Immigration news

US President Obama announced yesterday that "America is open for business" and detailed a new approach the country is planning to take in order to make it easier for foreign visitors from certain Countries to travel to the US in an effort to boost tourism and create jobs."I want America to be the top tourist destination in the world," said Obama who announced the news at Walt Disney World in Florida, a huge tourist attraction for millions of people each year. "The more folks who visit America, the more Americans we get back to work. It is that simple."

A new immigration group was launched in Canada last week comprising of local service providers, health care representatives, business people and politicians. The new Immigration Partnership Council will help immigrants and refugees integrate into Canadian life.The group brainstormed ideas on how to best assist new immigrants and refugees to become part of the community for two years. Last Friday, the group officially launched their immigration council in Kitchener, Ontario.

UK immigration has announced that a number of UK visa application centres around the world will be unable to take biometric information on certain days in February due to IT upgrades.During the major IT maintenance work on the specific dates, visa applicants will not be able to submit UK visa applications. The centres will remain open for the collection of documents at the usual times.

Beginning 1 July 2012, Australian immigration will be introducing huge changes to their skilled migration program. This represents the most dramatic change to the Australian immigration system in many, many years. It is expected that under the Australian immigration system fewer people will qualify and processing times will be longer. If you wish to come under the current skilled immigration programme you should apply for a skills assessment as soon as possible.

The UK immigration has issued new information regarding inspections and reviews for Tier 4 student visa sponsors. There are also major changes coming to the Tier 4 and Tier 1 visas.

Two-thirds of college students plan to emigrate after graduating from school in Ireland, according to a new survey released last month by Student Marketing Network. The survey cites better job opportunities as one of the main reasons for leaving Ireland.The results from the online survey, taken by more than 1,200 university students across the country, found that 91 percent of students were worried about their future in Ireland, with the majority agreeing that they would need to immigrate in order to succeed in their career.