Immigration news

UK citizens and permanent residents who wish to bring their spouses into the country from outside the EU are being treated unfairly, admits Home Office Immigration Minister James Brokenshire.

New requirements, introduced in 2012, mean that only those who earn a minimum of £18,600 per year can sponsor a spouse visa of a non-European Union spouse or partner. The requirements were introduced in the hope that fewer immigrants would claim benefits.

However, these restrictions are not applicable to citizens of other EU nations who have temporary visas in Britain.

A recent direct mail leaflet sent to voters has caused divisions within the Labour party, after it put forward a 'tough new approach on immigration'.

UK Home Secretary, Theresa May, has announced that there will be a fresh investigation into the treatment and welfare of detainees held in immigration removal centres amid reports of ongoing abuse. We understand that the Home Office had the report about a year ago, but only decided to publish it recently.

The investigation will be led by former Prisons & Probations Ombudsman for England & Wales, Stephen Shaw CBE.

A new report from the Institute of International Education (IIE) confirms that record numbers of overseas students now study in America at US universities. The total number of US student visa holders for the year 2013-2014 was 886,052.

Obama told Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, that his administration will try to deal with Indian concerns about L1 and H1B visa, following a recent visit to India.

US officials have since confirmed that they will consider India's concerns as part of Obama's widespread immigration reforms.

Ben Rhodes, US Deputy National Security Advisor, told reporters travelling with Obama's entourage that: "I think what the President indicated is that these are the types of issues that we have approached through the context of comprehensive immigration reform.

Migrant voters are almost as numerous as UKIP supporters and so the way they vote is likely to affect the outcome of the next general election, according to a new report from Manchester University and the Migrants Rights Network.

According to the report "…around one voter in every ten eligible to vote in 2015 will be a migrant voter, and many more will be the children of migrants." The migrant vote could be decisive in up to 70 key elections across England and Wales, where the number of migrant voters is substantially greater than the winning margin of incumbent MPs at the last election.