Topical:
Executives from Honda, Toyota, and Nissan have attacked the UK Government's immigration cap on skilled and highly skilled Immigrants. They say that the measure has negative consequences for their industry.
The temporary immigration cap, is due to become a permanent immigration cap in April 2011. Each month, the Government only allows a certain number of skilled immigrants into the UK.
Gordon Nixon, president of the Royal Bank of Canada, said that immigrants are one of Canada's greatest "competitive advantages" at a conference on innovation in Toronto.
"This is a country that to a large degree has been built by newcomers willing to take risks," Nixon said.
Nixon wasn't the only speaker who said that immigration leads to more innovation which benefits the Canadian economy. Louden Owen, managing partner for venture capital firm Mclean Watson Capital, said that immigration is key to making Canada competitive on the world stage.
A planned increase to UK immigration fees on 01 November 2010 has been delayed. The reason for the delay is unknown but it is expected that the fees will increase some time soon.
The top three skilled worker occupations who came under all the permanent skilled immigration visa programs in 2009-10 are Accountants, IT workers, and nurses.
According to the Report on Migration Program 2009-10, over 60 percent of skilled immigrants were applicants in categories targeted by the government as experiencing skills shortages, a 12 percent increase on the previous year.
Skilled immigrants made up 107,868 of the 168,623 people who were granted Australian residency, 64 percent of the total under the migration program.
There is little more than a week left if you wish to submit your entry for the Green Card Lottery. The entry period for the Green Card Lottery ends at 12pm EST on Wednesday 3 November 2010. If you are picked for the Green Card Lottery you can then apply for your US Green Card and live in the US indefinitely and work in the US for any employer.
UPDATE: The planned increase in fees has been postponed until further notice.
There will be further fee increase in UK Government visa fees from next week on 1 November 2010. This was announced by Damian Green in September 2010.
Some of the fee increases are detailed below: