UK Immigration News

In the UK, Tony Blair's government was defeated by the House of Lords on March 6 over the controversial issue of national identity cards.

The peers voted by a majority of 61 to overturn the government's plan and make the cards voluntary. The bill will now return to the House of Commons for further debate. Both houses must reach agreement for the measure to become law.

The UK today announced its new points system for immigration.

Nationals of the African nation of Malawi need visas to visit Britain as of March 1, 2006, the UK government said.Home Office minister Tony McNulty said visas are being introduced because of a growing number of asylum seekers from Malawi and other Africans using Malawi passports."Visas are an important tool in effective border control and our visa policy is kept under constant review to ensure that requirements remain proportionate and are responsive to changing situations," McNulty said.

After more than 6 years the United Kingdom visa regime for Croatia will be lifted on 22 March 2006, the embassy in Zagreb announced on March 1.According to the decision, tourist, business and family visits for up to six months will no longer require a visa. Transit visas are abolished also and visas are not required for Croats who want to study for up to six months in the United Kingdom. Croats who intend to stay in the United Kingdom for a period of more than six months a visa will be required.

Nearly 350,000 jobseekers mainly from Poland, Lithuania and Slovakia have come to Britain since the EU's enlargement in 2004, a UK government report published on 28 February reveals. Towards the end of last year, the initial surge in applications from workers coming from central and eastern Europe had begun to lessen, according to the study.The paper also pointed out that there was "no discernible statistical evidence" that migrant workers from these countries had caused or contributed to the rise in social benefit claimants, recorded in the UK last year.

The UK's Immigration and Nationality Directorate has welcomed back an IT supplier that was at the centre of its previous computer failures.The Home Office commissioned Siemens Business Services to run IT systems for processing work permit and immigration application fees, it said on 21 February 2006.