Immigration news

Amid the ongoing row over visa-free touring for UK and EU musicians, the British government has rejected a petition signed by nearly 300,000 artists. MPs had agreed to debate the petition after gathering more than 280,000 signatures. However, the latest discussions resulted in the petition being rejected by ministers who continue to blame the EU for the debacle.

 

The US H1B visa registration process for 2022 will open on March 9, just days after the Biden administration announced that the H1B visa lottery would remain until the end of the year. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that registration would remain open until 12 noon on March 25.

 

A USCIS statement said: “During the registration period, prospective petitioners and representatives will be able to fill out petitioner and beneficiary information and submit their registrations.”

More than one million undocumented immigrants in Britain will be able to access coronavirus vaccines regardless of their UK immigration status, the government has announced. Under current UK laws, any person is allowed to register with a doctor and access free, frontline medical care irrespective of their UK immigration status.

 

According to the Oxford University-based Migration Observatory, UK immigration data has been skewed by the coronavirus pandemic. A report published by the Observatory claims that the Home Office can no longer keep track of who has entered the UK and who has left. 

 

After recent failed attempts made to allow access to US E3 visas for citizens of Ireland, a Democratic Congressman has criticized the lack of legal US immigration options for Irish nationals. Congressman Brendan Boyle said he was ‘saddened’ by the lack of Irish emigration to the United States.  

Boyle, the Congress representative for Philadelphia, is now urging the Biden administration to reform US immigration rules to allow for increased emigration from Ireland to the US.

The Biden administration has announced it will continue with the existing H1B visa lottery system until the end of 2021, rather than introducing a wage-based selection process proposed by Trump. The biggest beneficiaries of the H1B visa lottery are Indian IT professionals who receive approximately two-thirds of all H1B visas issued annually.