Immigration newsletter 02 Apr 2008

People wishing to come to the United Kingdom as skilled immigrants from India may no longer use the HSMP scheme. Tier 1 must now be used for skilled migration. Everyone else in the world will be required to use Tier 1 from some time beginning this summer.

A new report by Australia's Department of Immigration and Citizenship shows that immigration accounted for 56% of population growth last year. The report, Population Flows: Immigration Aspects, said that record numbers of skilled immigrants were a major factor. Emigration from Australia is at its highest point ever, with 72,000 people leaving the country permanently during 2006-07. Australia lost 35,196 skilled workers during this period, but gained 49,523.

Skilled migrtion accounts for 60% of population growth in Western Australia. More than 2/3's of overseas migrants to Western Australia come from the United Kingdom. 32.1% of Western Australia's labor force is foreign born - well above the 25.7% national statistic. British citizens are looking to New Zealand, Australia, and even South Africa as teh top 3 popular destinations. Australia in particular has become an attractive destination for migrants due to its liberal immigration policies.

New immigration rules have been proposed by authorities in Sweden that could aid employers in their search for overseas labor. Employers who want non-European Union workers may no longer need a labor market assessment by local government authorities for work permits. Under the proposal, residence and work permits could be issued for up to 2 years - an increase from the current 18 months - and th epermits would now be renewable. Employees already in Sweden would also not be required to leave the country to submit applications.

The United States Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) will accept H-1B petitions for 5 business days, until April 7, so that more companies have a chance to participate in a random lottery. Experts estimate that 300,000 to 500,000 petitions will be submitted by the end of the day Monday for the 85,000 available under current quotas.

A new rule will invalidate - without refund - any duplicate petitions submitted for the same potential employee. H-1B petitions are submitted by an employer for a person who has a job offer and, once approved, the new employee may begin working in the U.S. on October 1st, the first day of the 2009 fiscal year.

H-1B visas allow U.S. companies to employ foreign workers in highly specialized jobs for up to 3 years, with an option to extend them for an additional 3 years. High technology companies, notably Microsoft, Oracle and Google.com, have been lobbying aggressively for increased H-1B quotas and other reforms.

They would like to make it easier for foreign students graduating from U.S. universities to stay in the U.S. and work after graduation. The current presidential candidates agree that U.S. companies should have an easier time bringing in highly skilled foreign talent.

Most immigrants come to Canada as skilled migrants - either as temporary foreign workers, permanent residents under its points-based, skilled migration scheme, or as provincial and territorial nominees. Employers wishing to hire workers under the provincial nominee program state their case for hiring foreign talent to their provincial government 

Once approved, employers can then have a potential immigrant apply for permanent residence under the Provincial Nominee Program. Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) then makes a final decision on an individual's application. Provincial Nominee permanent resident visa applications are given preference over other skilled visa applicants.