New Zealand 'Hub' will match immigrants with job vacancies

The New Zealand Immigration Minister Nathan Guy has joined his cabinet colleague, Social Development Minister Paula Bennett, in announcing the establishment of the Christchurch Skills and Employment Hub.


The Hub will be based in Christchurch. Four 'skills brokers' will help to match job vacancies with workers seeking employment. Where there are no New Zealand citizens who are able and willing to fill any vacancy, Hub staff will help international talent to step in. the Hub is expected to 'go live' in November 2012.


The New Zealand government is accelerating the process of rebuilding the city of Christchurch after the devastating earthquake of February 2011. Much of the city was devastated and the rebuild will be by far the biggest infrastructure project in New Zealand history.


The rebuild has already been hampered by a lack of available skilled tradesmen. Employers have complained of a lack of skilled workers available in many trades. Many residents left the city after the earthquake so reducing the number of available workers who can help with the rebuilding. In addition, the sheer scale of the project means that there are not enough workers available.


The Hub will match available workers with job vacancies. Four 'skills brokers' will be based in Christchurch. A website will also advertise positions and there will be coordination between government departments and agencies. For example, the Hub will liaise with Work and Income, the New Zealand unemployment agency. Where there are no available and suitable New Zealand workers able to fill a role, the skills brokers will assist overseas applicants in finding positions and in completing visa applications.


Mr Guy said 'this will give New Zealanders the first crack at jobs in the rebuild and save employers' time if they have to apply to Immigration for a work visa for new staff'.


Global Visa Support offers a variety of programs in New Zealand. Please visit our New Zealand page for more information: http://www.globalvisasupport.com/nz.html

Record number of visitors to Australia outstay their visas

Figures released by the Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) show that a record number of travellers remained in Australia illegally after their visas had expired last year.


In the 12 months to June 2012 19,570 people outstayed their leave to remain in Australia. This is double the number who did so in 2007 (9330). In the month of April 2012 alone, 4,300 people outstayed their permission to remain. The figures show that a lower percentage of overstayers were deported from Australia last year than five years ago. 8,320 of the 19,570 were deported at a cost of around AUS$35-40m.


A DIAC spokesman told The Australian newspaper that this was partly because many of those who overstayed were holidaymakers who did so by mere days and often by mistake. The fact that they had not been removed did not therefore mean that they were still in the country.


The spokesman said 'In 2011-12, more than 99% of more than 4.8m temporary entrants complied with the requirement to leave Australia prior to their visa expiring.'


He added Immigration compliance operations have actually led to about a 25% increase in the number of visa overstayers and other unlawful non-citizens being detected and either removed from Australia or having their status regularised.'

Global Visa Support offers a variety of programs in Australia. Please visit our Australian page for more information: http://www.globalvisasupport.com/australia.html

Ontario advisory body recommends increase in immigration

The Ontario Expert Round Table on Immigration, a committee established to advise the Ontario provincial government on immigration policy, has issued a report saying that Ontario should increase its immigration level to 1% of its population (or 135,000 people) annually.


The Expert Round Table comprised businesspeople, academics and representatives of the not-for-profit sector and the province's settlement services. Its report is titled Expanding Our Routes To Success. The report states that the numbers of immigrants settling in Ontario fell from 89,079 in 2001 to 36,939 in 2011. Because Ontario has never had an immigration strategy, it is not attracting those with the greatest skills, the Round Table says.


Because of its ageing population, a workforce forecast to shrink in the near future and a severe skills shortage, the report recommends that the province should establish an active immigration policy to attract highly skilled workers. 'Immigration is key to Ontario's future prosperity and the development of an immigration strategy should be an integral part of the province's overall economic strategy.'


The report says that immigration policy must be integrated across all ministries of the provincial government. The report comes up with 32 recommendations, the first of which is to increase annual immigration to 135,000.


Other recommendations include:
• Immigration policy should be fair and foster diversity
• Most immigration should come via the Federal Skilled Worker Program
• The cap on immigration via Ontario Provincial Nominee Program should be raised from 1,000 to 5,000
• The Federal Temporary Foreign Worker Program should be used to recruit highly skilled temporary foreign workers in the skilled trades
• Greater efforts to be made to attract entrepreneurs to the province
• Employers and communities must help immigrants to become integrated members of Ontario society
• The government must continue to honour its traditional commitment to refugees'


Provincial immigration minister Charles Sousa said 'I would like to thank the expert roundtable for their work; It will help us develop Ontario's first immigration strategy that will support economic development in the province.'


