Immigration newsletter 15 February 2006

The EU, along with several eastern European countries which are EU members, is calling on the US to allow visa-free travel with all EU member states. Citizens of western European countries can currently travel to the US without a visa, but Washington still requires visas from eastern European countries - even those that have joined the EU and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. The discrimination particularly annoys countries like Poland and Hungary, which have supported the US by sending troops to Iraq and Afghanistan, and whose citizens are very pro-American, unlike much of western Europe. The US administration has said that these countries do not yet meet the technical requirements for visa-free travel, in particular a visa rejection rate of less than 3 per cent, a reduction in the number of their citizens who overstay visas in the US and the adoption of biometric passports.

workpermit.com has reported several times recently on the positive effects of immigration on the UK housing market. Unfortunately, this week, we learn of one UK landlord who was found breaching UK immigration law, exploiting new immigrants, and now faces a one-year jail sentence. Officers found two properties housing 34 people, 25 of whom were in the country illegally. Around half of them worked in food processing or agriculture, the court heard, and the landlord was responsible for providing accommodation, transport and contracts with an employment agency for the immigrants. He made hundreds of pounds a week in rent. The judge ruling on the case said: "This case involves exploitation of the system and for financial gain - a business in people's lives."

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