Immigration news

Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, raised issues around the US H1B visa during his first-ever meeting with US President, Joe Biden. Access to the US H1B visa for Indian nationals has been made increasingly difficult in recent years, especially under the former Trump administration. 

 

Modi, who was joined at the Oval Office meeting with Biden by his counterparts, Scott Morrison of Australia, and Yoshihide Sug of Japan, described his meeting with the US President as ‘outstanding’. 

The UK government has outlined plans for a temporary UK visa scheme that will allow foreign truck drivers into Britain. The move comes amid a chronic driver shortage, which has sparked fuel and food shortages in the UK. Across Britain, people are panic buying petrol, with Downing Street said to be furious at what it described as ‘press scaremongering’.

 

The US has announced that it will open its borders to vaccinated UK travelers in November, sparking a flurry of flight bookings. A COVID travel ban, imposed by former President Donald Trump will be lifted on the UK, Ireland, 26 Schengen Area countries, China, India, South Africa, Iran and Brazil.

 

However, the lifting of travel restrictions, which have been in effect for more than a year, do not apply to Canada and Mexico. Meanwhile, the exact date for the lifting of restrictions has not yet been disclosed.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) claims that Priti Patel’s UK immigration plans for Britain’s asylum system will be in violation of international law. The UK Home Secretary is proposing a two-tier system, which the UNHCR says ‘stigmatises those seeking asylum in the UK as unworthy and unwelcome’.

 

The US Department of State (DoS) has announced that certain international students arriving for studies in 2021 will not be subject to a US visa interview. It’s understood that applicants for F1 visas, M1 visas and J1 visas – including students, professors, research scholars, short-term scholars, or specialists may have US visa interview requirements waived.

 

Official estimates show that more than 5.5 million people applied to remain in the UK prior to the cut-off date for the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS). Meanwhile, figures show that more than 4.9 million people have been granted the right to continue living and working in the UK following the completion of the Brexit transition period.