Jobs and Visas 2009

Canadian employers that are hiring foreign employees are told to abide by the new rules on how to treat the foreign employees. Canadian immigration authorities passed this rule to protect temporary foreign worker from the undue mistreatment.

Jason Kenney, the Canadian immigration minister has passed this law at the time when important positions in key industries are being filled with people from abroad. The new law restrains the employers from withholding wages; extending the limit of working hours and making foreign workers work in unsafe working conditions.

The Canadian immigration minister declared that the employers that do not abide by these rules would be banned from hiring foreign employees and also have their name published on the website of Canadian Citizen and Immigration.

For quite a time, the Canadian government was being lobbied by the Canadian trade Unions regarding the protection of these workers. The law was passed when four Filipinos were mistreated by an agency to which they paid thousands of dollars as agency fees.

There has been very little prosecution in Canada of such cases of mistreatment of the foreign workers. After all these measure the Canadian government expect to secure a leading position in the lists of countries where people would like to travel and work.

A survey by IDP Education said that they found that 26 per cent of the Indian students out of the total of over 1000, ranked Australia as the safest nation, and the countries like Britain and Canada got only 20% of votes followed by New Zealand and America.

Many policies have been put in place by the Australian government to promote studies in Australia and make Australian student visas as a safe and attractive option for students from abroad.

Australia is also seen as moving above US, Great Britain, Canada and New Zealand in having the best rules regarding the safety of international students.

Tony Pollock the Chief executive of IDP Education said that the results are encouraging, keeping in mind the recent challenges to Australia’s image as a valued and safe provider of education to Indian students. Indian students were also found to be acknowledging Australia as the best place for accessing student visas and permanent residency.

The result of the entire survey including total of 6000 students will be released later in the Australian International Education Conference in Sydney.

' Home Secretary Alan Johnson promised the pakistan government that UK Border Agency would work towards providing an efficient visa service to all the applicants and is working hard to minimise the visa processing time. He regretted the distress caused in summer to the legitimate applicants due to IT problems. During his visit to Pakistan he visited the UKBA office in Islamabad and was reassured by the members that they would work towards reducing the waiting time for applications to 15 working days, in accordance with global customer service standards.

The Federal Investor program is meant for the people who intend to settle anywhere in Canada, but outside Quebec, while individuals who wish to move to the Province of Quebec have to apply under the Quebec Investor program.

For both the programs, the applicants must have a minimum net worth of CAD $800,000 acquired through legal means. Together with this the applicants under both programs should agree to invest CAD$400,000 in a government guaranteed investment that can be financed. Five years later the sum is returned to the applicant without interest. The applicants also have to show minimum 2 years of feasible business experience in the last 5 years.

The Quebec Investor program considers management experience of any kind, but the Federal Investor category only considers candidates with management experience commercial enterprises. Hence the, the Quebec Investor category is more appealing for those with broader management background.

The processing time is different in both the programs. Immigration to Quebec involves both provincial and federal immigration authorities, but Quebec-selected candidates are easily cleared at the federal level. In addition, Quebec Immigrant Investor applications are quickly processed at the provincial level. Hence the applicants through Quebec investor program get their applications cleared quickly, but this also depends on the visa offices processing the application.

They will now be permitted to stay in the country while their application is being considered. A lot of people would benefit from the change. A spokesman for Immigration, Minister Chris Evans said that the existing law was also affecting the Australians, as they had to go through a long period of separation from their partners, and the whole family had to bear its brunt. Around 30 per cent of all cases brought to the minister for intervention had people facing similar situation.

The section 48 of the Migration Act is being amended, which till now prevented people from staying in Australia and applying for visas a countless number of times after an application was refused or a visa had got cancelled or expired.

But people who have been refused a visa on character ground, or have been denied a partner visa since their last entry in the country would not benefit from the amendments, and the eligible applicants would need a sponsorship form signed by their partners and would also require supporting statutory declarations from two other citizens of Australia.

It is a welcome move according to the immigration experts, but they suggest it to be extended to the persons with no partners but with a families residing in Australia. One of the Immigration lawyers said that the case officers in the department should also be granted greater discretion on the grounds of compassion.

''For people who chose a wrong visa, and could have qualified for another type of visa due to bad advice or change in circumstances still require ministerial intervention,'' she said. ''It too have problem as some deserving cases get missed due to inconsistent decisions from minister's office".

According to David Manne, the coordinator of Refugee and Immigration Legal Center, the section 48 sometimes had ''illogical'' outcomes, leading to the parting of Australians from their loved ones. He said ''it undoubtedly is the case that section 48 has operated very unjustly and harshly in some cases in the past and has caused unnecessary harm to people including their loved ones who are Australians''.

Trial Period about to start for UK Student Tier 4 visa
On 17 September 2009 it was confirmed by The UK Border Agency that the student Tier 4's phase 3, of the points-based system for immigration is going to initiate on 5 October 2009.

Part of the sponsorship management system, the Phase 3 is the voluntary trial period of for Tier 4 sponsors. Tier 4 sponsors include educational organizations such as universities, schools and colleges willing to sponsor students to study in UK. Visa letters can be issued during this trial period by the educational organizations.

The Government hopes that educational organizations would grant confirmations of acceptance to applicants from within UK for studies using the sponsorship management system more frequently. Students applying from outside UK until February 2010, can still obtain visa letters in place of confirmations of acceptance for studies, but from February 2010 all student Tier 4 visa applications would compulsorily require confirmations of acceptance for studies.

BC's enhanced website is integrated, comprehensive and provides one-stop information on all-important aspects of the settlement process and immigration to newcomers, as well as community leaders and service providers in the province.

Stilwell said: "This new website section will assist newcomers both, before and after they arrive in BC, to integrate in our communities."

There are two new gateways that have been added to the enhanced website. One helps BC communities in welcoming newcomers while the other is for service providers who help immigrants in different ways such as meeting them at the airport helping them with their job search, helping them learn English, and providing other essential services.

In addition, the website houses task wizards in six languages: English, Punjabi, French, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, and Korean.

Stilwell said: "We recognize and appreciate the important role that refugees and immigrants play in our province and how important it is that they feel welcomed and supported in their new home,"

Welcome BC aims to unite settlement, immigration related labour market services under a single service umbrella, with the help of funding from the Province of British Columbia and the Government of Canada.

Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Canada, Jason Kenney said: "The Government of Canada wants newcomers to have a good start wherever they begin their new lives in Canada. We are pleased to work with the province to help newcomers connect with their communities through this on-line tool."

One important change was to provide exemptions to the people with permanent, physical or mental disabilities that would prevent them from completing the Australian Citizenship test. According to the new amendment, these individuals are no longer required to give the citizenship test in order to gain Australian Citizenship.

The office of Minister for Immigration, Chris Evans officially stated: "These changes were necessary to ensure that there is a legitimate pathway to citizenship for these disadvantaged and vulnerable migrants. To support clients further who find it difficult passing the citizenship test, a small group of people will be eligible to undertake a citizenship course due to be introduced later in the year".

An amendment has also been added that will prevent minors from obtaining citizenship until they have obtained permanent residence status. This requirement is aimed at preventing under-age people who are in Australia illegally from applying for citizenship as a final attempt to prolong their stay in Australia.

Due to international travel commitments, exemptions have also been made for people who are not able to meet the residence requirements. Under the current system, anyone who spends more than 90 days in a year outside Australia will not be eligible to apply for citizenship until the following year. The amendments will permit athletes and people who travel internationally on business to be exempt from this particular clause.

The Government hopes that these changes will help many people who wish to become Australian citizens but previously could not do it due to work commitments, or physical/mental conditions.

The Home Instruction for Parents of Pre-School Youngsters (HIPPY) program this year celebrated its 10th anniversary. HIPPY Canada helps immigrant families better understand Canadian language, life and culture from home.

Federal funding will help in expanding services at HIPPY's operations in the Toronto region and at three new sites in Halifax, Red Deer, and Ottawa. This will increase literacy opportunities for an additional 600 newcomer families and the new curriculum will greatly increase Canadian content in the HIPPY program.

Honorable Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration, and Multiculturalism said: "For the past 10 years, HIPPY has been helping families overcome isolation and participate in society," With these additional investments, HIPPY will be able to expand its reach to more Canadian cities to help newcomer families improve their language and literacy skills, and maximizing their contribution to our society.

"With today's announcement, more families will benefit from HIPPY's program," said the Honorable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development. "I am particularly pleased that we are supporting the completion of a new curriculum that dramatically increases Canadian content in HIPPY's learning materials."

HIPPY encourages parents to be the first source of education for their children. HIPPY has an excellent track record in increasing social cohesion and in encouraging participation by parents in Canadian society. Since being established in 1999 HIPPY Canada has provided family literacy services to 2,500 people. It helps over 600 immigrant and indigenous Canadian families in eight locations including British Columbia and Quebec.

Dr. Miriam Westheimer, HIPPY's International Director said: "I can't think of a better way to celebrate 10 years in Canada than knowing our best days are ahead," With the support of the federal government, we can build our foundation of success with three more sites and a dramatic expansion of Canadian content in our curriculum. I want to congratulate Debbie Bell and the entire HIPPY Canada team for their inspiring commitment to family literacy.

HIPPY Canada is a part of HIPPY International, which has community literacy programs in more than 10 countries worldwide. United States alone has 172 programs.

British Nationality Law to change from January 2010
In August 2009 the UK Border Agency announced changes to the British Nationality Law under the Borders, Citizenship, and Immigration Act 2009. Some more changes will take place in January 2010.

The introduction of "earned citizenship" will be the most significant change but will come into force in the summer of 2011. From January 2010 changes will take place, which will make it easier for people in a limited number of cases to gain UK citizenship:

" Children born to those in the British Armed Forces who would not otherwise qualify for UK Citizenship may be registered. Children born in the UK to a parent who then joins the Armed Forces can also be registered.

" Children born outside the UK to British parents who were also born outside the UK can currently be registered as British within twelve months of the child's birth. This period will be extended so that the child can be registered at any time before the age of eighteen years.

" British Nationals Overseas (people with a connection to Hong Kong) who have not after 19 March 2009, given up or lost an alternative nationality by his or her own action or failure to act may be registered as British Citizens.

" Those born overseas to British mothers before 8 February 1961 who would have acquired British citizenship had their father been British will be able to register as British citizens. It should be noted that in some circumstances the children of unmarried British fathers are still being discriminated against.

It is yet to be decided what the requirements will be for "earned citizenship." Probably there will be a probationary period during which you will have to show that you will be a "good citizen."

It may be worth considering making an application sometime in the next twelve months if you meet the requirements for the citizenship of UK. If you already have a pending application with the Home Office you will be considered under the current rules. You will not come under the new rules.

If you qualify for indefinite leave to remain you should apply sooner rather than later. Those with indefinite leave to remain have until July 2013 to apply for UK citizenship under the existing criteria.
You will also find further details of the changes in our previous report on UK citizenship.

More Australian Immigration checks for the protection of children from Paedophiles

Mandatory criminal history checks are to be carried out by the Australian immigration authorities on anyone looking to obtain an Australian visa for overseas-born children they are adopting.
Anyone hoping to sponsor a foreign bride with children to allow them to move to Australia will also have to undergo criminal checks. The changes to the Australian Visa rules are being brought in this week in an attempt to protect children coming to live in Australia from potential paedophiles.

The moves are also intended to help prevent people trafficking. The changes are coming about following concerns dating back as far as 2005, that known sex offenders were sponsoring immigrant women under the spouse visa scheme in order to prey on their children after they have made the move to Australia.

Now, some 6,000 people each year are expected to provide a proof that they are not a threat to children before spouse visas or adoption visas are granted. "Children who come to Australia deserve our protection and these changes will make sure that paedophiles cannot adopt a child or sponsor a partner with a child." said Australian immigration minister Chris Evans.

The checks will use information held on the Australian National Child Offender Register to confirm sponsorship applications are genuine and from non-offenders.

Stats Can also reported that the Gross Domestic Product in Canada grew in June. This has happened for the first time in 11 months. Canada's major banks are reporting that the profit-earning ratio is going up in the third quarter of 2009, another sign that the economy is growing.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., the federal housing agency, stated that the housing market is expected to rebound over the last few months of 2009.

