Immigration news

Several significant changes will go into effect 1 July 2012 in order to simplify the process of applying under Australia's permanent employer-sponsored visa program. Australian immigration said the reforms will improve the program's ability to meet Australia's economic needs and respond quickly to labour market demand.Currently, the permanent employer-sponsored visa program consists of six subclass visas:

Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announced 11 April that the government would introduce changes to the country's provincial immigration programs. From 1 July 2012, most Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) applicants for semi- and low-skilled professions will be required to undergo mandatory language testing. The test will determine applicant's listening, speaking, reading and writing abilities and they will be required to meet a minimum standard across all four of these categories.

The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) says that strict visa requirements in various countries are hurting the tourism industry and, in turn, damaging the World economy. David Scowsill, president of the WTTC, voiced his concerns at the council's annual summit in Tokyo, highlighting the freedom to travel as a key issue.

The US State Department announced on 15 April that they are increasing the validity of B-1 and B-2 visit visas for Colombians traveling on a temporary basis to the US from five years to ten years. Under these new rules, most Colombian applicants who qualify for a B-1 or B-2 non-immigrant visa will be issued a 120-month, multiple-entry visa.

Indian officials warned the UK that Indian IT companies may relocate their businesses to other countries, if the UK government insists on tough visa rules which affect Indian IT professionals.India's commerce and industry minister, Anand Sharma discussed the issues with UK Business Secretary Vince Cable and Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne at the India-UK joint Economic and Trade Commission meeting on 16 April. Sharma added that employees from Indian companies who want to visit the UK for business meetings also experience long delays in obtaining a UK visit visa.

As expected, the US Department of State (DOS) has confirmed that employment based EB2 visas priority date have retrogressed and moved back to 15 August 2007, from May 01, 2010 for Indian and Chinese nationals.The DOS will not issue any new visas to applicants from these areas with priority dates after 15 August 2007. Visa applications received after this date will have to wait for the cut off date to become current. This also means that processing of visas could now take years longer for Indian and Chinese applicants.