Posts Tagged ‘Job Offer’

Canadian Immigration to increase Federal Skilled Worker Program quota

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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UK economy at risk from immigration cap

The UK Government’s own advisory committee, the Migration Advisory Committee, has stated that the British economy could suffer permanent damage if the Government continues to restrict non-EU skilled immigration.

In April of 2011, the current Government implemented a permanent cap on Tier 1 and Tier 2 skilled immigration. This followed on from the temporary immigration cap of the previous year. The popular Tier 1 (General) category no longer exists. There is a new Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) category; However, hardly anyone meets the requirements for this visa category.

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Australia needs accountants

Despite the recent huge increase in the number of accountants obtaining skilled immigration visas to Australia there is still unfulfilled demand for accountants in Australia. Skills Australia intends to keep the occupation on its list of occupations in demand.

“We are keeping a watch on accountants but at the moment the data, and the advice that were getting from the professional associations, is that they should still be on the Skilled Occupation List,” said Robin Shreeve, Skills Australia CEO.

The number of accountants who received skilled migration visas to Australia more than doubled during the 2010-11 fiscal year, to 14,680.

“Employment growth has been above average and a similar growth rate is projected over the next five years,” Skills Australia said in a briefing.

Skills Australia went onto say “Unemployment is below average and shortages were relatively persistent until the onset of the global recession in 2008.”

“The level of advertised vacancies remains very low compared with the pre-recession period, although employment levels have risen.”

If you wish to live and work in Australia you should consider applying for immigration through the General Skilled Migration program. Applicants with experience in a job on the Skilled Occupation List and who score enough points under certain criteria such as qualifications, age and English language ability may obtain a permanent residence visa without the need for a specific job offer from an Australian employer.

United States encourages entrepreneur immigration

The US government has outlined a series of “policy, operational, and outreach efforts” which it hopes will drive economic growth and stimulate investment by encouraging foreign entrepreneurs to immigrate to the United States.

The new initiatives were announced by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) director Alejandro Mayorkas and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano.

“The United States has a long, rich history of welcoming innovative entrepreneurs and skilled workers into our country,” Mayorkas said on his blog.

“These men and women fuel our nation’s economy by creating jobs, and promoting new technologies and ideas,” he added.

“Today, I joined Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and outlined a series of new policy, operational, and outreach efforts that will help fuel the nation’s economy and stimulate investment by making it easier for high-skill immigrants to start and grow companies and create jobs here in the United States.”

USCIS announced that it will:

  • Clarify that immigrant entrepreneurs may obtain an employment-based EB-2 immigrant visa if they satisfy existing requirements, and that they may also qualify for a National Interested Waiver (no job offer required) under the EB-2 immigrant visa category if they can demonstrate that their business will be of interest to the United States.
  • Expand the Premium Processing Service to immigrant petitions for multinational executives and managers
  • Clarify that a sole owner of a business who wishes to employ himself/herself in some circumstances can establish a valid employer-employee relationship to qualify for an H-1B non-immigrant visa
  • Implement enhancements to streamline the EB-5 immigrant investor process
  • Launch new “engagement opportunities” to seek input and feedback from entrepreneurs and companies.

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Canadian Temporary Foreign Worker Visa: Tougher Requirements

Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Visa Program will see stricter requirements. Immigration Minister Kenney claims that the changes will be an improvements to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) and had the following to say:

“We saw a need for clear regulations to better protect workers from poor treatment and to ensure that the Temporary Foreign Worker Program continued to address short-term labour and skills shortages,” said Minister Kenney. “These regulations respond to that need and with the information being made available today, employers and workers will clearly know what is expected of them.”

The changes to the Canadian Temporary Foreign Worker Program represent the greatest changes to the program in many years.

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UK Government clarifies upcoming immigration changes

The UK Border Agency (UKBA) has provided further details of the changes that will take place in April 2011 which include a permanent immigration cap on skilled immigration, a new exceptional talent visa, and new criteria for skilled workers with a job offer and intra-company transfers. There will in effect be significant changes in the rules for sponsoring non-EU workers. In addition the Tier 1 General skilled immigration visa will in effect end on 6 April 2011.

From 6 April 2011, there will an annual limit of 20,700 Tier 2 visas and 1,000 visas for the new ‘exceptional talent’ visa category.

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Seattle Immigration Lawyer | Employment-Based Visa Preferences

Returning to my series on obtaining a green card based on a job offer, when deciding whether to apply for an immigrant visa you must determine which employment-based preference category you fall into.

The first three employment-based immigrant visa preferences are as follows:

First Preference (EB-1): Persons of extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business or athletics; outstanding professors or researchers; and multinational executives and managers. (No Labor Cert. required.)

First Preference is known as the category for “priority” workers. Needless to say, the vast majority of immigrants do not meet the criteria.

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Seattle Immigration Lawyer | Eligibility for a Green Card through Employment

My last Seattle Immigration Lawyer Blog post provided an introduction to the rather daunting process of obtaining a green card through employment. This post will go a little deeper into the eligibility requirements. Before you consider this route, you must have these two things going for you: a job offer from a U.S.

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