According to the analysts the above are positive signs, showing not only that Canada is recovering from the economic downturn, but that its economy is also expected to grow.
The deputy chief economist, Douglas Porter at BMO Capital Markets, a leading financial services provider said that "The upturn in June GDP, the swift snapback in housing amid rebounding consumer confidence, and a stabilizing U.S. economy all suggest that Canada's recession is indeed ending,"

Currently, international travel committees are making it difficult for Australian immigrants to obtain citizenship. This also has an impact on immigrants working in Australian oilrigs or on airlines as anyone who has been out of the country for 90 days in the year previous to application cannot currently be approved for citizenship.

"These changes will create a smoother path to citizenship for elite athletes and people in specialist professions and enable Australia to benefit from the talents and skills they bring to our country." Said Evans.

"The revamped requirements will create a fairer system for people who are currently ineligible for citizenship."

According to the new rules, elite athletes must have lived in Australia for two years, must have spent at least six months of their previous year physically in Australia and must be making their Australian visa applications to represent the country in their sport.

Evans hopes the changes will lead to "more gold medals for Australia at sporting events" and a stronger workforce.

Home Secretary Alan Johnson accepted recommendations from the independent Migration Advisory Committee that urged the tightening of the entry requirements for workers from outside the European Union. Prime Minister Gordon Brown has embarked on the biggest crackdown on immigration since World War II after record numbers arrived in the U.K. since 2004.

Home Secretary Alan Johnson said: "These changes will ensure that businesses can recruit the skilled foreign workers that the economy needs, but not at the expense of British workers, nor as a cheaper alternative to investing in the skills of the existing workforce."
The threshold of income at which foreign nationals become eligible for a work permit will be raised from 17,000 pounds to 20,000 pounds per annum.

The recommendations have toughened the rules regarding how different businesses move their employees as Britons increasingly struggle to find jobs. The number of people seeking work in these months rose to 2.44 million, the maximum since 1995.

After Poland and seven other eastern European nations joined the European Union in 2004, Britain reversed its open-door policy as the public concern grew over the scale of immigration. According to the Office for National Statistics, the U.K. population has risen by 4%, or 2.3 million people, since the middle of 2001.

While the European laws for freedom of movement mean Britain has little authority to control arrivals from inside the EU, most immigration cases has come from beyond Europe in recent years. Last year the government began an Australian-style points-based system for people entering Britain from outside the EU.

Tier-two workers include those coming to the U.K. to fill a job gap that cannot be filled by a settled worker, intra-company transfers, elite sports people, and ministers of religion, missionaries and members of a religious order.

'We are continuing to expand our watch-lists, work more closely with foreign Governments to share information, and speed up the redocumentation of those being removed.'

'This new agreement will help us identify and remove individuals whose identities were previously unknown and also improve public safety through better detection of lawbreakers and those coming to the UK without any purpose.'

These checks are complementary to the ones we already undertake with our European partners, and trials of the data sharing agreement have already reaped results, with individuals' identities being revealed through the exchange and checking of fingerprints.

The protection of personal information is important to all the countries involved in this project and the measures that are being used to protect privacy include:

ensuring that all fingerprints remain anonymous and cannot be linked to an individual unless a match is detected between countries; destroying fingerprints once a match has been completed with no fingerprint database being compiled.Using encryption and other security tools to protect files that are shared.

Migration Rules Set for Remake - (Australia)
Australia's immigration policy is set for a remake amid concerns that it is failing to meet the nation's long-term needs, with a record of more than 600,000 temporary residents adding to the problems of the growing population.

Immigration Minister Chris Evans told The Age that cabinet had approved the development of a 5 to 10-year plan that would consider the types of migrants that Australia needed, where they should settle, and the extra need for housing, transport, water and other resources to accommodate more people.

New figures that have been released today show that Australia's official migration program recorded 171,318 permanent migrants in 2008-09.

After including 13,500 refugees and the 47,780 New Zealanders who settled permanently in Australia, the migration program saw 232,598 people arriving in the past year, a 12.8 per cent leap from the previous year's record high of 219,098 people.

But according to figures obtained by The Age, a further 657,124 temporary migrants with the right to work came to Australia during the past year. The 11 per cent surge in temporary migrants was fuelled by big increases in foreign students (15% increase that leads to 320,368) and working holiday visas (22% increase that leasds to 154,148)

This compensated a 9 per cent drop in 457 visas - an employer-sponsored visa for temporary skilled labour introduced in 1995 - to 101,280.

The surge in temporary migrants with a right to work has created an unprecedented, unplanned migration wave. Immigration minister Evans said: Australia needed a rational immigration debate, beyond the hysteria about the few hundred boat people who arrive each year.

''The annual figure this year [for skilled permanent migration] was around 115,000, but more than 500,000 came into the country. They came in as students, temporary workers, working holidaymakers but the public still focuses on the 115,000 as if it's got anything to do with reality and my attempts to have a sophisticated debate about this have totally failed.''
Immigration minister Evans said immigration should be the nation's labour agency, meaning a continued high intake of migrants, especially younger and skilled labour.

But the desires of migrants, including overseas students who came in on temporary visas in order to gain permanent residency, should not be driving Australia's immigration policy.
Decisions about who came to Australia would be left entirely to employers although, conversely, Australia would also be competing for the most highly skilled migrants. Immigration minister Evans said to do that successfully the impacts of record high immigration on our liveability have to be tackled.

''In Australia we say, 'Well, we're the lucky country' and people will naturally come here, and that's still true to an extent. But other countries are increasingly rising in the market too."
He said immigration policy would remain non-discriminatory and that Australia's Muslim communities posed no fundamental threat - despite the arrest of five Melbourne men on terrorism charges, three from Somalia and two from Lebanon.
''I don't want to ignore terrorism, It is a serious public policy challenge that has to be tackled, but there's also been a slightly irrational fear and debate about people who arrive unauthorised as possibly posing some sort of threat.

Jane Turner, an ASB economist said that the changes in net migration in last few months (the dramatic fall in the departures particularly to Australia) had been speedy and net migration was most likely to increase.

Speedy pick up in PLT arrivals from Australia in the month of April was most likely to be New Zealanders coming back to home, Turner added.

