Immigration news

The UK Border Agency is set to announce new policies to make it quicker for British employers to hire migrant workers under the Tier 2 and Tier 5 visa system by paying a substantial additional fee to the government.UK Immigration plans to introduce a new "fast track" migrant worker scheme which will expedite the process for companies who wish to recruit foreign nationals.

The UK government is facing strong criticism after it was revealed the UK Border Agency had been downgrading immigration and visa checks. Head of the Border Force, Brodie Clark, resigned over claims that staff were told to relax the checks made on non-EU nationals arriving in the UK.

Canadian Immigration announced on Monday they will expand the Provincial Nominee Program, under which immigrants with skill sets the province deems desirable, or individuals most likely to invest and create jobs, are able to have their permanent resident applications fast-tracked.

Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry has proposed the federal government grants work visas to illegal immigrants in the US. The program would be an alternative to the amnesty supported by other candidates, which would provide a path to citizenship for immigrants that do not hold a valid US visa.Perry, currently Texas Governor, said in an interview with CNN last week that expecting authorities to arrest and deport millions of illegal immigrants isn't realistic.

Australia is expected to face a serious shortage of professionals and tradespeople within the next 15 years; According to an analysis of retirement patterns in by the Australian Bureau of Statistics many Australians will be reaching retirement age over this period. This means Australia will need to recruit more and more overseas skilled workers to address the looming workforce shortage. In particular Australia needs health, engineering, and education professionals.

The Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship is continuing its outreach program this month with planned events in the New England and Queensland region to discuss immigration issues and explain the skilled migration visa and immigration system to employers and Subclass 457 visa holders.