Immigration news

Family members of temporary workers in British Columbia will be granted permission to work under a new pilot project launched on 15 August 2011.

The announcement was made by Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney and British Columbia Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Innovation Pat Bell.

"Since I became Minister, I have heard from workers, employers, labour advocates and others who have asked me to make Canada more welcoming for working families coming to Canada as temporary residents," Kenney said.

European Union Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom is heading a European Agenda for Integration. The EU feels that there is a need for better integration of Europe's immigrants.

"The benefits of migration can only be fully achieved if we have good and effective integration," Malmstrom said.

"Unfortunately, many integration measures have failed in meeting their objectives," she added.

She said the EU needs to do more to get new migrants help in learning the language of their new home and to find work and gain an education.

Australia releases details of migration numbers

Australia has doubled the number of skilled migration visas set aside for regional Australia, "ensuring critical skills needs in high-demand sectors and regional areas were being addressed."

The government has released details of migration numbers for the 2010-11 migration program; This showed that skilled migration accounted for 67.4 percent of the total number of immigrants admitted under the Australian Migration Program.

Western Australia (WA) has a number of resource projects requiring workers in skills shortage areas. Australian firms will have to hire overseas talent to deal with these labour shortages.

In a recent global poll, researchers found that Australia, Canada and Brazil had the highest percentage of citizens who viewed immigration in a positive light.

Brazil led the polls with 47 percent of respondents saying that immigration benefited Brazilian society, followed by Canada (43 percent) and Australia (36 percent). The study was undertaken by UK and Irish research company Ipsos.

The US government has outlined a series of "policy, operational, and outreach efforts" which it hopes will drive economic growth and stimulate investment by encouraging foreign entrepreneurs to immigrate to the United States.

The new initiatives were announced by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) director Alejandro Mayorkas and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano.

"The United States has a long, rich history of welcoming innovative entrepreneurs and skilled workers into our country," Mayorkas said on his blog.