The United Arab Emirates arrivals had also picked up evidently in the last few months due to the drop down in the oil prices and due to the crash of property market in Dubai. The experts mentioned that these might be some of the reasons, which are forcing New Zealanders to return back to their home.

PLT departures were most probable to remain feeble for some time, and the data issued on 22 May also suggested some uncertain signals of rise in the arrivals as a result of the global economic downturn.

"The boost to the population will help provide some timely support for the retail and housing activity, helping to curb the recent fall in demand."

Bernard Doyle, the strategist of Golman Sachs JBWere New Zealand said that the net migration was among the major drivers behind 2003-2007 up swing.

"Accordingly, the longer net migration persists around these levels, the more optimistic we become on prospects for the domestic economy."

The Chief Economist of Deutsche Bank, Darren Gibbs said that he thinks that New Zealand would sustain high net migrant inflows during the upcoming three years.

"If history is any guide, strengthening migrant inflows will play an important role in reinforcing what many (including the RBNZ) will view as a surprisingly strong recovery in housing activity," said Mr. Gibbs.

"Importantly, today's data makes it more likely that the housing market will sustain the sorts of activity levels (or better) that appear to have stabilized house prices in recent months."

Internationally Educated Nurses benefited through new training program in A new program has been launched by the Bow Valley College in Calgary, Alberta. The program's main aim is to improve the integration of internationally educated nurses into working nurses in Canada. The main focus of the program is English as a second language and discovering the Canadian health care culture.

Isabel Gibbins of the Bow Valley College English as a Second language department says, "Where a lot of immigrants have problems, particularly in the hospital environment, is the rapid-fire language that's necessary in a hospital."

A parallel pilot project at Nor Quest College in Edmonton funded by the federal and provincial government has inspired the project. The accomplishment of the program encouraged Alberta Employment and Immigration officials to widen the project to the other parts of the province.
Recently the first group of foreign trained nurses has commenced the program. After the completion of graduation these nurses will be certified as Licenses Practical Nurses (LPN). This will prove to be of great help to those nurses whose English language skills are not appropriate enough to be licensed as Registered Nurses. The LPN accreditation will give them the ability of work in their field.

"If you come in as a practical nurse, you're working in the environment, hearing the language, improving your skills and it is possible to then go back and do an RN exam," says Gibbins.
The college will also organize an information session on 12 August 2009 and the classes for the same will commence from January 2010.
Due to the lack of appropriate number of health care workers in Canada, the government and Canadian colleges are starting to invest more in such type of programs.

Guidance issued for overseas students from UKBA.
The foreign national who wish to study in United Kingdom under tier 4 of the points-based system has been issued a reminder by UK Border Agency.

If you are also interested in applying under tier 4, kindly make sure that the visa letter issued by your approved education provider constitutes all relevant information as prescribed under tier 4 guidance.

Further you need to fill all the requisite information in your visa application form to ensure its approval. The application containing incomplete or incorrect information is likely to be refused. However, if your visa letter does n't provide the adequate information, kindly get in touch with your approved education provider.

A migration agent of Sydney was found misrepresenting the documents of an applicant on May 7 to support his application for skilled-migration visas.

After learning about the doubtful documents attachments with the applications, the officials of Immigration Department and the Australian Federal Police raided at the city office.

These applicants were looking for the work as cooks, mechanics and hairdressers. The agent purportedly supplied false documents to 30 people, most of them from China. The investigation for forgery and fraud are currently under way.

“Illegal activity by migration agents attacks the heart of Australia’s visa programs and will not be tolerated,” Senator Evans said.

Under the investigation, people who have been successfully immigrated to the country on false documents might loose their visas.

The Chief Executive of Migration Institute of Australia said to Sydney Morning Herald, “The MIA does not tolerate this kind of behavior.”

Additional visas for Performing Artists: UK Immigration
UK Immigration has been advised to provide concessions for performing artists for UK visa.

The contemporary dancers, orchestral musicians in particular are provided concessions as ballet dancers whose occupation appears on the shortage occupation list (SOL) are also strongly recommended by the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC). The occupations of individuals whose occupation lies under the list are given additional points towards their UK visa applications.

David Metcalf, chairperson of MAC said that his organization had made its advise on the basis that shortages of labor would always be there, even at the time of recession. This applies to both performing artists as well as for the workers providing key public services, as it was vital for the nation to “maintain global leadership” culturally.

On the other hand, the General Secretary of Musician’s Union, John Smith was not convinced that UK visa applications for musicians should be treated on priority. "We are not opposed to musicians coming into the UK to work under certain circumstances,” he said. "What we do not agree with is the inclusion of orchestral musicians in the recommended shortage occupation lists, because we have yet to be convinced of there being a shortage of orchestral musicians in this country."

After signing an on-hire agreement with the federal government, the bank is planning to source 12 or more IT foreign workers in the coming month.

The CEO of People Bank, Peter Acheson said that this agreement would rationalize the company’s process for sourcing foreign contractors for the projects that met the requisite requirements of the Temporary Business 457 visa program.

He further said that the company is among the hardly any local IT recruiters, which have such agreement, following the changes to the immigration regulations in October 2007 that restricted the number of on-hire employers sponsoring 457 visas.

He said "Over the last 12 months it has been a challenge to bring people in on 457 visas and this will now allow us to do that."

"There has been a bit of latent demand created as a result of the fact that we haven't been able to bring people in over the past year," Mr Acheson added.

"Some of the people we will put in place over the next few months will be soaking up that demand.

"I think probably somewhere between 150 and 200 a year would be the sort of number we will get to."

People bank, the agreement permits it to source, safe and appoints overseas contractors to enterprise and government clients for task in regions witnessing skill shortages.

This would reserve the responsibility of immigration processes required for the contractors, which would result in the speedy visa applications for the contractors by the Government. Mr. Acheson further said that this agreement would help the company in searching the widest global pool of skilled candidates from across the globe and fast track visa processing might result in working within few weeks of time.

"At the moment, there is clearly a shortage, for example, of .NET programmers, Java people, J2EE programmers -- we would expect to bring people in for those areas, and then the emerging technologies."

He added that this agreement would assist the company in luring quality candidates. People bank would actively seek the currently running projects for overseas workers while making them available to businesses for short or fixed terms.

