Immigration news

For the first time ever, India was Australia's largest source of permanent immigrants this year, with a total of 29,018 places or 15.7 percent of the total migration program, according to Immigration Minister Chris Bowen. The second largest source of immigrants was China at 25,509 followed by 25,274 from the UK.

The US State Department has announced that it has already processed more than 1 million visas in China this year, a 43 percent increase over the first six months of fiscal year 2011. Visa applications this year are also up by 44 percent in Brazil and Mexico has shown a 36 percent increase during the same period. Of the top 20 countries sending tourists to the US, only the UK, Spain and Ireland have shown decreases in visitor visa numbers to the US so far this year.

According to the US Department of Commerce, the US travel and tourism industry is expecting a record-setting year with spending and visitor numbers already well above last year's figures.

As the 2012 US Presidential election approaches, several US states are working to reach agreements with federal officials to access a US immigration database in order to remove non-citizens from voter rolls.Last week, Florida reached its own agreement with the US Department of Homeland Security to use a database, known as Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) that contains information about immigrants who are in the US legally.

The UK Border Agency's new £385 million Immigration Case Work (ICW) system is one year behind schedule and has exceeded its original budget by £28m, according to the National Audit Office (NAO).In a recent report the NAO says that the ICW is crucial to the UKBA's efforts to improve casework processing. The new system will create a streamlined case work process, saving the government money. It is also expected to improve the quality and accuracy of immigration decisions and provide faster service to the public through the use of online self-service applications.

UN World Tourism Organisation secretary-general Taleb Rifai has urged Australia to relax its strict visa requirements for visitors from developing countries, saying it could help Australia boost tourism. Rifai added that there was no evidence to show that tough entry conditions for foreign tourists were necessary for security related reasons. He urged Australia and other developed countries to ease their tight visitor visa rules.