Immigration news

Workpermit.com brings you a summary of what we consider to be the most monumental immigration news of 2005.

Australia launches biggest immigration drive in 40 years

Immigration officials are faced with a sharp rise in numbers seeking Australian residence through sham marriages.

The Immigration Department in 2004-05 received 1,909 allegations of contrived marriages and relationships - a rise of 22.4 per cent on 2003-04.

The annual summary of border compliance statistics also shows that in the same period, the department finalised the handling of 1,796 allegations of contrived marriages, a 19 per cent increase.

Tens of thousands of migrant workers in the UK's East Anglia should be given more help in getting state benefits, according to a new report.Researchers estimate there are up to 80,000 people in the region from a variety of countries including Portugal and a range of Eastern European nations.The migrant workers contribute more than £360m to the East Anglian economy, and some businesses rely on their labour for survival.But the Government and European Union have been urged to make the newcomers better aware of what benefits they are entitled to.

Since the installation of a new hotline was established in February 2004 in Australia, 50,000 calls were made turning in illegal workers and visa over-stayers.

Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone said the community played a critical role in protecting the immigration system.

"Information provided through the dob-in line and other telephone contact with the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs is passed to the departments compliance officers around the country," she said.

The European Commission said that it wants the EU to welcome a limited number of legal immigrants by the end of the decade. Most EU member states are resisting the plan. The commission argues, however, that the EU needs workers, and that legal migration would help curb the scourge of people trafficking.

EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini said the commission only aims at coordinating immigration standards and that member states will keep the right to decide how many immigrants to admit. The commission also hopes legal migration will cut the estimated 500,000 illegal arrivals to the EU each year.

Behind the sterile white brick walls of Brunnenplatz school, Ahmet Ruhi Cosgun dreams of a professional soccer career - not at a German club, but at Galatasaray in Istanbul.

At 15, this son of Turkish immigrants knows just how unlikely that is. But international soccer stardom still seems more feasible than college in his native Germany.