The spokeswoman from Department of Immigration and Citizenship said that there were 38 on-hire agreements and about one-third included IT professionals.

Based on the projected birth rates, life expectancy and migration flows, the Europe's population will be roughly the same in 2060 at about 500 million, but will be drastically older.

The European Commissioner for social affairs, Vladimir Spidla advised that the present recession should not repel the governments from handling this challenge. He said, "In dealing with the short-term challenges of the economic crisis, we must not forget the long-term challenge of ageing. We need to emerge from this crisis with more and better employment opportunities for older people."

As per the report, the European Union will witness only fifty percent of the current number of immigrants coming to the region in the forthcoming 50 years. This would result in strain to many European countries, which have been facing the problem of low birth rates. Apart from that it is reported that immigrants from countries like UK and Spain are coming back due to this current recession.

Several nations in Europe have been outsourcing their support functions like call centers, to countries like India for saving their costs. The government of UK has squeezed its immigration rules to minimize the number of immigrants with a view to protect the labor market and available public resources. However, Such politics driven events should be appraised regularly so that the country remain competitive in the global market.

Immigration process fast tracked for Afghans
The minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism of Canada, Jason Kenney is currently busy in confirming a fresh policy to help Afghans through their associations with the Canadian military and diplomats.

The Afghans who got seriously injured as a result of working in the Canadian military and those who face pressure from insurgents as they have helped foreigners; will be entitled for the fast-track immigration to Canada.

Besides that, the applicant’s must have a year of service to the Canadian mission together with medical and security checks and a reference letter from a diplomat or any senior Canadian soldier.

Minister Kenney has spoken that his first choice is for these people to relocate in safer regions of Afghanistan as they “are going to have play a central role in the long-term construction of a stable and democratic Afghanistan.”

“But in particular circumstance,” he went on to say, “where we feel that a person’s safety will be jeopardized by staying in the country, the door will be open to Canada..”

“I think Canadians would be proud to help provide refuge to those who have helped our forces, aid personnel and diplomats.”

Minister Kenney after announcing that Canada has no plans to decrease the immigration numbers in 2009 said, “We cannot afford to be passive about the challenges of integration.”

In the last three years, Kenney has spent elongated time with the various cultural communities of Canada to discuss the improvement in settlement and integration of Canada. From all these discussion with cultural communities, he has learnt that immigrants themselves see any disagreement between the history of Pluralism of Canada and providing new comers the opportunity to enter into the mainstream successfully.

The government has been working hard on projects to improve the integration of immigrants.

Over the past few years, Citizenship and Immigration Canada has almost quadrupled the amount of financial support for language training over the last few year and Ministry Kenney has been speaking about the significance of knowledge in English and French language for Canadian Citizenship.

The Government of Canada is planning to develop the Canadian Immigrant Integration Project (a pilot project employed in China, India and the Philippines). The program helps the prospective immigrants to prepare themselves for the arrival ahead of time, in finding the schools for their children, housing & health coverage and so on.

English requirements for the 176/886 visas have been revised by the state. Now, the minimum ILETS test score has been increased to 7.0 or 8.0 for all the four components of the test.

Earlier, the NSW state government has received the applications for the people who felt short of any one of the four components in test score. But now, NSW will not be allowing this, and now applicants must clear the requisite criteria in all four components of the ILETS test.

To be eligible for state sponsorship, the applicants now must satisfy the English requirements for the state as well as for the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC).

As per the recent figures of UKBA, the majority of those fined in London and the South East till 31st March 2009 have been hotels and restaurants. A fine amounting minimum of 5,000 pounds have been imposed on the employer for every single illegal employee. An employer was fined 52,500 pounds for illegally employing 7 employees. Now, the employers have been advised to absolutely make sure that they should strictly comply the rules in order to avoid any substantial harm to their businesses.

Under the old work permit system, the UKBA disqualified many applications for the role of chef as they asked whether the role was sufficiently skilled.

“We want Canada to be the destination of choice for international students,” said Minister Kenney. “Our new e-Services are yet another way our government is working towards attracting and retaining international students.”

“We are committed to serving our international students as effectively and efficiently as possible,” said Minister Kenney. “Our new e-Services will facilitate the application process, improve employment opportunities and contribute to long-term integration.”

After the launch of pilot project in June 2008 more than 6,000 overseas students have already applied online for an off-campus work permit.

Under the Canadian Experience Class, the students who have gained skilled work experience after the graduation may satisfy the eligibility criteria for permanent residencey.

Students who gain skilled work experience after graduation may be eligible to apply for permanent residency under the Canadian Experience Class.

UKBA suspends Certificate for Application approval fee
The UK Border Agency has suspended the Certificate of Approval applications fee from 9 th April 2009.

This applies that individual who will apply for a Certificate of Approval after 9 April,2009 will not be required to pay the application fee.

Major amendments in 457 visa programme
The Immigration Department of Australia has formerly announced several amendments in the 457 Temporary Business Long Stay Visa, to ensure that the potential immigrants are duly skilled for the job. It will also take care that these immigrants are paid sufficiently and not discriminated.

The 457-visa programme gives the opportunity to the employers to fill the shortages of skilled manpower that cannot be filled through local workers. The programme has grown rapidly to fulfill the skill shortages in the Australian economy.

The Government announced in a press release issued on 1st April 2009 certain measures related to the integrity of the 457 visa programme. The measures are under noted:

• From mid-September 2009, the implementation of a market based MSL for all new and existing 457-visa holders will take place.
• For 457 visa applicants in trade occupations and chefs, the minimum English language requirement from an IELTS test score is increased from 4.5 to 5
• From 1 July 2009, 457-visa programme will progressively introduce formal skills assessment visa applicants from high-risk immigration countries in trade occupations and chefs.
• Introducing a requirement for employers that demonstrate a commitment of employing as well as training local labor and demonstrating them non-discriminatory employment practices.
  

Countless cooks messing up with the talent shortage broth
In spite of the outburst of foreign students learning cooking to get the permanent residency in Australia, some end up working as cooks, as per a report.

The academics have called on the Government to increase the training required of overseas cooking students so that they can acquire trade-level skills and "restrict the migrant flow of cooks".

