Immigration newsletter 23 Jan 2013

2013 is our 25th anniversary. To celebrate we are creating a series of videos about the lives of people who have come to live and work in the UK. Did you come to the UK to work? Would you like to tell us your story? Why not get in touch? Phone our London office on 0344 991 9222 or email us at editor@workpermit.com .

We remind you again that if you are in the UK on a long-term visa and looking to stay longer it is still often possible to make a same-day application at UKBA.  We can help with this.  Call the London office on 0344 991 9222 for further details.

Many UK employers are finding that their Tier 2 Sponsorship Licence is coming up for renewal. We can also help with this.

Canada’s new immigration programme for skilled tradespeople, the Federal Skilled Trades Program, opened for applications on 2nd January 2013. The program allows people skilled in various trades to apply for permanent resident status 

• Among the eligible trades are:
• Electricians
• Plumbers
• Gasfitters
• Mechanics and 
• Supervisors

This year only 3,000 applications will be accepted. We recommend you to apply quickly. We can help with applications. Contact us oncanvisa@workpermit.com. The sooner you apply, the better your chances.

President Obama is intending to try for comprehensive US immigration reform. Democrat and Republican Congressmen are currently drafting legislation which should be ready within three months. 

The new law would introduce:

• more security on the Mexican border,
• a biometric ID system to help identify illegal immigrants
• A mechanism to allow most illegal immigrants to get a green card

It is not guaranteed that the law will change. Under the US system, any new law must be passed by both chambers of Congress; the Senate and The House of Representatives. The Republicans control the House and may reject the new legislation.

Microsoft is lobbying the US government for a change to the skilled immigration visa rules. The company says that it cannot find enough American skilled workers and is prepared to pay to purchase more visas for skilled staff. 

It wants US industry to be allowed to purchase 20,000 H-1B temporary work visas for staff skilled in a ‘specialty occupation’ and 20,000 permanent resident visas or ‘green cards’ for highly skilled technology graduates every year. The money raised, about 500 million dollars would be used to train US IT students.

The Democrat Mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa has called on the US government to reform its immigration system. Among other things, Mr Villaraigosa say:

• Many of the 11 million illegal immigrants in the US should be granted permanent resident status if they have clean records, speak English and pay their back tax.
• All international students with a technology degree from a US university should be issued with a green card.
• There should be many more H-1B temporary work visas and there should also be effective visa programs for low-skilled workers and
• There must be an 'effective employment verification system' to prevent illegal immigrants from working

A tech start-up company, Blueseed, is planning to launch a floating technology park in the Pacific Ocean. The ship would float twelve miles off the San Francisco coast in international waters so that international technology workers could work there without a US visa.

Blueseed director Max Marty says that tech entrepreneurs will be able to join the ship from all over the world. It will be an incubator for high tech business start-ups. Mr Marty says the ship is necessary because restrictive US visa laws are damaging the US tech industry. 

A poll conducted for immigration think tank British Future shows that 30% of British people see immigration as a potential source of tension in the UK.

However, the survey also showed that only 25% believed that it was necessary to be born in the UK to be British. Two thirds agreed that foreign born people who had worked in the UK should be entitled to UK state benefits. The most important traits of Britishness, the survey found, were respect for the law, respect for free speech and an ability to speak English.