Immigration newsletter 7 May 2008

The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has published a new report that finds migrants who moved to Britain from countries that joined the European Union in 2004 are leaving in greater numbers than ever before. Over 1 million migrants have come to the UK from these Eastern European Union Member States, but about half have already left. The IPPR predicts fewer people coming from Eastern European countries in the coming months. Also, increasing numbers are going home. This is due to a number of factors that have changed since 2004.

16 recommendations - intended to improve Australia's temporary skilled migration program - made by the External Reference Group (ERG) are being implemented. The previously issued report covered areas such as long term planning, streamlining application & approval processes, and eliminating duplicate work & unnecessary administration.

From July, specialized teams dedicated to regions experiencing severe shortages of skilled workers will be set up in "Centres of Excellence." These teams will focus on eliminating visa application backlogs. The government is allocating additional resources to reduce the backlog of 457 visa applications by June 30th.

In a bid to more than triple the economic benefits from a niche tourism industry, a new Australian visa for crews of luxury yachts, also known as "super-yachts," will become available in October of this year. The new multiple-entry visa will allow foreign crews to work in Australia for up to 12 months on commercial or privately owned super-yachts. As part of a transitional arrangement, from May 1st Australia will temporarily allow crew members to use "456" Business Short Stay visas until the new visa comes into effect.

A United States Congressional Subcommittee held a hearing as part of an investigation into visa processing delays by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Details from the hearing have been released to explain why immigrants have been facing long delays for their visas.

The Associate Director for Domestic Operations explained the visa system and defended his department's processes, stating that improvements have been put in place to make the system run more efficiently. He pointed out that close coordination between the USCIS and the Department of State is very difficult. However, coordination between the departments is necessary to achieve a balance between quotas mandated by law and efficient processing of applications.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) has increased funding to assist immigrants in the city of Hamilton, Ontario and the surrounding area. Nearly CAD $1 million will go to the St. Joseph Immigrant Women's Centre. Total funding for this organization is now over CAD $3.5 million for 2008. Immigrants will have increased access to services such as language training, job searches and integration into their new community. The funding is part of the Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement (COIA), which will increase assistance for all of Ontario by CAD $920 million over the next 5 years.

The Swedish Migration Board has announced that asylum applications to Sweden have gone down by 24% during the first quarter of 2008, compared to the same period for 2007. The decrease is due almost entirely to the fact that fewer Iraqis are now seeking asylum in Sweden. While asylum cases are decreasing in Sweden, family-based immigration is on the rise. In part, the increase is a result of the surge in asylum requests from the past several years. Many Iraqis who came to Sweden as refugees are now sponsoring family members to join them.

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