Global Visa Support offers a variety of programs in Canada. Please visit our Canadian page for more information: http://www.globalvisasupport.com/canada.html

UK immigration squad arrests eight in London visa fraud raid

The UK Border Agency (UKBA) has reported that it has made eight arrests in London as part of a major investigation of a suspected visa fraud ring.


UKBA investigators along with officers seconded from the Metropolitan Police carried out raids on five houses in Harrow, Brent, Southall, Hayes and Kilburn and four business premises in Harrow and Park Royal. Eight people were arrested. Two of the business addresses were the offices of immigration advisory firms.


The UKBA released a statement saying that 'the raids were the culmination of a year-long investigation into a criminal network suspected of assisting hundreds of clients mainly Indian, Pakistani and Nepali nationals to fraudulently apply for UK visas. Clients would typically pay thousands of pounds each.'


Andy Shortland of the West London Criminal and Financial Investigation Team of the UK Border Agency said 'our investigation is targeting an organised network suspected of being involved in a complex and systematic attempt to evade the UK's immigration controls. That investigation will continue with the evidence we have seized today.'


All those arrested were male British citizens aged between 30 and 35. They were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud. All are being held at a London police station.


Global Visa Support offers a variety of programs in United Kingdom. Please visit our UK page for more information: http://www.globalvisasupport.com/uk.html

Immigration reform law would create 1.4m jobs in US says report

A report published by the left-of-centre Washington think tank The Center for American Progress says that passing the DREAM Act would add US$329bn to the US economy by 2030. 1.4m jobs would also be created, the report finds. The report was released in collaboration with the Partnership for a New American Economy, an organisation founded by New York mayor Michael Bloomberg and the media magnate Rupert Murdoch.

The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act was first introduced to Congress in 2001 but has never become law. If passed, the law would provide that certain illegal immigrants who were brought to the US as children would be granted permanent residency. To qualify illegal residents would have to
• Be of good character
• Have lived in the US for at least five years and
• Have completed two years in the military or two years of a four year higher education course.
They would then be granted residency for six years. They might then qualify for permanent residency providing they completed their university course or receive an honourable discharge from the armed forces.

At present, the potential beneficiaries of the DREAM Act have no right to remain in the US. If they become known to the authorities, they may be deported. As a result, they find it hard to find jobs or to attend universities. Consequently, many are poor and, work for low wages in the shadow economy.

The report, titled The Economic Benefits of Passing the DREAM Act, states that there are 2.1m people who would benefit from the passing of the DREAM Act. It says that their earnings would increase because they would have legal status and because they would pursue higher education. Their earnings would thereby increase by an average 19% or a total of US$148bn. This money would be recycled throughout the economy and create a total benefit of US$329bn, 1.4m jobs and US$10bn of extra tax revenue.

However, Steven Camarotta of the right-wing think tank Center of Immigration Studies which is broadly opposed to the DREAM Act, says that the economic argument in favour of the DREAM Act is weak. 'Even their own study shows that the effect on the economy is trivial. It's so tiny relative to the size of the US economy that you can't even measure it. That's why they do it over 20 years' he said.

Mr Camarotta said that the stronger argument in favour of DREAM legislation is a 'moral' one which focuses on the unfortunate consequences of illegal status for illegal immigrants.

He said that, by focussing on the economic arguments, the report's author drew attention to the fact that, if the law is passed, there will be many educated immigrants competing for jobs with US citizens.

But Angela Kelley of the Center for American Progress said that immigrants could create jobs. She cited the example of Sergey Brin, the founder of Google, who was born in the former Soviet Union. He has created many jobs for American citizens.

Global Visa Support offers a variety of programs in United States of America. Please visit our USA page for more information: http://www.globalvisasupport.com/usa.html

UK's National Union of Students calls for end to police registration

The National Union of Students has called for an end to the requirement for students to register with police before they begin their courses.

It is the start of the academic year in the UK and the new intake of students who have come from outside the European Economic Area are required to register with the police before they are allowed to start their courses.

