The UK announced its long-anticipated points-based immigration system this week. The new system is based on five tiers of immigration, which will divide potential immigrants according to their qualifications and other factors. The immigrants' age, previous income level and other factors will be taken into account in awarding points.

Tiers 2-5 will require proof of sponsorship from an employer or school. Sponsors will also be evaluated in the new system. The government says the new system is objective and straightforward, since it is clear how many points will be awarded for a given attribute, and how these attributes can be combined together to gain enough points to make an application. The Home Office states that the new system will not be in place until mid-2007 at the earliest. Please tell us what you think of the new system by posting a comment to the news section of our website. The tiers can be summarized as follows:

• Tier 1 - Highly-skilled migrants. They will be the only group able to come to Britain without a job offer.
• Tier 2 - Skilled workers with qualifications such as nurses, teachers and administrators will be able to come if they work in an area where the UK has shortages, although a job offer will not necessarily guarantee entry.
• Tier 3 - Low-skilled workers will be granted entry to fill specific job vacancies for fixed periods, with guarantees that they will leave at the end of their stay.
• Tier 4 - Students and employees of international companies based in the UK.
• Tier 5 - "youth mobility" and temporary workers, such as working holidaymakers and musicians coming to play a concert.

The much awaited debate in the US Senate on immigration reform has begun. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold executive business meetings to consider the immigration reform bill proposed by Chairman Arlen Specter (Republican, Pennsylvania). Please visit our website for a summary of Specter's proposal.

It was announced this week that skilled migrants to Australia will soon be able to sponsor same sex partners to come to Australia. Citizens and permanent residents can currently sponsor same sex partners to migrate to Australia but skilled migrants are not offered the same provisions. The new provisions will initially apply to temporary skilled migrants from 1 July 2006 and later to other categories of skilled migrants and students.

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