UK Immigration News

A recent report from the Independent Chief Inspector of the UK Border Agency (UKBA), John Vine, looked at UK visas processing in New York. According to the report, more than three in five decisions to refuse family visas to those wanting to come to the UK from New York were overturned by managers before going to appeal.

According to new research half of all foreign professionals would consider immigrating to London if they ever looked to work overseas. Next on the list of popular destination cities was New York at 28 percent, Singapore at 16 percent, Paris at 15 percent and Sydney at 10 percent. Dubai, Tokyo, and Shanghai were also in the top destination Cities for foreign professionals.

UK immigration officials are warning of possible delays this summer due to the London Olympics. Olympic VIPs will be given dedicated passport lanes at Heathrow Airport in order to fast-track UK visit visas for 25,000 athletes, coaches and officials. This reallocation of resources will likely mean delays for other travelers, according to the UK Border Agency.

Beginning 1 January 2012, Taiwanese youth can apply for the UK's Tier 5 Youth Mobility Scheme visa. The UK visa enables young people from participating countries to come and experience life in the UK under the Tier 5 visa of the points-based system.

The UK's North East Chamber of Commerce (NECC) have called for a relaxation of UK immigration controls in the North East region arguing that businesses are being held back by a lack of skilled labour.

A recent study has shown that there has been a sharp decline in the number of nurses emigrating to the UK. It is widely thought that this is due to UK immigration bringing in tougher immigration controls on overseas nurses.The National Nursing Research Unit (NNRU) at King's College London evaluated how nurse migration has changed in the UK. They also looked at the effects of changes in UK immigration policy on the nurses' home Countries over the last five years.