London Evening Standard: More than 300,000 people living in London can't speak English

The growing diversity of London’s population was confirmed today as figures revealed that more than 100 different languages are spoken in virtually every borough.


Statistics from the 2011 Census show that 78 per cent of the capital’s residents speak English as their main language. But the remaining 22 per cent — equivalent to just over 1.7 million people — have another first language.


Of these nearly 320,000 say that they cannot speak English well or at all. That figure will prompt renewed concern about the levels of integration of some overseas nationals.


The most striking revelation, however, is the scale of linguistic diversity. The Office for National Statistics, which compiled today’s figures, says that overall there are 53 “main” languages in the capital spoken by at least 0.1 per cent of residents.


There are also another 54 which include variants of established languages such as Chinese or those, such as Caribbean Creole, Cornish or Gaelic, spoken by a small number of people.


The most common other language is Polish, spoken as the main language by nearly two per cent of residents, followed by Bengali, Gujarati, French, Urdu and Arabic. The most diverse borough is Hillingdon, where all of the 107 languages defined by the Census are spoken, followed by Newham, where 104 languages are spoken.


Newham also has the weakest standards of English with nine per cent of residents — equivalent to 25,000 people — unable to speak it. They are among the 41 per cent of the borough’s population that does not have English as their main language.


Today’s figures also reveal that more than 100 languages are spoken in 30 of the capital’s 33 boroughs with only the City, Richmond and Havering falling below this benchmark. Ealing, where Poles are the largest group of those speaking another first language, and Haringey, where Turkish is the top alternative to English, are among other linguistically diverse areas.


Brent and Harrow top the list for Gujarati, while Arabic is the second most popular language in Westminster. Kensington and Chelsea has the highest proportion of French, Spanish, Italian, German and Filipino speakers.


Today’s figures on languages apply to 7.8 million London residents aged three and above. Of those Londoners who have a foreign language as their main tongue, 47,917 say that they cannot speak English at all.


Other statistics show that London has the highest proportion of people reporting that they are in good health and the lowest percentage suffering disabilities.


Cycling has also soared in popularity with four per cent of workers, equivalent to 161,700, using a bike to commute. That is more than double the figure a decade ago.

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Poll shows Britons find immigration worrying but welcome immigrants

A new poll conducted by polling company Ipsos Mori for the think tank British Future shows that immigration is regarded by many Britons as a potential source of local and national tension. British Future was established in 2012 by Sunder Katwala, a British Asian who is a former General Secretary of the left-wing think tank The Fabian Society. Its stated aim is to 'to involve people in an open conversation, which addresses people's hopes and fears about identity and integration, migration and opportunity'.


The poll showed that a fairly constant 20% of people saw immigration as a potential source of tension in their local communities. This figure did not seem to depend upon the number of immigrants who live in any community. In the North East, 19% of people saw immigration as a potential source of tension; Only 5% of the population in the North East was born overseas. In London 20% saw immigration as a potential source of tension; In London 33% of the population was born outside the UK.


The poll also showed that nearly a third of people (30% saw immigration as being a possible source of tension nationally. British Future's director Sunder Katwala said that he drew hope from the fact that people were more concerned about the national picture than they were about their own community. 'People are obviously very anxious about immigration but I was struck by now much higher it was as a national tension than a local tension….I think it would be wrong to say that local concerns are real and national concerns are just driven by the media but I think what is going on there is people asking; 'does the system work? And I don't think anyone has any confidence as how it is managed as a system.


Ipsos Mori questioned 2,515 people aged between 16 and 75 about their attitudes about the UK and being British. Only 25% believed that it was necessary to be born in the UK to be considered to be British and two thirds believed that benefits should be extended to foreign born people who had been good citizens. The most important traits of Britishness, the survey found were respect for the law, respect for free speech and an ability to speak English.


The Observer, a UK Sunday newspaper has reported that the Communities Secretary, Eric Pickles, is to make a speech in which he will say that it will be necessary for immigrants to learn English so that they can integrate into wider society. In December, Ed Miliband, the Labour opposition leader, said a similar thing during a speech in south London.

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Microsoft presses US immigration for H-1B reform

Last year, Microsoft reported that it was looking for qualified IT professionals. Last September, it announced that it had 6,000 vacancies that it could not fill, 3,400 of these were IT roles. It began to lobby the US government for a change to the skilled immigration visa rules.


Microsoft says that its problems finding skilled workers illustrate the need for reform. It is pressing for two changes. Firstly, it is seeking a reform and an expansion of the H-1B non-immigrant work visa programme. Secondly, it is pressing for an increase in the number of green cards (permanent residence visas) issued to skilled IT workers. It suggests that US companies should buy H-1B visas and green cards. This would enable them to find the staff they need and the money could be used to fund training for US IT students to prevent a similar skills shortage in future.


Currently there is an annual cap of 65,000 on the number of H-1B visas that can be granted annually (another 20,000 can be granted to students with masters or higher degrees). H-1B visas are usually granted for an initial period of three years but can be extended. They are granted to graduates skilled in a 'specialty occupation'. Most of them are granted to students skilled in the STEM subjects; Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.


While the number of applications fell after the financial crisis of 2008, they have since risen. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) began accepting applications for the fiscal year 2013 on 6th April 2012 for a start date on or after 1 October 2012. The cap was reached on June 12th 2012. Many business organisations have called for an increase in the cap on H-1Bs but unions complain that companies use them to import cheap labour and to undercut American workers. Some worry that the US is not training enough of its own IT professionals because it can import graduates from overseas. Ron Hira, a professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology told ComputerWorld magazine that the reason why US students are not studying IT, whereas they do study law and medicine, is because of the poor terms and conditions of employment for workers in the IT sector. He believes that, if these were improved, more US students would study IT and there would be no need to bring in foreign workers.


Microsoft says that there must be more H-1B visas granted but says that companies should buy them for $10,000 each. Business would also pay $15,000 to purchase green cards for some skilled overseas workers. The money raised should be invested in training US IT graduates. Microsoft has estimated that this would raise some $500,000,000 annually which would be used to fund training for US students.


This policy would be bound to be controversial as it presupposes that somewhere in the region of 40,000 H-1B visas and green cards would be issued to foreign IT professionals every year. It might also be unwelcome to Indian IT companies. Indian news portal Firstpost.com comments 'Given that Indian techies grab the maximum number of H-1B visas, such a proposal, if accepted by the Congress, would hit the Indian IT companies the most.'


Brad Smith, Microsoft's general counsel and executive vice president delivered some prepared remarks at Washington's Brookings Institution in September 2012 in which he said 'Our nation faces a paradox of a crisis in unemployment at the same time that many companies cannot fill the jobs they have to offer…We risk these jobs migrating from the US, creating even bigger challenges for our long-term competitiveness and economic growth.'


ComputerWorld Magazine points out that H-1B visas are already expensive for companies. Though it only costs $325 to file an application, employers who employ more than 26 people must pay an extra $1,500. There is also a $500 fraud detection fee and a $1,225 charge if the employer requires faster processing of their visa application. Any company which has more than 50% of its staff on H-1B or L-1 visas must also pay a $2,000 surplus. Microsoft may already be paying $3,550 per H-1B visa . It is not clear whether Microsoft is suggesting that the $10,000 fee it is suggesting is instead of or as well as these existing fees.


President Obama has said that he intends to reform the US immigration regime in 2013. The President has said that he believes that graduates should be encouraged to stay and work in America. On November 15th 2012, he said 'The business community continues to be concerned about getting enough high-skill workers and I am a believer that, if you've got a PhD in physics or computer science who wants to stay here and start a business here, we shouldn't make it harder for him to stay here. We should try to encourage him to contribute to this society.'

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Canada launches new Start-up Visa for entrepreneurs

On Thursday January 24th 2013, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) announced that it is to launch a new visa for entrepreneurs. It will open for applications on April 1st 2013 and will be known as the Start-Up Visa.


Jason Kenney, the Canadian immigration minister and head of CIC said 'Our new Start-Up visa will help make Canada the destination of choice for the world's best and brightest to launch their companies. Recruiting dynamic entrepreneurs from around the world will help Canada remain competitive in the global economy.'


The scheme will, according to the CIC press release 'link immigrant entrepreneurs with private sector organisations in Canada that have experience working with start-ups and who can provide essential resources.'


The plan is to bring the non-Canadian entrepreneur together with Canadian venture capitalists, who may be able to provide funding, before the visa is granted. To that end, CIC has arranged to collaborate initially with two venture capital associations; Canada's Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (CVCA) and the National Angel Capital Organisation (NACO). CIC says that it is also working with the Canadian Association of Business Incubation so that they too can become involved soon.


