In July 2005, the US Department of State (DOS) announced that the target start date for the E-3 visa, designed exclusively for Australians, would be early August 2005. However, the start date has not yet been announced.
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US immigration officials said they have stopped accepting applications for H-1B visas for high-tech and specialty workers because they already have filled the 2006 quota.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), a division of the Department of Homeland Security, received enough applications by 11 August to meet the quota, the agency said. The cutoff of applications comes a little more than a month earlier than last year, and is the earliest the cap has ever been reached.
Some English colleges and universities are upset about the success of Scotland's Fresh Talent Initiative. Higher education institutions in England believe the Scottish Executive's Fresh Talent Initiative may go against EU competition law because it gives Scotland preferential treatment over other parts of Britain.
They have told UK ministers that the scheme, which aims to keep foreign graduates in Scotland by offering them a two-year visa extension, has created "unfair competition" and should be reviewed.
A declining birth rate and a dramatic slump in immigration rates are behind a levelling off in New Zealand's population.
According to figures released by Statistics New Zealand today, New Zealand's estimated resident population at June 30, 2005 was 4,098,200. Population growth for the year to June was estimated to be 36,800 (0.9 per cent), compared with 52,200 (1.3 per cent) in the June 2004 year.
The June 2005 year estimate is below the average annual increase of 42,500 (1.1 per cent) for the June years from 1995 to 2005.
VISA BULLETIN FOR SEPTEMBER 2005
IMMIGRANT NUMBERS FOR SEPTEMBER 2005
A. STATUTORY NUMBERS
The United States will begin issuing electronic passports in December to help tighten border and identity security, the State Department said 9 August.
A computer chip will be placed in passport covers and will hold the same information that is written on the inside: name, date of birth, gender, place of birth, dates of passport issuance and expiration, passport number and a photo. The chip will also have a unique digital signature designed to protect the data from being changed.
The chips will have technology to prevent unauthorized reading, or "skimming," of the data.