Immigration newsletter 15 March 2012

If you are interested in studying in the UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand, or Australia we can help. If you complete our student immigration enquiry form one of our representatives will be happy to contact you to let you know about the immigration process and possible colleges in the Country of your choice. 

If you are a nurse wishing to work in Australia you may be able to come under the 457 work visa. There is huge demand for nurses in Australia. In order to apply for Australia’s 457 work visa individuals you must be sponsored by an eligible Australian employer, have the necessary qualifications that match the requirements of the position, and demonstrate English language proficiency.

US Citizenship and Immigration Services will begin accepting fiscal year 2013 H-1B visa applications on Monday 2 April 2012 for employment with a start date of 1 October 2012 or later.

Current immigration law allows for a total of 85,000 new H-1B visas to be made available each government fiscal year. This number includes 65,000 new H-1B visas issued for overseas workers in professional or specialty occupation positions, and an additional 20,000 visas available for those with an advanced degree from a US academic institution.

More than 20,000 job-seekers visited the Working Abroad Expo in Dublin on 5 March. Future immigrants came to find what work opportunities were available abroad in countries like Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

The Expo ran over a period of two days and gave details on job opportunities available from 80 recruiters, and government officials from Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Canada's province of Saskatchewan is looking to fill nearly 300 skilled workers positions.

Canadian Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announced 5 March that the government was tightening spousal sponsorship rules in an ongoing effort to deter people from undertaking marriages of convenience to come to Canada.

Starting immediately, sponsored spouses or partners will have to wait five years from the day they are granted permanent residence status in Canada to sponsor a new spouse or partner. The move is meant to prevent people from fraudulently marrying Canadians for the purposes of immigration only to leave them and then sponsor a new partner while their Canadian spouse is still financially responsible for them for three years.

Australian Immigration and Citizenship Minister Chris Bowen has announced significant changes to simplify the process for the permanent employer-sponsored visa program.

The Australian government will create a "fast-tracked" path from temporary skilled 457 visa-holder to permanent resident under the employer-sponsored visa system. Additionally, the current six permanent employer-sponsored immigration visas would be replaced by two new visas: Employer Nomination Scheme and Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme. 

According to preliminary data just released by Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Canada continued to admit a high number of new immigrants into the country in 2011. According to the data, there were 248,660 new permanent residents in 2011. This consisted of 156,077 new economic immigrants, including those on the Canadian skilled worker visa, 56,419 new family class immigrants and others.

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