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A study commissioned by the London Mayor Boris Johnson suggests that an immigration amnesty would lead to a GBP3 billion boost to the economy. The London School of Economics study also concludes that an amnesty would not lead to large scale illegal immigration; Britain's border controls would prevent this happening. The report's findings were welcomed by Johnson.
The main points in the report are as follows:
The Identity and Passport Service (IPS) has announced that De La Rue has won the contract to produce the new British passport. The contract is worth £400 million.
It was announced on 13 June 2009 that a White House meeting on US immigration policy has been delayed yet again. No new date has been set for the meeting.
Due to the economic downturn there are still H-1B visas available for the FY 2010 quota. Many employers simply cannot afford to employ overseas workers. In addition those companies that accept funding from the "troubled asset relief funding" are prohibited from employing foreign workers. The H-1B Visa is one of the best temporary visa categories for bringing in professional level staff with at least a bachelor's degree. In many cases this is the only visa category available to employers to bring in professional level staff.
Chinese tourists are visiting Schengen visa Countries and are avoiding the UK. As the UK is not part of the Schengen visa regime tourists have to apply separately for an UK visa to visit the UK. A Schengen visa allows entry to fifteen European Countries including France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
The UK Border Agency already had a concession for those applying to study A-Levels in the UK which allowed students applying to study A-Levels to make an overseas visa application based on a conditional offer. GCSE results are not released until the end of August. This is somewhat inconvenient for students as some A-Level courses start in early September.