Ottawa Canada launches skilled immigration strategy

Ottawa, Canada has launched a new skilled immigration strategy aimed at attracting more immigrants by providing better integration and support services to newcomers and immigrants already in Canada.

The plan will bring together 12 Canadian immigration and settlement agencies, as well as employers, and social service providers to help migrants settle into the community.

The aim is to create more opportunities for immigrants to form social connections, to encourage more small and medium sized businesses to hire foreign workers. It is also hoped that Ottawa will become a more attractive destination for businesses in sectors such as education and health care.

Recent statistics show that approximately 6,300 immigrants move to Ottawa each year, which represents 100% of the net growth in the city's labour force. There are an additional 2,700 who enter as temporary migrant workers and another 2,300 who are students.

The considerable number of immigration settlement services is seen as confusing, a problem that the initiative hopes to solve.

Canada is one of the most popular destinations for skilled migrants. Many come under the federal skilled worker category, a Canada-wide immigration scheme, while others take advantage of schemes such as the Provincial Nominee scheme and the Quebec points system.

UK expects 230,000 fewer student visas over next 5 years

The UK Government has announced that it expects to reduce the level of student immigration into the country by almost a quarter million over the next five years, due to stricter visa rules.

A Home Office report said that the new student visa rules should lead to total net student migration from outside the European Union being reduced by 230,000 between 2011 and 2015.

This is only about half the reduction announced by Theresa May, Home Secretary, in March when she gave details on the student visa changes. She said then that the curbs would reduce net immigration by 400,000.

The Government is coming under increasing criticism for its policy on immigration. Much of the net immigration into the UK comes from EU countries; Britain is required under EU law to allow citizens of most EU countries to live and work in the UK.

By restricting immigration of non-EU immigrants, the UK is damaging its global competitiveness by denying British firms top overseas talent. This is also causing problems for the UK's £40 billion per year education sector. Immigration restrictions are putting off overseas students from coming to the UK

UK Student Tier 4 Visa - More restrictions on working

There have been significant changes to the Tier 4 student visa category recently. The Tier 4 student visa changes include the following:

• You will only be allowed to work in the UK if you are a student sponsored by higher education institutions (HEIs) and publicly funded further education colleges. You will be able to work part-time during term time and full-time during holidays.
• You will only be able to sponsor dependants if you are a student sponsored by a higher education institution on postgraduate courses lasting 12 months or longer, and if you are a government-sponsored student on courses lasting longer than 6 months;
• You will only be allowed to continue studying in a new course if the educational institution confirms that the new courses represent genuine academic progression from previous courses studied in the UK.
• There will be a streamlined application process if you are considered to be a low-risk national sponsored by Highly Trusted sponsors.

Students have in the past been attracted to the UK because they have been able to work while studying and because there was in many cases a route to permanent residence and eventual citizenship in the UK. There has been a significant reduction in the number of students who are allowed to work in the UK. Tier 1 Post Study Work will be abolished in April 2012. UK immigration is making it increasingly difficult to gain permanent residence in the UK. In the long term further restrictions on student immigration to the UK may very well cause damage to the UK economy.

Bulgaria Launches Blue Card Scheme, Welcomes Non-EU Workers

As of June 20, Bulgarian companies, which are experiencing shortages of highly qualified and highly skilled workers, can hire citizens of countries outside the European Union.

Workers from outside the European Union can apply to work in Bulgaria under the EU Blue Card scheme, which allows workers with a job offer to take employment in a member state.

One of the requirements for a non-EU citizen to get a blue card is a higher education certificate. The applicants also have to have at least five years of experience in the job position they apply for.

The workers will be hired only if there are no suitable Bulgarian applications for the vacant position.

The document, which very much resembles an identity card, will be issued by the Interior Ministry after the applicant has obtained the approval of the Employment Agency.

The blue card scheme is expected to attract citizens of countries such as Ukraine, Serbia, Russia, Turkey, Croatia, and Moldavia to Bulgaria.

Once hired, the foreigner will have to work in Bulgaria at least one year after which he is entitled to move to another EU country. There however he can stay for no more than 3 years. When this period expires, he will be obliged to return to his home country for 18 months.

In Bulgaria the Blue Card will be issued for about two weeks. The document allows the holder to take his family too. It will not be given to asylum seekers and nationals of third countries operating in the EU as seasonal workers.

The EU Commission has given EU member states until 1 July to implement the blue card directive. Not every member state will take part in the program. For example the UK is one country that will not allow entry of people under the Blue Card scheme.

Increase in Indian students applying for Australian Visa

An increase in Australian student visa applications particularly from Indian students was seen in the first six months of 2011.

According to a new figures released by Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC), the number of Indian students applying for student visa to Australia is beginning to rise after a distressing couple of years.

The statistics showed that the Australian high commission in Delhi has observed a jump of 21 percent in the number of applications for student visas in the first six months of 2011, with the student visa applications reaching more than 3700.

The increase could be attributed to an advertising campaign of Australian government in Indian media to attract professionals to settle in Australia.

Due to widespread media coverage of a number of racist attacks on Indian students, interest in an Australian education from Indian students is believed to have dropped dramatically.

However, speaking to the Age newspaper in Melbourne, DIAC assistant secretary Peter Speldewinde confirmed that "the number of student visa applications is rebounding, that category is up significantly"

"People are generally positive about Australia" he added. "The student issue has come up from time to time, but no one's really pushed it very hard."

With over 15,000 permanent skilled migrants last fiscal year, India continues to be the third-largest provider of permanent skilled migrants to Australia, behind China and Britain.

Germany invites more students from India

The German government has launched a big initiative to attract more students from India under the Year of Germany and India 2011-2012 programme.
"Euro 6 million has been set aside under the programme which is sponsored by our foreign office, Goethe Institute, the Asia-Pacific committee of German business and the federal ministry of education and research. Another Euro 6 million will come from our industry partners. We will highlight various areas of higher education in Germany with a focus on research to Indian students and scholars.


The idea is to make German institutions more widely known among young Indians so that they find them attractive destination for education," Jens Buntjen, counsellor in the federal foreign office of Germany, responsible for the German science year in India, told ET.

Canada skilled migration applications - Only 500 visas per occupation

Canada has limited the number of federal skilled worker applications to 10,000 per year. Canada immigration hopes that reducing immigration numbers will help Canada deal with its backlog of immigration applications.

The Canadian federal skilled worker scheme allows skilled migrants to obtain a permanent residence visa for themselves and their family if they can score enough points on a points test similar in some respects to those used by other countries such as Australia and Denmark.
 

Applicants must have experience in an occupation listed on the National Occupation Classification (NOC) list; No more than 500 applications per year can be lodged for any one occupation out of the 10,000 visas available each year.

This makes applying for Canadian skilled immigration a double-edged sword for many applicants; While fewer people can apply due to the reduced quota, the new rules should allow Citizenship and Immigration Canada to reduce the backlog that causes some migrants to wait a long time before obtaining their visa.

The federal skilled worker program is not the only scheme available for skilled migrants wishing to live and work in Canada. The country also offers the Provincial Nominee Program and the Quebec Skilled Workers scheme. These immigration routes may be a better way into Canada for some skilled migrants.