Australia and New Zealand Immigration News

According to a recent report by the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, the resources industry in Australia is currently facing a skills shortage that has seen vacancies for skilled tradespeople such as electricians and for industry-specific professionals such as mining engineers and metallurgists, go unfilled.

The report, "Education and Development of Expertise for the Resources Industry" was from the First Extractive Metallurgy Operators' Conference held from 7 - 8 November 2005 in Brisbane, Queensland.

A new work permit policy came into effect on 19 December 2005 in New Zealand specifically for Samoans and Pacific Islanders.

Under the new work permit policy, people from Samoa and the four Pacific Access Category (PAC) countries of Tonga, Fiji, Tuvalu and Kiribati who were in New Zealand lawfully at the time were invited to apply by 31 March 2005 for residence.

The proportion of immigrants to New Zealand coming from the United Kingdom has more than doubled over the past three years, according to new statistics. The report Migration Trends shows that 31 per cent of the 48,815 people who were granted residency in the last financial year were citizens of the United Kingdom. Their number as a proportion of all migrants has been rising steadily since the 2002-03 year, when they totalled 14 per cent, behind Chinese and Indian nationals.

From Dec. 31, 2005, not every baby born in New Zealand will automatically be a New Zealand citizen. Changes to the Citizenship Act include amendments that say that a child will only be given automatic citizenship if at least one of the parents is a New Zealand citizen or is entitled to be in New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Tokelau or Niue indefinitely.The changes have been brought in "to recognise the value of citizenship".

Australia welcomed 123,424 new immigrants in 2004-2005, the highest number in more than 15 years.

Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone said the number of immigrants each year is up about 40 percent in the past decade. "Australia has a wonderfully rich and diverse society as a result, with nearly one in four of Australia's 20 million people born overseas," Vanstone said.

Immigration officials are faced with a sharp rise in numbers seeking Australian residence through sham marriages.

The Immigration Department in 2004-05 received 1,909 allegations of contrived marriages and relationships - a rise of 22.4 per cent on 2003-04.

The annual summary of border compliance statistics also shows that in the same period, the department finalised the handling of 1,796 allegations of contrived marriages, a 19 per cent increase.