Immigration newsletter 25 June 2008

Beginning from June 30th, the Tier 1 (General) category under the United Kingdom's new points-based immigration system will go into effect worldwide. Three new sub-categories of Tier 1 will also be introduced: Tier 1 (Investors), Tier 1 (Entrepreneurs), and Tier 1 (Post-Study Work). These three sub-categories will replace more than a half-dozen other categories. The next several months will see a number of other changes to UK immigration as other phases of the Tier system come into effect.

In an attempt to crackdown on illegal immigration into the European Union, the European Parliament has passed a standardized policy on deporting illegal immigrants. The new policy sets maximum penalties that may be applied against illegal immigrants; for example, Member States can detain illegal immigrants for up to 18 months if they use specialized detention centers.

Human rights groups, including Amnesty International, have criticized the new legislation. Member States can enact and use less strict immigration laws and regulations within their own borders. The legislation applies to the 25 Member States that have signed the Schengen Accord; the UK and Ireland are unaffected at this time.

An Irish think tank, the Expert Group of Future Skills Needs (EGFSN), has published a new report that forecasts that demand for information and communication technology (ICT) workers in Ireland will exceed domestic supply in the coming years. As a result, Ireland will need to look to overseas graduates to alleviate labor shortages.

The report recommends that a new initiative should be launched to attract a greater number of overseas computing and electronic engineering students to come to Ireland to study, and to then entice them to remain in the country after graduation.

People who possess skills that Canada needs could soon find their applications for immigration fast-tracked. Bill C-50, the so-called Budget Implementation Act, 2008, has now passed both the Canadian House of Commons and the Senate. The bill amends the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act of Canada. The changes allow federal immigration authorities to speed up applications for immigrants with skills determined to be in need throughout Canada.

Following consultation with provinces and territories, Canada will implement "processing priorities" in an attempt to stem the growing backlog of immigration applications. The federal government is no longer required to process applications in the order in which they are submitted.

Funding was announced for two Canadian cities to accommodate refugee resettlement as Canada joined other countries in celebrating World Refugee Day on June 20th, 2008. Refugees in the Ontario cities of Kitchener and Hamilton will have more robust resettlement services offered to them in an effort to ease their integration into Canadian society. World Refugee Day is celebrated annually across the globe to honor the courage and hardship of refugees and displaced people everywhere.

A new report commissioned by the Minerals Council of Australia states that the Australian mining industry alone will need an additional 90,000 workers by 2020 to keep up with demand. The report said that increasing skilled migration is one step toward achieving that goal

Skilled migration is seen as an important source of employees for the mining industry. Mining professions, among many other occupations, are listed on Australia's Skilled Occupation List (SOL). Australia grants permanent visas under its General Skilled Migration program to those people with occupations on the list. The quota for skilled migration for 2008-2009 was recently increased by 31,000 positions.

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