Tourism minister pushing for joint Irish-UK visa

Ireland's Minister for Tourism Leo Varadkar is urging Ireland and the UK to create a joint UK-Ireland visa. He said tourists and business visitors should not need to apply for two separate visas for the UK and Ireland.

"This means that there are real opportunities to attract more high-value, high-spending visitors from rapidly growing economies like Brazil, India, China and Russia to both Britain and Ireland," Varadkar told the British Irish Parliamentary Assembly.

Varadkar described the proposed agreement between Ireland and the UK as a "mini-Schengen", referring to the agreement that allows visa nationals to obtain one visa that allows travel between 26 countries including France, Germany, Greece, and the Netherlands.

Under current immigration rules, overseas visitors traveling to the UK on a UK visitor visa can also travel to Ireland without needing to apply for a separate Irish visa. However, this is only available until October 2016.

"While the visa waiver is a step forward, it should be just that - one step of many to come," Varadkar said. "It makes no sense to me that a tourist flying into Dublin from Dubai needs a separate visa to travel to the Titanic Experience in Belfast and to see the Giant's Causeway. And it makes even less sense to the tourist."

Citizens of the UK and Ireland are covered by the Common Travel Area which allows passport-free movement between all the islands including the Isle of Man and Channel Islands.

Varadkar's visa proposal is the latest move by the Irish Government to attempt to boost visitor numbers.

"The development of tourism is fundamental to our economic recovery. We still have a situation where some international guests require two separate visas to visit Donegal and Derry. This should be addressed as a priority issue that will encourage tourism and economic development in both countries," said British-Irish Parliamentary Co-chairman Joe McHugh.

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

US Senator proposes increasing available H-1B visas

US Republican Senator John Cornyn has proposed legislation to increase the number of H-1B visas that are issued to foreigners who have graduated with a master's and doctoral degree from a US university.

Senator Cornyn, the senior Republican on a Senate panel that oversees immigration, proposed a bill that would make an additional 55,000 visas available each year for graduates with master's and doctoral degrees from US universities.

Cornyn noted that the bill would not add to the overall number of US visas available. The bill if enacted would mean the end of the popular Green Card Lottery program. The 55,000 diversity visas from the Green Card lottery visa scheme would instead be allocated to the H-1B visa scheme. Ending the popular Green Card Lottery visa scheme could prove to be highly controversial.

Cornyn argued that the decision to increase the number of H-1B visas to enable foreign-born engineers, mathematicians, scientists and other with high-tech skills to work in the US is important to US technology companies. He said his bill would "bolster American competitiveness and provide a stronger foundation for long-term economic growth and job creation" in the US.

"We have to remember how this country was built. All of us are sons and daughters of immigrants that showed up here and made our way. We've cut off that flow," Cornyn said, adding that the US currently has around 2 million unfilled high-tech jobs.

For now, it is unclear whether other Republicans in the Senate would support Cornyn's proposed legislation.

Cornyn is also looking at legislation that would help children of illegal immigrants who want to attend US colleges or serve in the US military. There are an estimated 1 to 2 million illegal immigrant children currently living in the US.

US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that, as of 11 May 2012, it has already received 36,700 H-1B cap-subject petitions out of the 65,000 available visas. Additionally, they have already received 14,800 H-1B visa petitions for foreigners with US advanced degrees out of the 20,000 available visas. This means that on 27 April 2012 there were only 28,300 visas left under the H-1B regular visa cap and 5,200 for the H-1B visa advanced degree level visa cap.

Therefore, if you are considering filing a cap-subject H-1B petition as part of the FY2013 quota we encourage you to apply as soon as possible. Once the visa cap has been reached, USCIS will stop accepting H-1B petitions for FY 2013 and will not accept new applications until 1 April 2013. Even if you obtain an H-1B visa now you will not be able to start work until 1 October 2012.

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

Saskatchewan announces changes to Canadian Immigrant Nominee Program

Earlier this month the Canadian province of Saskatchewan introduced changes to their Immigrant Nominee Program affecting the family category, student category, and the entrepreneur category.

Saskatchewan's Advanced Education, Employment and Immigration Minister Rob Norris announced that in an attempt to create more fairness in the Canadian immigration application process, family category nominees will now only be able to submit one application per household until the principal applicant and family have settled in the Canadian province.

This still means that immediate families will be able to immigrate to Canada together, but the process of bringing extended family members over has changed. Previously, Canadian immigrants who settled in the Canadian province could apply for visas for unlimited family members to join them.

Nominees wishing to enter the province will now also require a job offer. Previously, applicants were required to intend to find work in the Canadian province in order to receive a visa, but didn't need an actual job offer.

"We have families now moving forward with multiple applications and what's happening is something that's unfair," said Norris. "Some families have come (with) — we've even heard stories of up to 20 applications. As they've moved forward with their 20, what's happening is other families are being left out."

"Overall, there are pros and cons. I think the families do have a financial commitment when they bring an individual here, so there's definitely more stress on the family to support that new family member while they are settling and trying to find a job. So I think that does — the fact that the person would have a job — does reduce the stress on the family members and would make the whole settlement process a little more enjoyable for everyone," said Darcy Dietrich, executive director of the Regina Open Door Society, a non-profit organization that provides settlement and integration services to refugees and immigrants in Regina, Saskatchewan.

Additionally, students who graduate from a university in Canada outside of the province will now be required to have been employed in Saskatchewan for one full year before applying for a visa in the Immigrant Nominee Program. Previously, graduates only need 6 months of employment in the Canadian province.