CIC trumpets the Start-Up visa as 'the first of its kind in the world' and says it will be 'a powerful incentive to attract individuals with potential who will have a real impact on the Canadian economy.'
Details of the scheme are sketchy at this point but CIC says 'By providing sought-after immigrant entrepreneurs with permanent residency and immediate access to a wide range of business partners, Canada will position itself as a destination of choice for start-ups.'


CIC has not yet announced how many visas or funding will be available. Nor has it explained how the entrepreneur's suitability will be assessed. It is also not clear now much capital entrepreneurs will need to commit in order to qualify.


Sanwar Ali of workpermit.com said 'I am very keen to see the details of the new visa. When CIC began consulting on this proposal last year, it proposed that it would be able to issue up to 2,750 visas a year for an initial period of five years.


'Clearly, the establishment of a new visa sounds like great news for entrepreneurs but we need to know the details. Once we have those, we can prepare to help our clients with applications as soon as the visa stream is open for applications.'

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UK government will not meet immigration target says think tank

The UK government will not meet its target of reducing net immigration to below 100,000 annually, according to a respected think tank. A report issued by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) suggests that the government has made some progress towards its target but that any reductions in immigration 'are likely to be short-lived'.


In 2010, before he became Prime Minister, David Cameron, then the leader of the UK's Conservative opposition, promised to reduce net UK immigration from its 2010 level, about 260,000 per year, to 'tens of thousands' a year by 2015. Mr Cameron became Prime Minister in June 2010 at the head of a Coalition government formed by the Conservatives and the smaller Liberal Democrat Party. He reiterated the commitment as Prime Minister and his government has made many changes to immigration policy in an effort to meet this commitment.


The IPPR report says that the government has made some progress towards its target. Figures from the UK's Office for National Statistics suggest that the annual net immigration figure for 2011, which was calculated by subtracting the number of UK residents who left the country during that year from the number of foreign nationals who settled in the UK over the same period, fell to about 215,000. The IPPR says that this leaves the government well short of its target.


Figures released by the ONS in November 2012 suggest that the net immigration figure for the year to March 2012 fell further still to 183,000. This compared with a figure of 242,000 in the year to March 2011. The IPPR says that it expects this figure to fall yet further to 160,000 in 2013 and 140,000 in 2014. However, thereafter, the report says, it is likely that the number will rise again.
This is because of the way in which the figures are calculated and because of the way in which the government has gone about reducing immigration.


In order to reduce the net immigration figure, the government has taken action in three main areas; family migration, student migration and work migration. The main changes are listed below.


• In order to reduce the numbers of family members of UK residents who come to settle in the UK, the government has introduced a minimum income threshold for those wishing to bring a spouse to live in the UK from outside the European Economic Area. If a UK citizen has an income lower than this minimum amount, £18,600, then he/she will not be able to apply for permission for his/her spouse to remain in the UK. This minimum threshold is increased with every child that is included in the application.
• The government has launched a crackdown on educational institutions including universities to prevent 'bogus students' from obtaining Tier 4 student visas. Over 500 educational institutions have lost their licence to sponsor overseas students for UK tier 4 student visas. The government removed the Highly Trusted Sponsor status of London Metropolitan University because of alleged irregularities with the university's systems for checking that foreign students were genuine.
• The government closed the Tier 1 (Post Study Work) visa stream which allowed students to stay and work in the UK for two years after graduation.
• The government also closed the Tier 1 (General) visa stream which allowed highly skilled migrants to stay and work in the UK.
• The government introduced a minimum income threshold of £31,000 for international workers who wish to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK. Workers earning less than this will probably have to leave the UK after five years.
• The government introduced a cap of 20,700 on the number of Tier 2 (General) visas that could be issued in any given year.


When the latest ONS figures were released in November, much of the reduction in net immigration was caused by a fall in the number of students coming to study in Britain. Much of the rest of the reduction is caused by an increase in the number of UK residents leaving the UK to live abroad. Net immigration was 183,000, a fall of 59,000 on the 2011 figure. Of that fall, 19,000 was caused by a rise in the number of people emigrating from the UK. Of the reduction in immigration, Some 20,000 was called by a fall in the number of students coming to Britain.


