Immigration news

Canadian citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney has issued a statement from his ministerial department Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) wishing Canadian citizen Santa Claus good luck as he prepares to set off on an epic round-the-world voyage.

Mr Claus became a Canadian citizen on 20th December 2010 at a special ceremony presided over by Mr Kenney. This was good news for Mr Claus who was able to enter Canadian airspace that year without the need to obtain a visa for the first time.

Canada has announced that the Federal skilled Worker Program (FSWP) is to reopen in May 2013. The FSWP is Canada's main skilled migration programme and enables applicants to apply for permanent resident status if they have adequate skills and experience.

Speaking at an Ottawa press conference on 19th December 2012, Jason Kenney, the Canadian minister with responsibility for immigration policy, told journalists that the FSWP would re-open to applicants on 4th May 2013 using a revised points-based selection system. He also revealed the new selection criteria that will be in place when the system goes live.

Rob Whiteman, the head of the UK Border Agency (UKBA) has said that he thinks that the UK Border Agency's (UKBA) system of checks on UK employers who register to sponsor overseas workers for UK visas is working well.

Mr Whiteman was appearing before the Home Affairs Committee of the UK's House of Commons on 18th December 2012. Mr Whiteman is obliged to appear before the committee four times a year to answer MPs' questions.

Rob Whiteman, the head of the UK Border Agency (UKBA) promised to return passports to international students in time for them to fly home for Christmas.

Mr Whiteman was appearing before the Home Affairs Committee of the House of Commons on 18th December 2012 when he made the pledge. The Committee chairman, Keith Vaz MP, raised the issue.

Mr Vaz said that he had received information from branches of the National Union of Students around the country that there were 'hundreds of international students who are trapped in the UK over Christmas because their passports are with the UKBA'.

We would like to remind you that the UK's sponsorship licence system for has now been in place for over four years. This is the time that a UKBA sponsorship licence lasts so organisations that registered in 2008 and 2009 will soon be required to renew their licences, if they have not had to do so already.

A failure to re-apply will lead to a revocation of your company's right to employ workers from overseas. It will also result in any workers you currently have working with your company on Tier 2 visas losing their right to reside in the UK.

The UK's immigration authority has been criticised for detaining some asylum seekers who should be allowed to remain in the community and for keeping some people in detention for too long.

A joint report by the UK's chief inspector of immigration, John Vine, and the UK's chief inspector of prisons, Nick Hardwick, found that on 31st March 2012, there were 42 detainees in UK short-term holding facilities and immigration removal centres who had been detained for over two years.