The Commonwealth had been hesitant to act as the state governments were concerned to protect the foreign student education industry, said Dr Birrell.

As per the report, The Cooking-Immigration Nexus, there has been a significant increase in the enrolments of student in cooking courses in the last few years. The number of students enrolled in cooking course in 2004 was 1019 while in 2008 the number increased up to 8242.

The report said that since May 2005, cooking has been in the list of in-demand migration occupations. While, the catering industry constantly declared that the owners to a great extent were short of qualified cooks.

The number of private cooking training providers has been growing rapidly. Last year, 23 recognized organizations that provided three months cooking training were started in Victoria only.

However most overseas student who wants to be cooks tends to take on kitchen hands position, as they did not possess trade-level skills. The experts of cooking industry said that the skills of Australians who had finished 3 to 4 year apprenticeship in cooking is much higher as compared to the foreign students who have completed one-year of full time course.

But, it was also mentioned in the report that there wasn’t any independent agency that assessed the capability of overseas students who had completed their course to ascertain that they had accomplished the trade-level skills. The Chief Executive of Migration institute of Australia, Maurene Horder said education courses should not be flagged as a backdoor to migration. Immigration Minister, Chris Evans said “the Government announced changes in December to ensure the skilled migration program delivered employer-sponsored migrants into jobs or equipped them with critical skills.”

Canadian population on rise due to high immigration numbers
As per the Canadian Statistical department, there has been a stiff growth of 0.19% in Canadian population in the last quarter of the year 2008. This has been a fastest growth in any quarter ever since 1992.

In an announcement made by Citizenship and Immigration Canada, it was stated that the immigration application processing times has improved slightly in 2008. The waiting time has reduced by 12% as compared to the waiting time of the last year.

Statistics Canada figures depicts an increase in population in every province and territory except in the Prince Edward Island and Northwest territories.

Demographic growth is on higher side in Western provinces, with British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. They have posted more growth as compared to the average growth.

Saskatchewan Immigration Nominee Program (SINP) has leaded Saskatchewan to the highest increase in its population numbers in 2008 in the last 20 years.

"Immigration is important in addressing Saskatchewan's demographic and labour market needs and will help contribute to the long-term growth and prosperity in this province," says Saskatchewan Immigration Minister Rob Norris. "Newcomers help to build our communities through diversity and innovation."

Student visas cut down by UK immigration
UK immigration constrain on unlicensed educational institutes and fake applications of student visas has protected several institutions from admitting overseas students as they are not able to fulfil new criteria.

As per the new tier 4 student visa rules and regulations, overseas students who wish to study in the country must obtain sponsorship from any licensed university or college and has cleared certain standards. By now, 460 institutions application regarding the admission of foreign student have been rejected.

Several schools, colleges and universities have forwarded their application for license to admit foreign students. The numbers have gone up to 2100 institutions and the officials of UK immigration from the Border Agency have personally visited all these institutions. They are examining that each accredited institution must ensure their responsibility towards the students coming away from European Union. They further have to notice that these foreign students stick as per the condition specified in their visas.

Migration agents uncovered targeting the overseas students for Australian visa fraud
Last week in a raid at southern city of Melbourne, Australian authorities revealed a fraud targeting overseas students.

The authorities found that three migration agents are providing fake documents to people interested in permanent visas to Australia. The students based their residency request on stated skills in cooking, hairdressing and mechanics.

The Police and the Immigration Department is thinking of laying the case of forgery and fraud charges.

CIMC announces new online work for immigrants to Canada
A new online resource to assist current and potential immigrants to Canada has been announced by the minister of Citizenship, Immigration, and Multiculturalism Canada (CIMC), Jason Kenney. This has been done to integrate the job market rapidly and to obtain work in their respective fields.

Foreign Credential Referral Office (FCRO) has formulated a new workbook for newcomers. This workbook is available at credentials.gc.ca- guides immigrants through a well-designed step-by-step approach of getting a job in Canada. The workbook discusses some major points like difference in regulated and non-regulated professions, how to get your work and education documentation certified and how to become licensed or registered to work in Canada in a particular occupation. Important points regarding the settlement organizations and language services are also provided in the workbook.

Kenney said "Each year, thousands of skilled newcomers arrive in Canada. It is in their interest, and in Canada's interest, to do everything we can to help them put their skills to work here as soon as possible once they arrive. This is one more tool to help them obtain the greatest benefit from their experience and education."

Recession hits UK immigrants badly
The students and economic migrants coming to UK from outside European Union will have to submit 50 pounds towards the public services, ministers confirmed here on 19 March.

The community secretary, Hazel Blears and the home secretary, Jacqui Smith announced that new charge would be implemented from the later part of the year. The charge include distribution of Migration Impacts Fund in different areas based on the number of immigrants attracted in that area.

Blear while addressing a press conference on migration, hosted by Equality and Human Rights Commission in London said that long-period advantage to the country from immigrants is “significant” and would play an important part in the recovering from the recession.

But she accepted that immigration might impose short-term burden on local public services like councils, police, schools and the NHS.

“The new fund could be used to pay for extra teachers in schools in areas with high immigrant numbers, targeted support for policing, English language lessons for immigrants or measures to increase GP registration,” she said.

Blears said: "Migration brings significant benefits for this country. But it is a complex area never far from heated public debate. That is why we need an honest discussion about it, that acknowledges the local pressures which migration can create in our communities and on our public services.

"The new Migration Impacts Fund that comes from an extra levy on new migrants as they enter our country will support local services like health, police, and schools manage any pressures.

"It will also help ensure that those who arrive here learn to speak English so they can work to support themselves, get to know their neighbours, and participate fully in our society."

The Migration Watch UK, which generally campaigns for lower migration said that the fund would boost only 7p in every single pound spent by the authorities to help immigrants under the scheme, which the pressure group asseses to be more than 500m pound a year.

The pressure group's chairman Sir Andrew Green, , said: "The government say the new tax will raise £35m per year. This may sound impressive, but it is a drop in the ocean compared with the huge sums spent each year by the government as it tries to help society cope with the impact of immigration both nationally and at the local level.

