Immigration news

Many governments of the world are currently changing and reforming their immigration and migration laws and regulations.

The United Nations has released its annual report this week, ranking the quality of life for 177 countries of the world. For six consecutive years, Norway has taken first place. With a population of only about 4.5 million, it is one of the most oil-rich-per-capita nations in the world, giving the society large amounts of wealth to lavish upon its citizens in education and social services.

The first step towards a points based system for managing migration was launched today with the introduction of new rules for highly skilled foreign workers applying to come to the United Kingdom.

The new test means that entrepreneurs and professionals will face a rigorous but clear test of their capability to work here and will help select migrants who will be the most successful in benefiting Britain's economy.

Beginning almost a year ago and progressing into the spring of this year, the United States Congress and the White House made immigration reform a highly visible issue in preparation for the off-year election. However, intense political fighting over the details largely scuttled the debate and deadlocked meaningful progress at the federal level.

The European Commission will decide this week if it will recommend a partial suspension of Turkey's membership negotiations for joining the European Union. Turkey has failed in several key areas, including failure to open up its ports to Cyprus and other trade issues.

Official figures suggest that there are about 200,000 Romanians working legally in Spain today. But, unofficial estimates suggest that at least 600,000 more Romanians are living and working in Spain illegally. Generally speaking, Spaniards and their government are not only comfortable with this level of immigration from Romania, they are welcoming toward it.