Immigration newsletter 18 October 2006

Call us for visa advice at our London office: +44 (0) 20 7842 0800.

The US DV-2008 (Greencard) Lottery - apply by 3rd December 2006

British SBS work permits will close either by December 31st, or when the quotas are exhausted. For the Food Manufacturing (General), the quota has now been reached and no new first applications accepted after October 17th.

Britain's Tory leader, David Cameron, said in a speech this week that "skilled foreign workers expand our economy and make us more competitive. Ultimately they create more employment." The new attitude shows quite a change from when he personally authored the Tory manifesto at the last election, which backed firm immigration controls.

The Scottish Borders's first community outreach worker is now on duty for a newly created 18-month post. She will be liaison with employers, housing providers, health services, police and the Scottish Borders Council. The Scottish Executive recently allocated more than £2 million toward local initiatives to support European Union migration.

Spain and Senegal have reached a preliminary migration accord. Spain will open a recruitment office for workers in Senegal and provide Senegal up to 15 million euros in aid over 5 years. The Spanish Foreign Minister signed the accord last week, and also travelled to Guinea and Gambia where he signed deals for aid worth 5 million euros for each country.

Parents of Australian citizens, qualified Australian permanent residents and qualified New Zealand residents are eligible for the Parent Migration Program. Eligible parents must be sponsored by at least one child, who must provide a legal undertaking to support them during their first two years in Australia.

Canada's skilled immigration points system has shown remarkable success over a twenty-year period. From 1980 - 2000 there has been a dramatic increase in the education and experience levels of the nearly quarter million immigrants who come to Canada annually. 

The point system has gone through many changes over the years, giving greater weight to education levels, work experience, the age of entrants and their fluency in English or French.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics has published an upward revision - the biggest in a quarter of a century - of the total jobs created between April 2005 and March 2006. 

According to the new figures, the U.S. economy added 810,000 more jobs than earlier estimated. The U.S. Secretary of Labor said, "Jobs are created more rapidly than we can register." No explanation was provided for the new numbers. 

Other U.S. economists questioned the reliability of the data, which still shows that the period 2001 through present is the slowest in 50 years.

The U.S. population hit 300 million on Tuesday morning, just 39 years after it reached 200 million. A "population clock" recorded the milestone at 7:46 a.m. U.S. East coast time. The 300 millionth person was just as likely to have been born in the U.S. as to have crossed a border as an immigrant. 

The rapid increase in immigration has now become virtually unstoppable. Roberto Suro, of the Pew Hispanic Institute, said "It suggests a demographic momentum so powerful that the immigration flow is relatively impervious to the economic downturn or fears over national security."

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