"A rough estimate shows that, for every £1 the government spends on schemes specifically to help migrants, its new tax will only raise about 7p. And that spending does not allow for the fact that one new home will have to be built every six minutes for new immigrants, nor the additional costs to the NHS and education services, nor the countless other costs to local services that large-scale immigration brings.

"Our population will hit 70 million in 20 years. Seventy per cent of the increase will be thanks to immigration. This new tax will not begin to foot the bill that this population increase will present to British taxpayers."

Jill Rutter, a researcher into migration at the IPPR, said: "The migration transition fund is a good way of getting money to public services quickly, to cover costs for interpreters, for example, but we should remember that most migrants are young and fit and not heavy users of public services.

"Government and local public services must be careful not to fuel anti-migrant sentiments by suggesting that migrants place strains on schools, the police and the NHS. In reality, migrants contribute to public service provision through taxation and as public service workers."

The community secretary and the home secretary published a paper entitled Managing the Impacts of Migration setting out government actions to cut the number of illegal immigrants.

Smith said: "We are determined to ensure migration works for everyone. Our tough new points system means only those we need – and no more – can come here, and its flexibility allows us to raise or lower the bar according to the needs of the labour market and the country as a whole."

Australian Govt. To slash Skilled Worker Immigration this Year
The Australian Government has decided to decrease the skilled immigrant workers for the first time in the decade to protect local jobs in the middle of economic slowdown.

The Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Chris Evans announced that Australia would slash the number of immigrants of skilled workers by 14% in 2008-09, so that the local jobs are protected. The move would result in the reduction of number of skilled migrants from 133,500 to 115,000. However, employers can contact professionals in case when they experience skill shortages.

As per the new rule, manufacturing as well as building trade would be removed from the list of critical skills. Under this list bricklayer, welders, plumbers, carpenter and metal fitters are included. After their exclusion, the list will now include health and medical, engineering and IT professions.

These changes tag along measures proclaimed in December, whereby only migrants sponsored by an employer or in an occupation on the Critical Skills List were provided visas under the permanent skilled migration program. Nearly 50% of the permanent visas are granted to those applicants who are currently working or living in Australia.

"The overwhelming message from business and industry is that Australia still needs to maintain a skilled migration program but one that is more targeted so that migrant workers are meeting skills shortages and not competing with locals for jobs." Immigration Minister Evans said.

"The Critical Skills List will remain under constant review and the Government will remove occupations from the list if demand for those skills can be satisfied by local labor", the Immigration Minister added.

He further announced that the government will keep on monitoring the immigrants and set the migration program in 2009-2010 to reflect the economic climate as element of the Budget process.

Due to global financial crisis, Australia has been badly affected, resulting in stiff growth of unemployed Australians. The unemployed rate in the country has gone up to 5.2% in February as compared to 4.8% in January while the job advertisements has also gone down steeply since 1999.

New amendments in famous Alberta Nominee Immigration Plan
The Strategic Recruitment Stream of Alberta Immigrant nominee Plan (AINP) has recently been traumatized to replicate the province’s changing needs of labour. US H1B Visa Holder category (for the applicant who do not require any job offer) has been changed to replicate the common occupations that are among H1B holders. Recently foreign engineers and foreign trades people are the two new categories, which focus on with work experience in Alberta, have been created.

Under the Alberta’s Strategic Recruitment stream, all three categories permits the candidates to apply directly to the AINP without any job offers from Alberta employers. It has become vital fast-track options for Canadian immigration and a means for Alberta to build skilled labour force of foreign workers.

All three categories of Alberta’s Strategic Recruitment Stream allow candidates to apply directly to the AINP without having a job offer from an Alberta employer. It is an important fast-track option for Canadian immigration and a means for Alberta to build up its skilled labour force of foreign workers.

The stream was formerly formed for US visa holders, to make it simpler for the skillful workers from overseas with work experience from America to settle as immigrants permanently. To meet the criteria the applicant must have worked for a year at least in US on H1B visa in Alberta in the list of ‘in-demand’ occupations. To focus on the key occupations among H1B visa holders in the United States, the list of occupations has been modified. The new list comprises of various types of engineering occupations, IT professionals, web designers, software engineers, along with medical occupation including physiotherapists and medical lab technicians.

Alberta has also amended its requirements for H1B status apart from the H1B occupation list. Now H1B is required to be maintained until the AINP makes the final verdict regarding the candidate while earlier the applicant was required to keep the H1B status until the time of application.

Currently the AINP is projecting a time of 2 to 6 months in processing. The newest additions to the Alberta’s Strategic Recruitment stream are the compulsory trades and Engineering occupations category.

Only for the above-mentioned categories (not H1B category) applicants need to prove that they presently live in Alberta and will settle in the province permanently. They further have to prove that they have been working in the same field in Alberta. For the engineers, it is important that they must have worked for any reputable Alberta engineering company within the last 12 months.

The applicants in Compulsory trades category are required to get an invitation from Alberta Apprenticeship and Industry Training (AIT) and an Alberta Qualification Certificate in a Compulsory Trade for qualifying.

The Engineering Occupations Category must be educated and provided training as an engineer, designer, or drafter and have similar work experience on the AINP Engineering Occupations List. Apart from that, they also need to acquire a ‘Letter of No Objection’ from the Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists, and Geophysicists of Alberta (APEGGA).

The AINP is constantly developing. Qualified applicants are encouraged to submit their application now as the eligibility criteria can change anytime with out prior notice.

Canadian Immigration Targets Possible to Decrease in 2009
Due to economic uncertainty and rising unemployment in the country, Canadian minister of citizenship immigration and multiculturalism (CIMC), Mr. Jason Kenney announced that Canada is considering cutting the numbers of immigration to Canada in 2009.

Minister Kenney stated, “We don’t want people coming to Canada and facing unemployment, we need to be sensitive to changing labor market and if we need to make modification we will.”

He also stated, “We need to be flexible, prudent and ensure that our response to short-term conditions does not counter out long-term goals, in which immigration will play a significance role; we don’t want to turn off the tap of the future growth that represented by immigration.”

He mentioned that any changes could be made in immigration selection system without any prior warning. He further stated Immigration minister has the power to immediately reduce the immigration target.

UK Visa Made Tougher
UK Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith announced “To give domestic worker a greater chance of applying, first for UK jobs, measures have been taken to bar foreign workers wishing to enter UK.”

