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The UK has released its Accession Monitoring Report for the eight East European countries that joined the European Union in 2004. The report provides statistics for the Worker Registration Scheme from May of 2004 through December 2006. First time applicants for the scheme increased from 212,000 in 2005 to 232,000 in 2006. Fewer than 2,000 applications for Income Support and Jobseeker's Allowance were processed in the fourth quarter of 2006.

On March 7th, the United Kingdom's Home Office announced proposed increases in various immigration-related fees. Some very dramatic increases in government fees are expected, effective from April 1st of this year.

Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, said that, when he takes over as Prime Minister later this year, Community Service will be one of the requirements to gain citizenship. Immigrants going through the naturalization process will be on a probationary period, dubbed "temporary citizenship" by Mr. Brown, until they complete their community service.

Lawyers for the UK Secretary of State informed the court this week that they are prepared to remove a clause from the HSMP guidance that was added recently. Under the guidance, overseas doctors within the UK were not to be interviewed for positions if their HSMP visa was set to expire past August 1st of this year. The British Association for Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO) formed Bapio Action, Ltd. to raise a legal challenge to the provision.

On March 7th, the United Kingdom's Home Office announced increases in various immigration-related fees. Some very dramatic increases in government fees will come into effect from April 1st.

A reminder to our readers: the United States government will begin accepting H-1B visa applications from April 1st. The current cap on H-1B's is 60,000. Last year the quota was used up in record time, with the government not accepting applications received after May 25th. 20,000 H-1B's are available beyond the normal quota for positions requiring advanced degrees and specialized experience.