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In 2012, one billion people made an international trip, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council. David Scowsill of the WTTC said 'this is an astounding milestone. There is an inexorable growth in the number of people who want to travel around the world'.
Willie Walsh, the chief executive of International Airlines has warned that the UK's visa system is deterring foreign businesspeople from travelling to the UK. Mr Walsh was addressing the World Travel and Tourism Council summit in Abu Dhabi on 10th April 2013.
Mr Walsh was the chief executive of the UK's largest airline British Airways until it merged with Spanish carrier Iberia and became International Airlines. He is now the chief executive of the merged company.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that it has held a lottery to decide which H-1B applications for the 2014 fiscal year will be approved.
Each year, the US issues 65,000 visas to foreign skilled workers to work in the US in 'a specialty occupation'. The workers should have a degree though an applicant with a range of training and experience amounting to 'degree equivalence' may qualify
The UK's Home Office has warned that there is likely to be disruption to the UK's immigration system at some point between 16th and 19th April 2013. The disruption will be caused by industrial action taken by the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCSU).
The PCSU says that it has asked its members who work in the Home Office, which has responsibility for immigration matters as well as policing and security, to strike in a series of strikes between 16th and 19th April 2013. The strikes will be held on the following dates
Thousands of people demonstrated in Washington D.C. on Wednesday 10th April 2013, in favour of immigration reform. There were smaller, co-ordinated demonstrations in cities across the US.
400 coaches brought protestors to Washington where they protested near the White House. Reporters say that the mood of the crowd was optimistic because progress has been made on proposed immigration reform and a draft Act of Congress is expected to be revealed shortly laying out the details of the reform which could transform the US immigration system.
The UK's Home Office has issued a new Tier 4 sponsorship licence to London Metropolitan University (LMU). The Home Office made the announcement on 9th April 2013 and said the licence would be effective immediately. LMU's previous Tier 4 sponsorship licence was revoked on 29th August 2012.
A Tier 4 sponsorship licence allows a UK educational institution to sponsor potential students from outside the European Economic Area to apply for a UK Tier 4 student visa. You cannot obtain a Tier 4 visa unless you are sponsored by a licenced UK educational establishment.