Immigration news

Australian Immigration and Citizenship Minister Chris Bowen is visiting India and Sri Lanka this week to discuss further cooperation on border and immigration activities. He will also be answering questions about recent and upcoming changes to Australia's skilled migration programme."I look forward to deepening Australia's relationship with both India and Sri Lanka through beneficial discussions on a range of issues of importance to our countries," Bowen said.

The UK Border Agency (UKBA) has told UK border staff at London's Heathrow Airport to stop apologising for UK immigration delays. UK immigration staff had been handing out leaflets to passengers waiting in queues apologizing for "very long delays" at immigration checks.In recent weeks, tensions have grown over increasingly long immigration check delays after security had been heightened following last year's border row when immigration border officials reduced passport and visa checks without ministerial approval.

According to new statistics from the US government, 16,000 more Chinese immigrants came to the US in 2011 than in 2010. US Citizenship and Immigration Services data show that the US granted green cards to more than 1.06 million immigrants in 2011, out of which 87,000 were Chinese. As with the previous year, the largest number of immigrants came from Mexico, China and India. Chinese immigration to the US represented the greatest increase.

Since Taiwan's was granted visa-free access to the European Union in January 2011, the links between Taiwan and Europe have grown and could lead to an increase in Taiwanese investment in the region, according to President Ma Ying-jeou.Since the country's admission to the EU's visa-waiver program, the number of Taiwanese visitors to the EU has risen nearly 60 percent, Ma said. He added that bilateral ties have deepened as Taiwanese nationals are now allowed to freely travel in Europe, not just for trade and investment but also for cultural and educational purposes.

A UK vice-chancellor has warned that UK universities may be compelled to use swipe cards that monitor foreign student attendance to comply with tough new UK immigration rules.Quintin McKellar, vice-chancellor of the University of Hertfordshire, said the university was considering introducing an electronic registration system that would allow the school to prove that its foreign students on Tier 4 visas were attending lectures.

International students will soon find it easier to study at Australian educational institutions on Technical and Further Education (TAFE) courses under new streamlined visa arrangements. TAFE courses are typically vocational courses in industries such as business, finance, tourism, construction and engineering.