Immigration news

Long-time aide to Prince Charles, Michael Fawcett, has stepped down as the head of the Prince’s charity amid allegations that he used his position to help secure a Saudi billionaire a so-called UK ‘golden visa’, otherwise known as the Tier 1 investor visa.

 

US immigration authorities have announced that they will publish details of an 18-month work permit scheme, which will be offered to ‘eligible’ citizens of Hong Kong, by the end of September. On August 5, President Joe Biden issued a memo allowing for Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) for certain Hong Kong residents, plus the right to work for 18 months.

 

The number of UK Global Talent Visa applications made through Tech Nation – the official endorsing body for high level UK immigration in the technology sector - since 2014 has reached 4,000, according to official data. In recent years, the popularity of the UK Global Talent Visa has surged.

 

The number of Afghans who have applied for the US Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program has hit 100,000, according to a refugee assistance group. Head of the US-based International Refugee Assistance Program, Rebecca Heller, said that an Afghan client had told her that five translators had been killed by the Taliban recently for working with the US.

 

In a video clip set to Heller, her female Afghan client said: “The only hope in this moment I have is the US government. Please, US government...please stop promising. Please, start taking action. As immediately as you can.”

Poultry producers claim that post-Brexit UK immigration rules are responsible for a country-wide chicken shortage. According to official figures, post-Brexit UK visa rules have caused the number of processing workers to drop by 60% - estimated to be around 40,000 workers. Staff shortages have meant restaurants such as KFC and Nando’s are going without supplies.

 

16 Republican lawmakers who have opposed granting US visas to 8,000 Afghans who supported US efforts in the war against the Taliban have been blasted by US immigration advocates and members of the House of Representatives.  

In July, the House voted in favor of allowing Afghan interpreters and contractors who worked with the US military to be allowed to relocate to the US under the Special Immigrant Visa program.