London most popular immigration destination for foreign professionals

January 14th, 2012 Tushar Mathur

According to new research half of all foreign professionals would consider immigrating to London if they ever looked to work overseas. Next on the list of popular destination cities was New York at 28 percent, Singapore at 16 percent, Paris at 15 percent and Sydney at 10 percent. Dubai, Tokyo, and Shanghai were also in the top destination Cities for foreign professionals.

160,000 job-seekers in a range of sectors from banking to telecommunications participated in the survey. The survey findings revealed that London with its banking, legal and creative industries is still a major attraction to workers from all over the world.

According to the statistics, the majority of the professionals immigrating to London are foreign workers from countries facing economic difficulties – particularly from Portugal, Ireland and Greece. Additionally, nearly half of survey participants also cited the higher standard of living in the UK as the main reason to move to and work in London.

“Jobseekers have become more flexible on where they’ll work, and with English as their first language they have a advantage,” said Mike Booker of totaljobs.com, which conducted the survey.

Interestingly the report also found that 63 percent of UK professionals would be happy to work abroad, up from 47 percent from two years ago; Many are looking for higher living standards abroad.

Global Visa Support offers various UK programs, please see our UK page for more information: http://www.globalvisasupport.com/uk.html

Changes to New Zealand Immigration Skills Shortage List

January 11th, 2012 Tushar Mathur

Agricultural science jobs have now been added to New Zealand‘s Long Term Skills Shortage List; At the same time a number of teaching occupations have been removed.

New Zealand‘s Department of Labour regularly reviews the Essential Skills in Demand Lists in order to remain responsive to the needs of New Zealand employers and the economy. The lists include the Long Term Skill Shortage List (LTSSL), the Immediate Skill Shortage List and the Canterbury Skill Shortage List. The Canterbury Skill Shortage List was recently created in response to the rebuilding requirements following the 6.3 magnitude earthquake that hit the Canterbury region in February 2011.

“Regular reviews of the lists are important to ensure that the Department’s policy is flexible and responsive as the economy continues to experience volatility and fluctuations to the labour market,” Vasantha Krishnan, general manager of the Labour and Immigration Research Centre explained.

The following occupations were added to the LTSSL:

  • Agricultural Scientist (Farm Systems Scientist)
  • Social Professional nec (Applied Social Scientist)
  • Life Scientist nec (Animal Scientist or Bioinformatics)
  • Biotechnologist (Genetics Scientist), and
  • Environmental Research Scientist (Water Quality Analyst).

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New hope for foreigners who are subject to the three/ten year bar

January 10th, 2012 Tushar Mathur

A new proposal by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) brings new hope to foreigners who are subject to the three and ten year bars because of their unlawful presence in the United States. Rather than leaving the United States to apply for a waiver at an overseas consulate office, these foreigners would be allowed to have their waiver pre-adjudicated by the USCIS in the United States according to the proposal. If their waiver applications are approved, they would still be required to depart the U.S. to apply for immigrant visas to return to the United States.

The 3/10 Year Bar
Section 212(a)(9) of the Immigration and Nationality Act provides that any noncitizen who after having been unlawfully present in the United States for 180-364 days and then voluntarily departs the country before they are placed in removal proceedings is not allowed to return to the United States for three (3) years.

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Report reveals UK immigration numbers expected to fall in 2012

January 10th, 2012 Tushar Mathur

A recent report by the Institute for Public Policy Research, an independent think-tank, predicted that the number of migrants coming to the UK from outside the EU will fall by about 10 per cent in 2012. The continuing financial crisis, in addition to the government’s attempts to reduce the number of immigrants coming into the UK, is expected to lead to the decrease in immigrant numbers.
Although UK immigration numbers were lower in 2011 than in 2010, the numbers far exceed the government’s original goal of reducing immigration to “tens of thousands”, according to the report.

The report also gave a critical assessment of the government’s approach to immigration numbers, stating that UK immigration’s strategy to lower immigrant numbers is likely to harm any prospect of economic recovery.

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US universities report increase in enrollment of foreign students on F-1 student visas

January 9th, 2012 Tushar Mathur

The number of international students on F-1 student visas enrolled in post-graduate business schools in the US has been rapidly increasing. According to a recent BusinessWeek article, the average international student enrollment in the top 20 full-time US MBA programs “is now 33.4 percent, up from 30.2 percent at the height of the economic crisis, when visa and financing issues prevented many international applicants from enrolling.”
A recent report conducted by the Graduate Management Admission Council, shows that 46 percent of programs in 2011 reported growth in applications from foreign students wishing to come to study on F-1 student visas.

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Canadian immigration announces faster permanent residency for foreign caregivers

January 8th, 2012 Tushar Mathur

Canadian immigration has now shortened the procedures needed for foreign live-in caregivers to obtain permanent resident status and has also announced several changes which they say will protect the caregivers from abusive employers. Canadian Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney stated the changes were the Canadian government’s response to reports of abuse to foreign caregivers by their employers.

“Too many live-in caregivers have completed their work obligations but must continue living in the home of their employer, waiting for their application for permanent residence to be reviewed,” said Kenney. “This is understandably frustrating.

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Canadian Immigration to increase Federal Skilled Worker Program quota

January 7th, 2012 Tushar Mathur

The Department of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) have announced they plan to accept even more immigrants under the Federal Skilled Worker program in 2012.
In its report to the Parliament of Canada, CIC has indicated that in 2010 they admitted over 280,000 immigrants, an increase of over 11.3 percent over the previous year, and the highest number of immigrants in the last 50 years. Around 67 percent of those admitted were economic immigrants with 40 percent of these being Federal Skilled workers.

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U Visa – An important tool for crime victims to obtain legal status

January 6th, 2012 Tushar Mathur

Many immigrants in the United States are hesitant to approach police and other law enforcement officers when they become crime victims. For people who are in the U.S. without legal status, they try to avoid contacts with police officers for fear that their illegal status may be exposed. Even legal immigrants are sometimes afraid to approach police in the U.S. because of cultural differences and language barriers. Most of them do not know that there exists a special visa designed for victims of certain crimes called the U visa.

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