Immigration news

On 20 March 2012, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that $5 million in competitive grant funding would be available to promote immigrant civic integration and prepare permanent residents for citizenship. The grant will go towards funding various citizenship preparation programs in communities across the country.

The Canadian High Commission has just released 5,350 working visa places for young people wishing to spend a year in the country under the International Experience Canada (IEC) programme. "There is a big call for skilled labour in hospitality and construction in the western provinces, Alberta and British Colombia and in Toronto and the ski resorts," said Gordon Campbell, Canada's High commissioner to the UK. "We are one of the economies in the western world that is currently very strong."

The UK National Union of Students (NUS) have launched an online campaign on behalf of international students to protest against the UK government's immigration policies.The initiative follows a report published in February that says the changes to UK visa policy deter foreign students from studying in the UK and have a detrimental effect on the country's international reputation.

The US announced on 21 March that they will waive the personal interview requirement for some Indians who are renewing visas their visas. The new rules will apply to those within categories of B1, B2, C and D visa.Specifically, under the new programme Indian applicants seeking to renew a visa that is still valid or has expired within the last 4 years will be eligible to apply for a new visa without an interview. These changes would apply to applicants of B1 and B2 Visitor visas, C Transit visas, and D Crewmember visas.

US Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Long Island, New York City hosted a forum 20 March 2012 to raise awareness about visas available to immigrants who have been victims of human trafficking or domestic violence or suffered some other form of abuse.Scott Whelan, of the USCIS's office of policy and strategy, detailed the various options available to help immigrants:

Several changes for UK visas will come into effect 6 April 2012. The changes will affect those applying for tier visas as Tier 2 visa skilled workers, Tier 4 students and other Tier visa temporary workers.Increased Visa FeesUK immigration fees will increase by only 2 percent in the majority of cases, but there will be much bigger fee increases for certain visa routes.