The IPPR report says that, because students are counted as immigrants when they come to the UK, a fall in the number of students coming to study in the UK is likely to lead to a fall in the number of people leaving the UK in two or three years' time when those people would be leaving the UK. This explains why the IPPR believes that the net immigration figure is likely to rise in 2015.


Sarah Mulley of the IPPR said that the government was running out of ways to cut non-EU immigration. She said, 'Although net migration will fall next year, the Government is fast running out of options for further restricting non-EU immigration in any significant way….The next two years will show the limits of government action on net migration as the Government runs out of ways to significantly reduce numbers further.'


Many in the higher education sector, as well as business organisations and politicians have called for students to be removed from the net immigration figures. They say that this would prevent the government from damaging the export education sector, in its attempts to cut the headline immigration figure. Figures from the UK's Department for Innovation, Business and Skills suggest that export education is worth some £15bn annually to the UK.


The government has refused. The last immigration minister, Damian Green said in May 2012 that to remove students from the immigration figures would be 'fiddling the figures'. The new immigration minister, Mark Harper, has also refused to do so. The Home Secretary, Theresa May, has also said that students should continue to be counted as immigrants. However, the government has announced that it will 'disaggregate' students from the main immigration figure in future.

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USCIS introduces online policy manual

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has begun the introduction of an online manual that will inform and guide all its staff worldwide. It is hoped that this will lead to greater consistency in decision making on visa applications.


Staff have been given training on how to use the manual. The first sections of the manual went live on 7th January 2013. The manual, known simply as the USCIS Policy Manual, will replace both the Adjudicators Field Manual which has been used in the past and the USCIS Immigration Policy Memoranda website.


Alejandro Mayorkas the Director of USCIS said 'With the introduction of the Policy Manual, we take a further step to provide our customers, stakeholders and workforce with an efficient and effective adjudication process that provides a high level of quality and consistency.'


There have been criticisms in the past about the consistency of USCIS decision making. In October 2012, the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP), a Washington think tank, said that USCIS had in practice changed its criteria for granting H-1B and L-1 visas since 2008. The NFAP report said that the USCIS rules were being applied inconsistently, making it especially hard for Indian applicants to know if their visas are likely to be granted.


H-1B visas are granted to graduates who are skilled in a 'specialty occupation'. These visas are usually issued initially for a three year period and can be extended.


L-1 visas are intra company transfer visas which allow companies that have offices in the US and elsewhere to transfer highly skilled and management level employees to the US. Executives and managers may travel to the US on an L-1A visa. L-1A visas are valid for up to seven years. Skilled employees with 'specialized knowledge' can apply for L-1B visas. L-1B visas last for up to five years.


In July 2012, Ameet Nivsarkar of the Indian software industry body Nasscom said that Indian companies applying for L-1B visas had found that 'interpretation by consular officials [is a] very important' factor in visa determinations.


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Study says almost a million illegal immigrants living in the UK

A new report issued by a leading UK university estimates that there are 863,000 people living illegally in the UK out of which 604,000 (70%) live in London.


The report, Practical Measures for Reducing Irregular Migration was written by researchers at the London School of Economics. Its findings are accepted by the UK government. The report says that it believes that the main countries from which illegal residents have come are India, Nigeria, Pakistan, China and Bangladesh.


In December 2012, the UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS) released figures which showed that 13% of the UK's population was born outside the UK.


The UK's immigration minister Mark Harper blamed the figure on the previous Labour government of the UK which was in power between 1997 and 2010. 'It's no surprise that after years of uncontrolled immigration, we have a sizeable illegal immigrant population in Britain,' he told reporters. He added 'We are determined to get immigration under control and in the past year, net migration has fallen by a quarter.'


The LSE report says that it is, by definition, hard to be exact about the numbers involved. Illegal residents comprise those who entered the country illegally and those who have overstayed having entered legally. The authors of the report believe that the majority of illegal residents fall into the latter category.


The report says that the taking of biometric data from immigrants and all those who apply for UK visas has made the task of finding illegal migrants easier. The report also states that between 2004 and 2012, about 10,000 illegal migrants were granted permission to remain in the UK indefinitely based on fourteen years of stay in the UK. This 'fourteen year rule', so called because people who had remained in the UK for fourteen years legally or illegally (or a combination of both legal and illegal residence) could apply for permanent residence, was abolished by the UK government in July 2012.

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