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The United States has moved forward with its electronic passport program. Embedded with 'smart chips' that may be read with computer scanners, they store information and biometric data about the person who holds the passport. Plans are for visas and, for some countries, national identity cards to also be embedded with the RFID chips.

One potential U.S. presidential hopeful for 2008 has said that the United States should encourage highly skilled foreigners to immigrate to the U.S. This policy should be balanced with discouraging persons attempting to enter illegally and without needed skills. The changing tone of conservative rhetoric in the immigration debate in America comes as the party is suffering in opinion polls over a legislative deadlock on immigration reform.

The European Union is experiencing a shortage of skilled labour in several areas. Germany is having trouble filling engineering and IT positions, despite an unemployment rate of over 10%. During the next decade and beyond, experts say, more overseas workers will be needed to take skilled positions.

The shrinking populations in Europe and Asia will likely lead to economic difficulties because there will not be enough workers and consumers to fuel economic growth and support retirees. The three biggest sources of immigrants currently are China, India and Mexico.

Singapore will promote immigration to increase its population. The Prime Minister just announced a Citizenship and Population Unit to be set up. Singapore's birth rate is not high enough to compensate for the mortality rate and the increasing average age of the population.

A significant increase in skilled Australian immigrants and advanced degree students represents a dramatic "brain gain" for the continent. The number of qualified migrants with PhDs coming to Australia, along with Australian residents returning from overseas with a PhD, exceeded the number of qualified people leaving Australia.

Recent initiatives by the Canadian federal government, provincial governments and nursing unions have boosted the profession. Increased wages, increased benefits and educational funding are among several changes to encourage stable career positions and permanent residency.

Arab doctors and South African nurses are registering their protests at recent changes to UK immigration policies. Due to a surge in graduates from Britain and the European Union, Great Britain's Home Office made numerous changes to work permit and visa requirements this year, several of which became effective this month.

A partial analysis of work permit and visa application processing under the new Service Standards implemented in April 2005 has been released by Working in the UK. In every category, service goals have been exceeded, sometimes substantially.

Latest immigration news

Working in the UK releases preliminary service statistics

The British governments official work permit and immigration portal, Working in the UK, has released preliminary data collected on service standards in processing applications. Overall, it is good news for immigrants. more »

Singapore Prime Minister promotes immigration as birth rate drops

Singapore will promote immigration to increase its population as the island nation's birth rate continues to decline, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in a speech recently. more »

Canada Simplified Application Process takes effect next week

At the beginning of the summer, Canada introduced a new simplified application process for federal skilled workers and business immigrants (the Skilled Worker and Business Class categories). more »

Canary Islands President demands urgent action on illegal immigration

The President of the Canary Islands has demanded that central government set up a crisis committee to address the problem of illegal immigration affecting the islands, a situation which he describes as 'critical.' more »

Immigration fails to stem European population loss

Three million people a year migrate from developing countries to industrialized nations, a population research group said today as it announced its annual findings. more »

US conservative governor says skilled immigrants needed

The Governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, was campaigning for re-election in California over the weekend. In his address to the California GOP convention, he said that the United States should encourage highly skilled foreigners to immigrate to the United States. more »

US electronic passport program takes effect

This week the United States began issuing passports embedded with 'smart chips;' small memory chips that can be read with computer scanners that have information about the person who holds the passport encrypted on them. more »

Canada takes care of its nurses, encourages permanent residency

A number of recent initiatives by the Canadian federal government, provincial governments and nursing unions have boosted the profession. Increased wages, increased benefits and educational funding are among some of the changes. more »

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