Immigration news

Australian Immigration Minister Chris Bowen has announced new resources projects in Queensland and Western Australia that may make more positions available for skilled foreign workers. Bowen said only a small number of resource companies have applied for permission to bring in foreign workers and so far only one has received conditional approval.

US President Barack Obama announced last week that the US will begin charging US$465 starting August 15 for temporary work permits for young illegal immigrants. Obama announced the new immigration policy back in June which requires immigrants to have arrived in the US before their 16th birthday, be 30 years old or younger, lived in the US at least five years and be in school, graduated or served in the military.

The University of California, Los Angeles Center for Labor Research and Education has partnered with the National Labor College to offer online courses for college credit to young immigrants, regardless of their immigration status.The project, known as National Dream University, was created in an effort to reach out to illegal immigrant students in the US who are barred from several universities.

South Korea is urging the US to increase the quota of the popular US H-1B visas for its citizens."Riding on the South Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA), the South Korean government will step up efforts to increase the number of H-1B visas for its citizens seeking jobs in the US," said a diplomatic source.

New Australian statistics reveal that Melbourne has seen its population grow by over half a million people in the last decade. The population increase is partly due to overseas immigration into Australia, according to ABS spokesman Andrew Howe.Overall Melbourne has seen an increase in its population of 647,200 people. The largest increase was in South Morang, up 32,200 people, while Point Cook, Caroline Springs and Tarneit in the west of the city each saw growth of more than 20,000 people.

As part of Canada's Economic Action Plan 2012, the federal government has launched online consultations to engage the public on ways to improve the federal Immigrant Investor Program. "We can no longer be a passive player in the global competition for talent and investment. That is why we need to review our immigration programs to create dynamic opportunities that enable immigrants' investments to directly benefit the Canadian economy," said Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney.