Immigration news

Home Secretary David Blunkett finds himself on thin ice asinformation about his ex-lover's nanny's fast tracked visa applicationhits the news in a big way. Blunkett says he is not guilty of any wrongdoings, but an investigation will be launched shortly.

TheDaily Mail has published letters from the Home Office to LeonciaCasalme where it says her visa application could take up to a year.Still, another letter received by Casalme a few days later says herapplication will be processed in 19 days and that she will be allowedto stay in the UK indefinitely.

As of December 1 the second half of the Sector Based Scheme (SBS) quota will make 3,000 permits for the food processing sector available and 4,500 for the hospitality sector.

The 20 percent limit on the number of SBS work permits issued to anysingle nationality for each of the two sectors will still be in force.As a result, there will be no more hospitality permits issued toBangladeshi nationals for the time being.

Please read our Sector Based Scheme page for more information about this type of work permit.

The visa section of the British Embassy in Luxembourg will be closedfrom Nov. 30 this year. As of Dec. 1, UK visa applicants should applyto the British Consulate-General in Paris.

These applicationscan be made online, by post or in person, provided the person has anappointment. The British Consulate-General asks people not to drop inwithout appointments.

Applications for visit visas or EEA family permits may be made at any UK visa service office.

Please visit our UK visas information page for more information about living and working in the UK.

People holding a work permitwho are changing employment will be able to start working for a newemployer on the strength of the work permit permission letter grantedto the new employer providing they have an existing leave to remaincovering all or parts of the period of the new employment.

David Blunkett, Home Secretary to the UK, says he is ready to takeactions against exploitation of foreign workers. Blunkett is alsoquestioning the parliamentary opposition, which would like to see thatthere is a quota of foreign professionals occupying jobs in the UK.

"Thefacts are that we need migrant labor. We have a vibrant economy and wecan have a dual approach, which doesn't see managed migration as analternative to training, to improved education and to better welfare towork policies.

Canadian Minister of Citizenship and Immigration (CIC), JudySgro, and Saskatchewan's Minister Responsible for Immigration, PatAtkinson, announced Nov. 29 that language training for adults migratingto Saskatchewan will be launched in the near future.

Morethan $264,000 has been earmarked to support the project which will helpmeet the needs of the province's growing labor market and economy. Thetraining program will run till next year, but an agreement between CICand the Saskatchewan government foresee that the program will berenewable for the next four years.