Immigration news

Ed Miliband, the leader of the UK's Labour opposition gave a speech on 14th December 2012 in which he said that the last Labour government had made mistakes in its immigration policy when it was in power between 1997 and 2010. During that time, it is believed that four to five million people from overseas came to live in the UK. Critics of Labour allege that the government had an 'open-door immigration policy' which allowed mass immigration to continue unchecked.

As of 2nd January 2013, Canada will make it easier for skilled foreign workers with experience of working in a skilled role in Canada to obtain Canadian permanent resident status, Canadian immigration minister Jason Kenney told journalists on 11th December 2012.

Mr Kenney was speaking at a press conference in Ottawa when he announced changes to the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) visa stream. The CEC programme allows skilled workers from overseas to apply for Canadian permanent resident status after they have gained work experience in a skilled position in Canada.

The UK's Home Secretary, Theresa May, gave a speech at the Policy Exchange think tank in central London on 12th December 2012 in which she gave a summary of the progress that the UK's Coalition government has made in cutting immigration since it came to power in 2010 and also laid out the government's plans up until the next election in 2015.

The UK Home Secretary, Theresa May, has announced a major change to the UK student immigration system.

Mrs May announced a series of changes to the Tier 4 student visa system which, she said, would allow Britain to continue to attract the brightest and best students while stopping bogus students from obtaining Tier 4 student visas. She said that there would be steps taken to wipe out abuse but also encouragements to genuine students.

Jason Kenney, the Canadian Minister for Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, has announced that Canada will soon require people from 29 countries and from the Palestinian Territory to provide biometric information with their visa applications.

The biometric data required will be a photograph and fingerprints. The information will be held on a database and will be checked when the applicant arrives in Canada to ensure that the correct person has travelled to Canada. The system will come into operation in 2013.

The UK's chief inspector of immigration has told a UK parliamentary committee that the UK Border Agency (UKBA) provides 'shockingly poor' customer service. In his evidence to the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee, he also directly contradicted evidence given to a parliamentary committee by the former UKBA head, Lin Homer.