Entrepreneur category applicants will be required to have their net worth and evidence of funds verified by an independent third party approved by the Canadian government before submitting an application and receiving a visa.

Norris explained that the changes were necessary to boost the integrity of the Immigrant Nominee Program and further convince the Canadian government to increase the immigration cap in Saskatchewan from 4,000 to 6,000.

These changes will go into effect immediately, however applications submitted before 2 May 2012 will be processed under the previous rules.

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

UK immigration to bring in extra staff to deal with long queues

UK Immigration Minister Damian Green announced that the UK Border Force will be recruiting an additional 70 staff at Heathrow Airport to deal with long queues. He said the staff would be brought in following the Olympics to to cover for immigration officers taking leave after the end of Olympics and to handle the expected surge when tens of thousands of students arrive in the UK for the new academic year.

The 70 extra staff were already expected to start working in 2014 for the reopening of Heathrow airport's Terminal 2, but due to the expected increase in travelers following the Olympics, the staff will be put in place this summer.

"Terminal 2 is reopening in 2014. Seventy extra people will be working there. We are recruiting them to be working from the immediate post-Olympics," said Green.

UK Home Office ministers have also cancelled all summer leave for UK Border Force officers and brought in 480 extra temporary staff to handle the expected surge of 650,000 extra tourists this summer.

"The queue levels we've seen at some times of the day, particularly at Heathrow and Stansted, are not acceptable. That's why we have taken the measures we have already taken and we will take more measures," Green added. "This is a problem we need to continue gripping. We are taking practical steps to address the issue of queues but at the same time the first priority has to be the security of our border."

Green made the announcement at a recent Home Affairs Committee meeting as part of its inquiry into the work of the UK Border Agency and Border Force. BAA, BA and Virgin Airlines also told the MPs that the long queue delays had steadily deteriorated over the past two years and were damaging business.

Colin Matthews, chief executive of BAA, the owner and operator of Heathrow airport, said that the queues have gotten "worse since the summer of 2010" and "it has been more noticed and commented on in recent months, But it has deteriorated since summer 2010. We can detect some improvement in last week or so. I believe that it's because of the additional resources that have been made available."


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

Decrease in number of New Zealand visas issued

New figures released by New Zealand's Department of Labour show that the number of skilled migrants arriving to the country is decreasing. The figures show that the number of people who arrived in the nine months to March 2012 was 13,265, a decrease of about 12 percent compared to the same nine month period in the previous year. The department attributed the decrease due to the global recession.

The country's biggest sources of skilled migrants are the UK and India, each providing 17 percent of the total, followed by the Philippines with 12 percent, China and South Africa at 8 percent each, and Fiji with 7 percent.

There was an increase in Indians applying for skilled migrant visas and the department said: "The increase from India is mainly due to former Indian international students who transition to temporary work and then to permanent residence."

Additionally, the number of international students studying in New Zealand on visas was down 7 percent compared to the same nine month period in 2011. The largest source country for international students is currently China at 26 percent of the total, followed by India at 13 percent, South Korea at 10 percent, and Japan with 5 percent.

The department also said that the numbers of people being approved for New Zealand residency remains steady with 28,674 in the July 2011-March 2012 period, compared to 28,695 for the same period during the previous year.

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

Strict Tier 4 visa rules are costly for UK universities to navigate

Universities and colleges told MPs this week that they are being forced to spend millions of pounds to make sure that they comply with the UK's strict Tier 4 student visa rules.

The London School of Economics (LSE) reportedly spends £250,000 a year to make sure they are not violating the UK's immigration rules and to make sure they properly understand regulations governing the entry of non-European Union students. According to Simeon Underwood, academic registrar at the LSE, five years ago the school was only spending £50,000 a year. Other colleges have said that they have had to recruit more than a dozen members of staff to ensure they are complying with the immigration rules.

The strict rules were put in place in an effort to crack down on bogus colleges.

Underwood explained that non-EU students were a major part of the LSE's student population; so in an effort to continue recruiting international students, the school had little choice but to substantially increase expenditure on staff, etc to make sure that they comply with the UK's immigration rules.

MPs are currently investigating the issue of student visas after a report published in March by the National Audit Office found serious errors in the way the UK Borders Agency (UKBA) implemented Tier 4 visa changes. The report claimed that up to 50,000 bogus students may have been improperly issued UK Tier 4 visas.

"The rules have gone too far," Timothy Blake, principal of the London School of English said. "Legitimate students are being seriously affected by rules designed to take out bogus students."

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

Australia announces immigration increase to fill skill gaps

The Australian Government announced that they will increase the places available in the 2012–13 migration program in order to help fill skills shortages in parts of Australia.

"The measured increase of 5000 places—from 185 000 to 190 000—comes in the context of significant skills gaps in both the short and medium term in certain sectors of our patchwork economy," said Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Chris Bowen.

The 2012–13 migration program includes 129,250 places for skilled workers, 60,185 family places, and a special eligibility stream of 565 places.

"It's obviously important that people be able to live with family members, which is recognised in the increased places to help meet growing demand. Importantly, partners and children can also be great contributors to our nation's productivity," Bowen said.

Bowen added that regional visas would continue to be given high processing priority in order to help address regional employers skill shortages and encourage regional migration.

Up to 16,000 places have been reserved for the Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme to ensure that regional areas are able to fill skills gaps and grow local economies.

"Skilled migrants are increasingly moving to growth regions and places where there is demand—they are complementing rather than competing with our domestic labour force," Bowen said. "Further recent reforms have made employer-sponsored programs more streamlined and responsive."

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