Europe Immigration News

India is pushing for a free-trade agreement provision with the European Union which would provide 50,000 extra skilled visas for Indian workers, according to the Business Standard. Unfortunately, the EU says that they are not able to negotiate on visas on behalf of individual EU member states.

The EU has stated that visas are a member-state issue, one which the 27-member bloc has little control over as a whole; therefore, Brussels cannot negotiate immigration matters under the free trade agreement.

Starting on 1 June 2011, highly skilled workers from outside the European Union can apply to work in Bulgaria under the EU Blue Card scheme. The blue card would allow a skilled worker with a job offer to take employment in member states under the directive. It may also be possible to work in more than one EU member state using the same Blue Card.

The United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, and Italy topped the charts for non-EU immigration in 2008, according to the latest figures from Eurostat.

Each of the four Countries allowed in 100,000 immigrants in the latest year for which data is available 2008. These were the only Countries in the EU that took in more than 100,000 immigrants each.

The EU Commission is pushing forward with a directive to implement a skilled immigration "blue card" which would allow migrants from non-EU countries to live and work in the European Union on a temporary basis.

The blue card would grant a work and residence permit to non-EU citizens and would allow them to move to another member state after certain conditions are met. EU blue card holders would also be able to bring family members with them.

Ireland, formerly one of the star economies of the EU, is now facing an emigration crisis of historic proportions, according to a new report.

The study by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) found that 60,000 Irish people emigrated abroad in the 12 months leading up to April of 2010. Another 40,000 are expected to emigrate in the next 12 months.

A new study says that Germany needs to reduce skilled labour gaps by increasing immigration and hiring more women.

The number of potential workers in Germany is expected to fall by 6.5 million to 38 million, resulting in severe skills shortages and serious consequences for the German economy.