Immigration news

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key announced that the government would be implementing "tough new measures to deter potential mass arrivals of illegal immigrants and people smuggling to New Zealand".

The UK announced on 30 April that non-European Union citizens accused of serious human rights abuses would not be allowed to enter the UK. The new rule, included in the UK Foreign Office's annual Human Rights Report, states that in cases where there is "independent, reliable and credible evidence that an individual has committed human rights abuses, the individual will not normally be permitted to enter the UK".

Migration Watch UK, an anti-immigration independent think tank, has warned that the UK risks an increase in "health tourism" when it was announced that foreign nationals who arrive in the UK on a visitor's visa can receive free healthcare.

Thanks to an increase in U.S. Embassy visa officials in Brazil and China from last November, the U.S. has reported faster processing times. Also, following U.S. President Obama's announcement on 19 January regarding the importance of tourism, the country has also seen an increase in the numbers of Chinese and Brazilian tourists visiting the US."We will always protect our borders and shores and our tourist destinations from people who want to do us harm," Obama said in January. "But we also want to get more international tourists coming to America. And there's no reason we can't do both."

Canada announced this week that if businesses are frustrated by red tape and delays in hiring temporary immigrant workers they may be able to fast track their foreign worker visas.

Canadian Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announced the department would be discussing the possibility of bringing in changes to the immigrant entrepreneur scheme. Citizenship and Immigration Canada's current immigrant entrepreneur program has been suspended since 1 July 2011.