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US Citizenship and Immigration services will begin accepting petitions for H-1B visas for workers for the US fiscal year beginning 2007 on the first of April. The visas are sure to be snapped up quickly as current laws only allow 65,000 H-1Bs to be issued each year.
The allocation of H-1B visas last year had reached its quota by August, two months before the start of the fiscal year and the cap this fiscal year will be reached even sooner.
A total of 100,000 requests are expected this year.
Germany plans to keep its current ban on foreign workers from new European Union states entering its labour market till 2009, vice-chancellor and labour minister Franz Muentefeing told Passaver Neve Presse newspaper.
By extending the restrictions to the free movement of labour from the 8 new EU states, Germany wants to defer tension to its labour market. The German rate of unemployment currently stands at 12%.
An increase of workers from the East and the influx to its lower-wage sector are the reasons behind Germany's decision to extend the ban of immigrant workers for a further 3 year period until May 2009.
The British High Commission, Nigeria has announced that the lifting of the the temporary suspension of visa services for first time visitors aged 18-30 will take effect on Friday 17 March.
The restriction was called a temporary but necessary measure introduced in April 2005 owing to unprecedented levels of demand for UK visas in Nigeria.
Lobbying for an increase in the number of H-1B visas, Microsoft chief Bill Gates has called high-skilled immigration the "number one thing" that the software giant needs. He called it "ironic" that Indians have to return to their homeland due to US visa shortages, despite graduating from American computer science institutions.
A heavy duty diesel fitter is the most needed employee in the country, commanding a salary from $150,000, according to the head of one of the largest employers of tradesmen in Australia, Phil Smart.
Engineers, accountants, electrical estimators, draftsmen and bakers are also in high demand in all parts of the country, particularly regional areas.
The managing director of the Brisbane-based Workpac said diesel fitters easily bring in $150,000-plus as long as they were prepared to fly in and fly out of jobs at remote locations, mostly in the mining sector.
At the Down Under Expo in Dublin this week, Irish businesses were encouraged to consider Australia as an ideal commercial location.More than 50 specialist exhibitors from Australia attended the two-day event.Western Australia currently has a skills shortage of more than 14,000, despite the fact that the region is booming due to the rapid growth of its export market to China. A spokesman said there are opportunities on offer for Irish graduates and entrepreneurs.