brought in from 6 April 2011 will reduce levels of new immigration to the tens of thousands per year. The number of people allowed into the UK under the Tier 2 visa skilled sponsored route will be 20,700. It is arguable whether this represents a significant change. There has anyway been a similar “temporary limit” over the last twelve months.

On 1 April 2011, the United States began accepting Fiscal Year 2012 H-1B petitions from US employers wishing to hire overseas workers in specialty occupations. The overseas workers are mainly in professional level jobs that require you...

The UK Prime Minister has recently given a major speech which was quite negative about UK immigration. Again, I suggest it may be worth considering other immigration destinations such as Canada, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Denmark. Nick Clegg the Liberal Democrat Deputy Prime Minister in the UK has attacked the Conservative Party Prime Minister’s immigration plans. He says that reducing the number of immigrants to tens of thousands a year was not government policy. Immigration policy has been an ongoing source of friction between the Liberal Democrat members of the Government and the more anti immigration Conservative Party members of the Government. It should be noted that under EU law the UK has to allow free movement of EU citizens and their families into the UK. In addition the limit on the number of tier 2 visas issued will only have a relatively small affect on overall levels of...