All students in London are required to register at;

The Overseas Visitors Registration Office
Brandon House
180 Borough High Street
London
SE1 1LH

There are over 30,000 new students in London who need to register this year. The office is not able to cope and this has caused lengthy queues and has resulted in students missing the beginning of their courses.

Mariella Nihabi from Brazil told The Guardian that she had been to Brandon House on three occasions but had been turned away. 'I cannot attend class until I have registered but this is the third time I have tried queuing. Today I have been here since 6am, There are people who got here earlier. It's horrible. We have to wait for hours and pay for the travel each time. If they want us to register, they could at least ask us to do it at a police station nearer to where we live.'

Daniel Stevens of the NUS said 'it is absolutely unacceptable that students be asked to queue for hours, often in terrible weather, and be expected to arrive before 6.30am to have any chance of being seen.' He said 'There are numerous ways to avoid the distress being faced by these students including increasing staff numbers, adjusting the amount of time being given to students to register or creating a ticket system so that students have defined times to register.'

Mr Stevens said that it was unclear why students have to register in any event as all their information is already held by the UK Border Agency.

However, the Metropolitan police website merely advises students to arrive early but not too early. It asks those queuing not to spend the night outside the office. It says 'queues are currently starting as early as 12.00am. In the interests of health and safety we would kindly request that you do not start queuing at this time as it forces us to close our queues as early as 6.30m'.

An unnamed law student at the London School of Economics told The Guardian that he had been queuing for four days without success; 'Obviously, this will damage British universities' reputation. This isn't the only country that offers international education – the US and Canada do not treat foreign students like this.'

Global Visa Support offers a variety of programs in United Kingdom. Please check our UK page for more information: http://www.globalvisasupport.com/uk.html

 

US Republican presidential team at odds on immigration policy

Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential candidate, told The Denver Post newspaper in an interview on Monday 1st October 2012 that he would not allow the deportation of illegal immigrants who have paid for a deferral of any action to deport them. This promise seems to put Mr Romney at odds with his running mate, Paul Ryan.

Mr Romney was asked by Denver Post journalist Allison Sherry whether he would overturn President Obama's Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. This program, introduced by the President earlier this year, allowed certain young illegal immigrants to apply for immunity from deportation for a two year period upon payment of a fee. Mr Romney said 'the people who have received the special visa that the president has put in place, which is a two-year visa, should expect that the visa would continue to be valid. I'm not going to take something that they've purchased.'

Mr Romney added, 'Before those visas have expired, we will have the full immigration reform plan that I've proposed.'

However, on 24th September 2012, Mr Ryan, the Vice-Presidential Candidate and Mr Romney's running mate told voters in Lima, Ohio that they were planning to 'undo' President Obama's executive order that set up the DACA program. This appears to contradict what Mr Romney has said on this issue.

Mr Romney's words have been interpreted by many commentators as an effort to soften his previous position and appeal to swing voters, particularly to voters of Hispanic heritage. Mr Romney is trailing Mr Obama in the polls among Hispanic voters. The Huffington Post on 1st October 2012 reported that a national poll showed that only 21% of Hispanic voters support Mr Romney against 73% who say that they would back President Obama. In addition to the apparent softening of his line on illegal immigration, he was also photographed eating a Burrito Bowl at a Denver Mexican fast food restaurant.

The new policy is a significant departure for the Republicans. At the Republican National Convention, Mr Romney and Mr Ryan took a very hard line on immigration. Mr Romney supported legislation that would encourage the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the US, many of them Mexicans, to 'self-deport' by making their lives difficult. He has also said that, if elected, he would veto the DREAM Act, a bill which would see some illegal immigrants given legal residency.

Mr Romney also told The Denver Post that he would introduce immigration reform legislation in the first year of his term. 'I will propose a piece of legislation which will reform our immigration system to improve legal immigration so people don't have to hire lawyers to figure out how to get here legally', he said, adding 'The president promised in his first year, his highest priority that he would reform immigration and he didn't. And I will.'

However, Mr Romney was not clear on the details of his reform legislation. He has previously suggested that illegal immigrants who have served in the US armed forces might be allowed permanent residency.

Global Visa Support offers a variety of programs in United States of America. Please visit our USA page for more information: http://www.globalvisasupport.com/usa.html