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UPDATE: This news item is out of date. The Home Office has increased the fees as of 01 April 2007. Please see the the article we posted detailing the new Home Office fees.
There is a significant increase in Government fees from 12.01am on 1 April 2005 with the fees doubling or more than doubling for many types of application from this date. We include details of the latest Government fees for immigration and nationality applications below:
The Australian Department for Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs reports that on 31 March 2005 Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, Peter McGauran spoke to the European Australian Business Council in Sydney about the benefits of cultural diversity in Australia.
"Australia is made up of people from almost 200 countries, creating a society with diverse social, linguistic and cultural abilities," Minister McGauran said.
"A culturally diverse workforce has a specialised knowledge of overseas businesses, niche markets and cultural protocols."
If you wish to submit an H-1B Visapetition with a start date of 1 October 2005 or later you may submit anapplication from today 1 April 2005. However, you should not submitapplications under the additional 20,000 quota over and above the quotafor the last fiscal year until such time that the USCIS has announcedfull details of the regulations to come under the additional quota.
Australia's Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs ("DIMIA") have announced legislative changes effective April 2005. The changes relate to the sponsoring of overseas workers by Australian employers. This legal update outlines the changes for both the Temporary (Long Stay) Visa subclass 457 and the Employer Nomination Scheme Visa subclasses 121 (offshore) or 856 (onshore). It provides crucial information for all employers seeking to sponsor temporary or permanent overseas workers.
Work Permits UK announced on 23 March 2005 that from 4 April 2005 you will only be allowed a maximum of two reviews of refused work permit and HSMP applications.
WorkPermits UK will undertake a full review of the grounds for the originalrefusal and a full review of all other aspects of the work permitdecision. They may also contact you for further details before givingtheir decision on the review.
Immigration to the US will not be officially discussed at a meeting of North American leaders despite earlier plans, the Washington Times reports.
US President George Bush, Mexican President Vincente Fox and Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin will meet in Texas today to discuss expanding free trade and improving anti-terrorist security. However, immigration has been dropped from the agenda amidst serious disagreements between the US and Mexico on this issue .