Immigration news

HIV-positive visitors to Canada are no longer required to disclose their medical status to get a temporary visa. Health advocates argued there's no reason for the federal government to collect the highly sensitive information. The move comes after a foreign businessman infected with HIV complained that a Canadian consular official demanded he provide detailed information about his medical condition. He was planning a round trip to Canada for just a few days.

A new proposed Austrian law lets police detain immigrants while their asylum applications are being reviewed. Parliament's lower house passed the so-called Foreigners' Rights Bill on July 7. Austria's upper house will vote on the proposal on July 21.

The Austrian government is trying to clamp down on immigrants. Newspapers increasingly blame foreigners for crime, which increased 6.9 percent in the first quarter and an unemployment rate of 4.6 percent. About 64 percent of 3,667 drug-related arrests last year were foreigners, according to police figures.

A researcher at Canada's University of Prince Edward Island is trying to find out what convinces immigrants to settle on the Island, and why they choose to stay.

Dr. Godfrey Baldacchino said studies have been done before using data from Statistics Canada, but that data can't address issues particular to the Island.

"There is nothing that has so far been done specifically to try to find out why P.E.I. attracts the kind of migrants it attracts, and why also perhaps it loses some of the migrants that it attracts," said Baldacchino.

Supporters of a proposed law that would benefit people who arrived in the United States illegally as children said 17 July that it would help more immigrants go on to get college degrees and contribute more to society. During a meeting of the national Hispanic civil-rights group, people spoke out in support of the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act. The proposal is known as the DREAM Act. It would give undocumented youth the chance to become legal U.S. residents and possibly help them get college tuition.

The following information sets out UK service standards and where available, the approximate timescales for deciding applications. Current projections indicate that their performance across all workstreams is meeting the new service standards. Work Permits and SBSService Standard: 70% of new applications to be decided within one week of receipt at UK payment handling service and 90% within three weeks.Current Performance

US Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, said immigration policy is a vital weapon against terrorism, and pledged on July 13 to tighten border security. He also called on the US Congress to approve a guest worker program that would make it easier for foreign workers to enter the country legally."We must gain full control of our borders to prevent illegal immigration and security breaches," Chertoff said.