Immigration news

The UK Border Agency, along with its commercial partner Gerry's, has now launched a premium lounge service at its Visa Application Centre (VAC) in Pakistan to help facilitate the processing of visas for local applicants.All UK visa applicants can benefit from the new facility located in Karachi where a UK visa can be issued within 15 working days on receipt of a complete application with relevant documents.

Canada has a large demand for biologists and other scientists; Those looking to emigrate can apply under the Canada immigration Federal Skilled Worker program. This skilled immigration program is for people in a range of different occupations including for biologists, zoologists, pharmacologists, and geneticists. If you have skills in occupations listed on the Priority Occupation List under the Canadian skilled worker visa category you will not need sponsorship by an employer.

The number of international students on F-1 student visas enrolled in post-graduate business schools in the US has been rapidly increasing. According to a recent BusinessWeek article, the average international student enrollment in the top 20 full-time US MBA programs "is now 33.4 percent, up from 30.2 percent at the height of the economic crisis, when visa and financing issues prevented many international applicants from enrolling."

The US Consulate General in Shanghai is increasing in size in order to deal with the rapidly increasing number of US visa applications it processes. In 2011, US consular officers in China had processed more than 1 million non-immigrant visa applications, 30 percent of them in Shanghai. These visa applications are mainly from Chinese citizens wishing to visit the US on B-1/B-2 visit visas.

Taiwan's Foreign Ministry announced that more than 300,000 citizens have applied for their first-time biometric passports in person this year; Now a requirement in Taiwan for all first time passport applicants. Millions of Taiwanese citizens have now obtained the new biometric passports.Since the in-person passport application requirements was introduced on 1 July for first-time applicants, over 300,000 citizens have applied leading to the in-person passport application rate of 45.18 percent, noted Thomas Chen, Director General of the Ministry's Bureau of Consular Affairs.

Following the Beyond the Border announcement made by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and US President Barack Obama earlier this month, flying to the US from Canada will soon become faster and more convenient. Canadian immigration officials announced last week that beginning in February, eight Canadian airports will allow Canadians to use Nexus cards as proof of identity to expedite security clearance checks for frequent travellers at US border crossings.