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Immigration news

New temporary procedures for handling Further Leave to Remain (FLR) applications have been announced today by the Home Office.

Due to the recent increase in the numbers of FLR (IED) applications received by Work Permits (UK), and in response to feedback from applicants, new procedures have been announced with effect from today, 19 July 2004.

If you have already received an acknoledgement letter from the Cannock office relating to your application after 15 July then the following new procedures should apply:

The Home Office has released figures showing that over 24,000 Central and Eastern European nationals from the new EU member states had signed up for the Worker Registration Scheme (WRS) by the end of June. This Scheme enabled the UK Government to determine whether or not the UK's labour market would be impacted by the latest round of EU accession, by registering those Eastern Europeans who had jobs in the UK.

Along with the introduction of the new Skilled Independent Regional(Provisional) Visa category under Australia's GeneralSkilled Migration program on 1 July, new visa application charges have beenannounced as well as annual amendments tocertain visa application forms.

The new Skilled-Independent Regional (SIR) (Provisional) visa has come into effect, opening up more options for skilled migrants to come to Australia. This initially temporary skilled visa has been introduced by the Department of Immigration and Multicultural (and Indigenous) Affairs (DIMIA) to address skill shortages that may exist in regional areas and encourage a more balanced dispersal of Australia's skilled migrant intake.

The Home Office has made available updated and revised application forms and guidance notes for use from 2 July 2004. Work Permits (UK) will no longer accept any application forms that have an expiry date of 28 June 2004 if theyare sent to them after 12.01 am on 2 July 2004.

If there is any confusion with the date of submission, Work Permits (UK) will need to be convinced that the application was in fact submitted before 2 July2004 and they would require evidence of this for confirmation. In all cases, clients should note that the date the application was signed does not establish the date that the application was submitted.

The US State Department has recently announced that foreigners working in the US on H-1B visas or other working visas will need to reapply for extensions from overseas once they expire. Previously, foreign employees on working visas could extend their stay from within the United States.