Immigration news

UK immigration has announced that from 5 March 2012 applicants from more Countries will need to make the initial stage of their UK visa application online. This change was made in order to make the visa process more efficient.From 5 March 2012, all UK Visa applicants in the following countries will be required to submit and pay for their visa online as part of the revised UK visa application process:

A US immigration official announced this week that the US is looking at ways to keep more foreign-born high-tech entrepreneurs in the country. Members of California's Silicon Valley start-up community met with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service Director Alejandro Mayorkas for an informational meeting to officially launch its "Entrepreneurs in Residence" program.

Canada's government has announced a new pilot program to support new immigrants working in its provinces. The three-year pilot project, known as the Foreign Credential Recognition Loans Pilot, will make it easier for internationally trained professionals to have their credentials recognized and find jobs in their fields.

From 1 February 2012 Canadian Immigration and Citizenship (CIC) has started issuing new citizenship documents to new citizens in an effort to cut down on fraud. CIC will no longer produce the current plastic wallet-sized citizenship certificate or the commemorative certificate and will instead provide new citizens with a letter-sized paper citizenship certificate. The new paper certificate features information that can be validated through a new electronic validation system.

The US Midwest state, Iowa, has reported an increase in enrollment of Chinese students in the state's schools over the past few years. At Iowa State University, Chinese undergraduate enrollment grew from 72 students in 2002 to 1,212 this year. At the University of Iowa, the enrollment of Chinese undergraduate and graduate students on F-1 student visas went from 591 in 2005 to 1,737 last year.

Australian universities have announced that there has been an increase in the number of Indian students applying for admission to its universities in the 2011 academic year. Ted Baillieu, premier of Australia's Victoria province, said that the number of Indian students in Australia on student visas has increased due to easier visa rules."The new visa rules allow students to stay for a few years after completing their degree and work, so more students are applying," he said.