Immigration news

Malta's Individual Investor Program, which would allow wealthy people from outside the European Union to buy Maltese citizenship, has been postponed 'indefinitely' amid controversy and political opposition.

The Maltese government and opposition will now 'discuss amendments' to the programme according to the UK's Law Society Gazette, the journal of the solicitor's regulatory authority The Law Society.

The IIP was first proposed in late 2013. Legislation allowing the scheme to go ahead has been passed by the Maltese parliament. To qualify, each applicant under the IIP would have to

Martin Schulz, the president of the European Parliament, has said that there is 'no chance' of a renegotiation of EU treaties resulting in a limitation on the right to free movement of labour within the European Union. Meanwhile, in London, pressure is growing on the UK's Prime Minister David Cameron from Eurosceptic Conservative MPs for just such controls to be introduced.

The UK's Prime Minister David Cameron has announced that a new 'tech visa' will be introduced in April 2014. There will, in fact, be no new visa stream but the rules of the Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) visa stream will be changed to allow exceptionally talented programmers and IT professionals to apply.

Mr Cameron said that he intended to make London 'the best place in the world in which to start and grow a business'. The Prime Minister also announced increased funding for the UK tech sector which is one of London's biggest employers. There are currently around 90,000 tech companies in London.

There are signs that the Republican leadership in Congress is serious about delivering immigration reform in 2014 though it seems that, if it comes, it may not be on President Obama's terms.

Republican insiders in Washington say that John Boehner, the speaker of the House of Representatives (or 'The House' as it is known)told Republican Representatives that senior Republicans will lay out a series of 'principles for immigration legislation' early in 2014, perhaps even before the start of February.

The House is preparing, insiders say, to introduce reforms which could

A report prepared by the Inspector General of the US's Department of Homeland Security has called for reform of the L-1 intra-company transfer visa system.

Indian immigration authorities have accused staff at the US embassy school in New Delhi of tax and visa offences. This is being seen as retaliation for the arrest of an Indian diplomat in New York for visa offences in December 2013

The American Embassy School is a school primarily for the children of English speaking diplomats in New Delhi. The school is situated on land owned by the US government next to the US embassy and has 1500 pupils. Many of the teachers at the school are married couples from the US; it is frequently the case that both husband and wife teach at the school.