Immigration news

The quota for the Hong Kong and Australia Working Holiday Scheme will increase from 200 to 1,000 in order to meet increasing demand.

The scheme, which began in September 2001, aims to help young people gain valuable experience while holidaying and working abroad.

Apart from Australia, the Hong Kong Government has signed similiar agreements with New Zealand, in April 2001, and Ireland, in March 2005. For both sides, the quota is 200 for New Zealand and 100 for Ireland.

Successful applicants to these schemes are issued a working holiday visa.

The issue of overcrowded housing in some US towns is playing a large role in the debate on U.S. immigration.

The overcrowding problem has become an issue as these towns try to prevent landlords from permitting many unrelated people to occupy single-family homes.

Local officials in New York, Virginia, Massachusetts and Georgia have evicted residents, threatened landlords with fines or jail time or legally narrowed the definition of family to combat a problem they say disrupts neighborhoods, reports USA Today.

For the fourth year in a row, Vancouver, Canada has claimed the top spot on an international ranking of the world's most livable cities.

In its annual survey of world cities, the think-tank division of the London-based Economist magazine ranks the British Columbia metropolis first among 127.

To create its list, the Economist Intelligence Unit surveyed the cities, assigning each one a 'hardship rating' based on such factors as infrastructure, health care, public safety and access to goods and services.

Vancouver scored a mere one per cent.

Immigration databases blacklisting non-European nationals for security or criminal reasons must be in line with EU freedom of movement law, Europe's courts ruled this week.

The European court of justice has ruled on a clash between restrictions imposed by national governments on foreign nationals and EU freedoms.

The case involved two Algerians married to Spanish nationals. They were barred from Spain by an immigration blacklist involving all EU countries except the UK, Ireland and Denmark.

U.S. government agents say they will speed up the removal of illegal immigrants caught near the border with Canada, extending a program already in effect along the Mexican border.

The practice, called "expedited removal," speeds up the rate of deportations and makes it less likely that illegal immigrants will slip into the country because immigrant detention centres lack bunk space.

Australia has warned overseas athletes and officials that they will be banned from re-entering Australia for three years if they overstay their Commonwealth Games visas.Authorities are hoping to avoid a repeat of the 2002 Games in Manchester when dozens of athletes from Sierra Leone disappeared.More than 8,000 special Games visas have been issued for competitors, coaches, team managers, sponsors and broadcasters.Commonwealth Games participants are free to enter Australia from Feb 15 but must leave by April 26 -- one month after the closing ceremony.