The secretary promised to use the flexibility build in the point based system (PBS) to help the British workers during the phase of recession. To confine low skilled foreign workers, the government has already suspended Tier 3 of the PBS. The Government has announced three major changes to restrict the foreign worker and support the British workers:

· Jobs must advertised by the employer to resident workers through Jobcentre before they can bring a worker from outside Europe, this is done to make the labor market stronger in test for Tier 2 skilled jobs.

· Use each shortage occupation list to trigger skills appraisal that focus on improvement of resident workers for these occupations, which will make UK less dependent on immigrants in the future.

Immigration Population Changes in Australia
“Portrait of a nation” reports conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics states that 20% of the new entrants between 1996-2006 are from Asian countries of India and China.

There has been a stiff increase in the number of immigrants from Asia especially from India and China. However, the major immigrants are from the European countries. It is firmly believed that Asia will evidently overtake Europe. As 24% of foreign-born residents (92,000) arriving from UK between 1996-2006 makes it the most common country.

As per the report, 4.4 million people in Australia were born overseas; which indicates an increase by 2%, as compared to the last survey conducted in 1996.

6 out of 10 immigrants are from Asian continent. Under which, 9.5% immigrants are from China (62,000) and 8.4% from India (54,100) and many other immigrants are from countries like Malaysia, Philippines and South Korea.

Canada still has hot job spots in spite of global economic recession.
In the last few months, the national unemployment rate has steeped up in Canada. Although the country has not been as affected as the countries like United States and other OECD nations by the global economic recession. This has encouraged CIC (Citizenship and Immigration Canada) to evaluate the immigration numbers to make sure that there are enough jobs for the immigrants once they arrive in the country.

In spite of these trends few regions in the country still remain hot job spots, where the regional employers continue to look for skilled foreign workers to fulfill the unending labour gaps. It is quite remarkable that Canadian provinces such as Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Manitoba are still facing the problem of skill shortage and continue to hire foreign workers to lighten them.

Saskatchewan and Alberta unemployment rate in January were 4.1% and 4.4% respectively, both of which are under the ‘balanced labour market' rate of 5%, as per the Alberta Employment and Immigration. Although both these provinces have been affected by current economic downturn, expert economists state that they have been faring much better than other regions of the country. Some of the experts also stated that the Alberta’s job market remains one of the best job markets in the Northern America.

Alberta has been recruiting many foreign as well as Canadian workers for several years now to keep its pace with the fast job creation in the province. AINP (Alberta Immigration Nominee Plan) has always been very effective in inviting skilled workers from abroad and continuously developing to reflect the present conditions. Its Strategic Recruitment Stream for USH1B holders has recently been reframed to invite applicants with relevant experience in new jobs such as database analysts, industrial designers, and web developers.

Calgary and Edmonton, the two major cities of Alberta have recorded meager unemployment in the last month i.e. 4.1 and 3.8 per cent respectively. Camrose-Drumheller region and the Medicine Hat-Lethobridge region are the areas in the province with lowest unemployment of 3.1 and 4 percent respectively.

Due to the continuous skill shortages in Manitoba, the provincial Immigration Minister is providing job offers to skill foreign workers in the field of biotechnology, information technology, healthcare, social services and geothermal energy. Under the Manitoba’s Provincial Nominee Program (PNP), the temporary foreign workers in these industries may finally be able to qualify for fast-track Canadian Permanent Residency.

For the people who are interested in immigration to Canada, the concept is simple. To maximize their chances of work in Canada, they should consider a region where unemployment is low and where their skills are in high demand.

Important changes to Tier 1 and Tier 2 UK skilled visa rules.
Major changes to the Tier 1 and Tier 2 have been announced by the UK Border Agency in the category of skilled migration to the UK. The agency also verified that the resident labour market test would be improved to make sure that the British jobs are being advertised to the local British worker first.

The changes in Tier 1 category are scheduled to take place on 31st March 2009. It is assumed that the new points-based system changes would make it harder for applicants to acquire UK skilled migration visa and will "raise the bar" for overseas workers.

Under the Tier 1 (General) and Tier 1 (Post-Study Work) categories, now the foreign workers using the tier 1 category for skilled migration would be required to obtain masters’ degree instead of bachelors’ degree (if they haven’t already secured a job in the UK). Further they also have to show that their salary amounted to at least 20000 pounds, which is 3000 pounds more than the current prevailing rules.

From 31st March 2009, anyone applying for the extension of his or her Tier 1 visa will not have any influence of these changes, while those who are applying for the Tier 1 (General) category primarily and those who wish to switch from any other category to the Tier 1 category will be assessed under the new rules.

Possible Major Cuts to Australian Skills Migration Programme
As per the Migration Bureau of Australia there is a strong probability that due to the global economic crisis, Australian Government may cut the number or immigrants by up to 66%. They have received the information from a credible source but it is still not yet confirmed.

The remaining 1/3rd might be facing an increase in the current point system or reduction in the list of skilled occupation to replicate the present market situation in Australia. It is most likely that cuts may also be made in the business and family migration visa streams.

Although final information regarding the changes have not yet been formally announced by DIAC, but it is feasible that the applicants may be adversely affected by these changes and some might found themselves no longer eligible after the change.

People who wish to immigrate to Australia under the current immigration criteria are strongly advised to commence their application as soon as possible.

Additional trades occupations can now apply under RPL

RPL (Recognized Prior Learning) skills assessments have now become one of the most important parts of the immigration programme of Australia. Among the three chief Australian Recognized Prior Learning (RPL) agencies, ACTS (Australian Construction Training Services) has currently added four new trades under their RPL programme. This means that an applicant who does not possess formal qualification but have 4 years or more proven work experience in any one of these four occupations announced can now complete an RPL and a skills assessment to attain an AQF level 3 qualification certification. Then, this certification will enable the applicant to be ultimately granted the necessary qualification points crucial to consider an application for skilled migration to the country (formally these applicants were not eligible). The four new trades included are as follows:

- Sheet meta
- Diesel fitting
- Fitting and/or turning
- Boiler making

Apart from these four new trades there are greater chances that ACTS can also provide RPL skills assessments for under noted trades: