The data also shows that there were 83,290 foreign workers in Australia under the 457 visa scheme which is designed to allow entry of foreign workers to temporarily fill skills gaps.

Chamber of Commerce and Industry general manager Nick Behrens said the immigration increase could also reflect the huge number of resource projects and the demand for high level skills.

“The demand for 457 workers is often because of the disinclination of Australians to travel to the regions,” said Behrens. “If an employer needs to source workers overseas, it’s because they can’t get workers here.”

According to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, the number of 457 visas granted from July to the end November 2011 was 51.6 percent higher than the same period in 2010.
In Queensland alone, the number of 457 visa workers jumped from 2,890 in 2010, to 4,570 in 2011.

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

All current Tier 4 sponsors must be inspected by the appropriate reviewing body in order to retain their sponsorship status. These inspections and reviews will take place throughout 2012, and the results of each inspection or review will be published on the website of the appropriate educational oversight body. If the Tier 4 visa sponsor fails to achieve a satisfactory inspection outcome they may no longer be able to sponsor international students under Tier 4 of UK immigration‘s points-based system.

In particular these changes are likely to affect those looking to sponsor international students under Tier 4 of the Points Based System. More importantly though, beginning 1 April 2012, the following major changes will be made to the Tier 4 Student Visa and to the Tier 1 Visa:

• Work placements will be restricted to one-third of the course, unless the course is at degree level and the sponsor is a higher education institution or the student is on a study abroad programme.
• Tier 4 visa holders will be limited to the time they can spend at degree level to 5 years, with certain exemptions for longer courses and doctorates at higher education institutions.
• Tier 1 Post-study work will be CLOSED from 1 April 2012. UK immigration will still offer visas through Tier 2 of the points-based system for graduates. In most cases only graduates who have an offer of a skilled job from a sponsoring employer under Tier 2 of the points-based system will be able to stay and work in the UK

Global Visa Support has a variety of programmes in UK. Please visit our UK page for more details: http://globalvisasupport.com/uk.html

Source: NAFSA memo to SEVIS Users

Canadian officials on Friday announced a new two-year, multi-entry “super visa” for parents and grandparents of immigrants settled in Canada.

The move came after wait times for sponsorship of “family class” applications had grown to an unwieldy seven years or longer.

“Without taking action, those times will continue to grow, and that is unacceptable,” said Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney in announcing the move.

“Action must be taken to cut the backlog, reduce the wait times, and ensure that the parents and grandparents program is sustainable over the long run,” Kenney said.

The multiple-entry “Parent and Grandparent Super Visa” will be valid for up to 10 years, officials said, and allow applicants to remain in Canada for 24 months before needing seek visa renewal.

The new visas will begin on December 1 and the will be issued, “on average, within eight weeks of the application,” officials said.

The Australian economy took a dip like most Countries after the global financial crisis; However, Australia was not as badly affected as many other Countries and it’s economy is recovering more rapidly than in other Countries due to heavy demand in the mining industry and related industries.

As a result, Australian businesses are scrambling to fill vacancies and are using the temporary 457 work visa to bring in skilled workers.

According to Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) figures, 42,840 applications were granted for the temporary 457 visa in the 11 months to the end of May, 38.3 percent higher than the same period in May 2010.

Twenty percent of these were for visas granted to workers in the mining and construction industries; There are large resource sector projects underway in both Queensland and Western Australia.

There were also many scientific and technical jobs available.

Dyson feels that Immigration Minister Jonathan Coleman’s stance on immigration is detrimental to the Kiwi economy.

“The Minister’s response seems to be that we have an increasing number of unemployed, therefore we should reduce the number of people coming to New Zealand from overseas,” Dyson said. “This is an extremely shallow and damaging analysis.”

“This is too important for short term thinking. We need to retain and attract the skills that we need to build a strong New Zealand for the future,” she added.

Recent government statistics show that in the year to May 2011, Skilled Migrant Category applications were down by 5,150 compared to the same period the previous year.

Temporary work visa applications are also declining. During the the year to May 2011, visas under the Essential Skills scheme were down by 7,201, a significant drop compared to the previous year.

The new rules, which take effect in April 2011, would allow people who invest at least 5 million to settle (indefinite leave to remain) in Britain after three years. Those who invest at least 10 million will be able to settle after two years. Normally, people must live in the UK lawfully for five years to attain settlement.

