Immigration news

Unemployment in Australia has fallen below 5 percent. Low unemployment means more labour shortages. Businesses are urging the government to increase skilled immigration into the country to help deal with these labour shortages.

New job creation in Australia is holding steady at 30,000 per month and growth is expected to continue, according to budget projections by Skills Australia.

Skills Australia believes that the country will need many more Workers. They expect 9.3 million new jobs will be created over the next 15 years.

In keeping with European Union law, Germany has opened its borders to eight central and eastern European countries (the A8 Countries) that joined the 27-member bloc in 2004. The maximum period that Germany and the other EU Countries can keep restrictions on free movement of workers from other EU Countries is seven years. Since 1 May 2011 citizens from the A8 countries have been able to work in Germany and Austria.

The German government has said that potentially thousands of Poles, Latvians, and Lithuanians, among others, may now make their way to Germany to find work.

The Canadian province of Nova Scotia would like to double its intake of immigrants by 2020 to offset looming skills gaps as the working age population dwindles.

Nova Scotia will invest an extra $790,000 in attracting skilled migrants under a new immigration strategy introduced by Premier Darrell Dexter.

Dexter said the province is aiming to attract 7,200 immigrants a year by 2020, doubling current levels of immigration.

Former Canadian immigration minister Monte Solberg says that immigration solves many problems in Canada, including labour shortages.

"Immigration should be encouraged between India and Canada to build strong connections between the two nations," he said, adding that health care workers were in particular demand.

Indian cuisine continues to increase in popularity around the world. Good opportunities exist for entrepreneurs and established Indian-based restaurant chains to establish themselves abroad in countries such as Canada and Australia. There is also demand closer to home in countries such as Malaysia and Singapore which have large Indian populations.

The Australian government has reduced visa assessment levels for students from 38 countries, including India, whose students make up a large percentage of Australia's foreign student population.