Immigration newsletter 24 November 2010

The recent statement by UK Home Secretary Theresa May means that the Tier 1 (General) visa previously known as the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme will in effect be abolished.

The new UK 'highly skilled' tier presumably to be introduced in April 2011 will allow entry of entrepreneurs, investors and small numbers of people of exceptional talent. The number of people allowed under the Tier 1 (General) visa (or it's replacement) scheme will be reduced from 13,000 to one thousand.

If you wish to emigrate to the UK as a highly skilled immigrant you should probably apply as soon as you can.

The UK Government has announced a permanent cap of 21,700 on skilled immigration to take effect in April of 2011. Moreover, Tier 1 will be restricted to entrepreneurs, investors and 'exceptionally talented' individuals and Tier 2 will be restricted to graduate level occupations.

On 23 November 2010, United States Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) increased its fees for a number of immigration and non-immigrant related visa applications. For some visa categories fees were actually reduced.

One increase which will affect many employers is the increase in immigration fees for premium processing of non-immigrant visas such as for the H1B or L1.  This goes up from US$1000 to US$1225.

Before the global financial crisis of 2007, the cap on H1B visas was being reached on the first day that visas became available for each fiscal year. In recent years visas have continued to be available throughout the year. The latest USCIS update of 12 November 2011, confirms that over 17,000 H-1B visas are still available under the regular H-1B cap and 2,600 under the Masters Exemption for the current fiscal year.

Australian education groups are optimistic that the government will help fix Australia's ailing education industry.

Educators traveled to Canberra on 22 November to meet with Immigration Minister Chris Bowen, Trade Minister Craig Emerson, and the coalition government's universities spokesman, Brett Mason to lobby for changes that will support the education sector.

Scotland which is part of the UK is claiming that tougher UK immigration controls will be detrimental to its economy and will hinder its ability to attract overseas students.

Culture Minister Fiona Hyslop stated in a speech at Edinburgh University that greater freedom for Scotland over immigration is needed to enable Scotland to bring in more skilled workers and students.

Germany should step up its efforts to encourage more foreign students to study in Germany to help the Country to deal with rising skills shortages, says the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

Germany's economy is growing again after the global financial crisis of 2007. German companies are now looking to recruit more skilled labour. The German Chamber of Industry and Commerce estimates that Germany requires at least an additional 400,000 skilled workers.

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