Immigration newsletter 2 February 2011

UK Tier 1 highly skilled Visas will end in less than three months time. The replacement exceptional talent visa will be extremely difficult to obtain. If you are in the UK and qualify for the Tier 1 (General) highly skilled migrant visa you should seriously consider applying soon. It may take some time for you to obtain the relevant documents. You should also note that since 23 December 2010 it has not been possible to make Tier 1 (General) visa applications from outside the UK.

Top people in the UK education sector are warning the Government that restrictions on student immigration will adversely affect British universities.

A consultation on whether the Government should tighten the reigns on student immigration for non-EU students taking below-degree level courses is currently underway.

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on 27 January 2011 that it received enough H-1B petitions for fiscal year 2011 to reach the annual cap of 65,000 visas.

Applications are considered to have been received on the date that USCIS physically receives the petition -- the postmark date does not matter. Any petitions received after 26 January 2011 will not be considered for an H-1B visa.

Calls for increased skilled immigration are coming from Australia's mining industry as unemployment rates down under continue to fall.

Goldfields Chamber of Mining and Energy is urging the federal government to increase skilled immigration to help Australia's mining sector cope with expected labour shortages in the near future.

During the 2009-10 financial year, the Australian state of Victoria was the first choice for Chinese and Indian immigrants emigrating to Australia, according to statistics released by Australia's Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC).

Overall, Victoria has seen a decline in the number of new overseas settlers; There was also a lower rate of immigration in the whole of Australia as a result of the global economic crisis of 2008.

The Australian Capital Territory maintained a high level of immigration during the 2009-10 fiscal year. Each year in the last two years more than 1850 people have chosen to emigrate to Canberra.

The Australian Capital Territory, home of Australia's capital city, is the nation's smallest state/territory.

The Australian government will make it easier for employers to bring in temporary overseas workers to help with the reconstruction efforts in Queensland.

Queensland was devastated by flooding in December and January which resulted in thousands of people being forced to evacuate. The economic damage is is estimated at about $10 billion.

Non Canadian family members of Canadians in the education and health sector will be able to start work on arrival in Ontario; Instead of waiting in some cases for a year there will be immediate work rights on arrival for the non-Canadian spouses, common law partners, and dependent children of Canadian citizens under a new pilot project.

Students from countries such as Saudi Arabia, India, and Vietnam are contributing to huge growth in New Zealand's education industry.

The New Zealand education industry brought in $664 million more in student fee income than it did in the previous year. According to the Department of Labour's migration trends report, this included a 10 percent overall growth in revenue from international students.

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