Immigration newsletter 17 Apr 2013

If you need your UK immigration application processed fast, why not let us submit it for you? We can get applications processed on the same day.

We can help with applications for indefinite leave to remain, tier 1 extensions, and many other types of application. Please call our London Office on 0344 991 9222 for further details.Our slots are allocated on a first-come-first-served basis so call today.

The UK's Home Office has warned that industrial action by the Public and Commercial Services Union may cause disruption between the 16th and 19th April.The Home Office says it has plans in place to deal with staff shortages.

It says that, if you have an appointment with UK immigration this week, you should attend as arranged unless you hear from them. If your appointment is cancelled, they will give you a new one. The Home Office also warns that there may be some delays in answering customers’ phone calls over the course of the week.

Important Announcement: H-1B Quota Reached by 5 April 2013. As workpermit.com predicted in early March, demand for H-1B visas this year has been extremely strong. US Immigration began accepting applications on 1st April and had received 124,000 applications for the visas by 5th April.

Every fiscal year, USCIS issues 65,000 H-1B visas to foreign graduates allowing them to work in a 'specialty occupation' and a further 20,000 H-1Bs to graduates with advanced degrees. 

Thousands of people demonstrated in Washington D.C. on 10th April 2013 in favour of US immigration reform. Meanwhile, a group of eight senators are making progress on acomprehensive immigration reform law. The so-called 'Gang of Eight' senators; four Republicans and four Democrats, has been drafting the law since January.  Last week two of them announced that agreement was close. Commentators expect the bill to:

• establish a 'pathway to citizenship' for the 11m illegal aliens living in the US
• Provide more employment-based green cards to foreign graduates and
• Develop a national system allowing employers to check that potential employees are allowed to work.

US immigration warns that there are long waiting lists for many employment-based permanent resident visas.

The US caps the number of visas it issues each year so some applicants wait for years for a ‘green card’. Because no more than 7% of green cards in any category can go to one country, applicants from India and China sometimes have to wait longer than others.

In April, Applicants for EB-2 green cards from most countries are processed without delay but Chinese applicants wait five years and Indians for nine years. Most applicants must wait six years for EB-3 visas but Indians and Chinese applicants wait for ten years. There are no waiting lists for EB-1, EB-4 or EB-5 visas.

In 2012, one billion people travelled outside their home country, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council. David Scowsill of the WTTC said ‘this is an astounding milestone’. The number of migrants globally has also increased enormously in recent years. The United Nations says that 3% of the world’s population; around 210,000,000 people, are migrants and a recent Gallup poll shows that about 640,000,000 people would emigrate if they could.