Immigration news

The head of Syria's National Olympic Committee, General Mowaffak Joumaa, was refused a UK visa to travel to attend next month's Olympic Games in London.Joumaa is reportedly regarded as a close friend of Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, whose regime has been widely criticised for its violent crackdown on protesters.The decision was made at a meeting of officials from the Home Office, the Foreign Office and the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, and is expected to be approved by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

New census numbers show that more Asians are immigrating to Australia. There has been an overall increase in Australia's population due to a resources boom and growing immigration.

From 1 July 2012, as part of stage two of the Knight Review changes to the student visa program, the funds required for prospective Australian student visa applicants will increase from $18,000 to $18,610 per year. This funds requirement is to show that applicants have enough money to cover their living costs while studying in Australia.

This week British diplomats in India claimed that the recent changes to the UK's immigration policy won't affect genuine Tier 4 visa students who will find the entry process no tougher than before. "We haven't made significant changes when it comes to students applying to UK universities. We have placed further restrictions on students applying to private colleges because of incidence of fraud," said South Asia regional director of the UK Border Agency Thomas Greig.

The Canadian government has decided to postpone their plans to install new cameras and audio recording devices at border crossings and airports. Public Safety Minister Vic Toews announced that he had told the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to postpone the plans until a study of the privacy implications is complete."I share the concerns of Canadians regarding the privacy impact of audio recordings, even when it occurs in a restricted area in an airport," Toews said.

From 12 June 2012 Poland has begun accepting EU blue card applications from highly-skilled third country nationals who have an employment contract in place with a Polish company and possess the required qualifications.

The EU Blue Card is still not implemented in all Member States.