Immigration minister Damian Green also announced a new visa which will allow an investor or entrepreneur with 50,000 of funding from a reputable organisation in a “high potential” business to come to the UK. The usual entrepreneur visa requires that an applicant already has 200,000 available to invest in the UK.

There will also be a new visitor visa for prospective entrepreneurs. This will allow you to enter the UK to secure funding, and make arrangements to start your business; You will then be able to apply for a full entrepreneur visa that will allow you to live in the UK on a long term basis.

Entrepreneurs in the UK will also be able to gain permanent residence more quickly by creating 10 jobs or by turning over 5 million pounds over a three-year period.

It remains to be seen how successful these changes in the immigration rules will be in practice. Only one thousand of these new visas will be available. Very few people in the World have GBP5 Million to invest anyway. Probably a number of businessmen will employ at least ten people in their new business in the UK in the first three years; These people may turn out to be the main beneficiaries of the changes.

Other Countries are also taking steps to encourage entrepreneur immigration. The US has announced legislation which if enacted will create a new “E-6″ or “StartUp” visa, to attract foreign-born entrepreneurs to the US.

Specialist recruiting firm Poolia surveyed a number of businesses expected to be affected by the UK Government’s permanent immigration cap that starts in April 2011. The findings would suggest that the cap will be bad for UK business, increasing costs and leading to more gaps in the labour market.

The immigration cap could have the exact opposite of what the government was hoping for; Businesses are likely to suffer because of the inability to take on desperately needed skilled staff so reducing employment prospects for people both in the UK and prospective migrants to the UK.

UK businesses believe that the cap will have a negative impact on recruitment and retention of skilled employees. 45 percent of respondents said that the cap would adversely affect their business. Only 16 percent of those surveyed thought that the cap was good for the UK. 25 percent of respondents felt that the cap was only an attempt by the Government to show that it is “doing something” when in reality it would make little difference to people looking for work.

The immigration cap specifically targets skilled and highly skilled non-EU workers. Over a third of businesses surveyed felt that skills they needed are in short supply in the UK. Therefore the immigration cap will not result in more jobs being available for workers in the resident labour market.

Many businesses are also worried about losing key employees who are unable renew their visas.

“The message from clients seems clear: many dont feel the proposed cap on skilled migrants will have a great deal of impac [unemployment] and it could cause employers severe problems,” said Shaun Greenfield, Poolia’s Managing Director.

“So the question is, why introduce it? The concern is that by squeezing the source of skilled workers, employers will face increased pressures, which could have an impact on cost, productivity and overall trading performance,” he added.

The study found that one in six employers — a good proportion of which are in the National Health Service — say that they have not been able to recruit workers from overseas due to the recent cap on immigration.
Immigration changes from 6 April 2011 include the following:

• The Tier 1 (General) visa will be replaced with an ‘exceptional talent’ visa limited to 1,000 places per year. This visa will be almost impossible to come under even for highly skilled people.
• A limit on Tier 2 visas of 20,700 places per year.

Employers are finding it difficult to fill vacancies in a number of sectors, including engineering, medicine, accountancy, and information technology locally from the British and EU workforce.

“Keeping out skilled non-EU workers won’t help unemployed people in the UK, but could have negative consequences for business and the public sector,” said CIPD advisor Gerwyn Davies.

It is forecast that there will modest growth in the UK economy in 2011. Limiting employers access to highly skilled workers from abroad could make the situation worse.

The study found that one in six employers — a good proportion of which are in the National Health Service — say that they have not been able to recruit workers from overseas due to the recent cap on immigration.
Immigration changes from 6 April 2011 include the following:

• The Tier 1 (General) visa will be replaced with an ‘exceptional talent’ visa limited to 1,000 places per year. This visa will be almost impossible to come under even for highly skilled people.
• A limit on Tier 2 visas of 20,700 places per year.

Employers are finding it difficult to fill vacancies in a number of sectors, including engineering, medicine, accountancy, and information technology locally from the British and EU workforce.

“Keeping out skilled non-EU workers won’t help unemployed people in the UK, but could have negative consequences for business and the public sector,” said CIPD advisor Gerwyn Davies.

It is forecast that there will modest growth in the UK economy in 2011. Limiting employers access to highly skilled workers from abroad could make the situation worse.