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The Immigration Minister in the UK Damian Green has said that the changes that have been brought in from 6 April 2011 will reduce levels of new immigration to the tens of thousands per year. Changes to the immigration system include the following:
Skilled and highly skilled migrants are now required to pass the Life in the UK test to satisfy the knowledge of language and life (KOL) requirement for settlement (properly known as indefinite leave to remain but frequently referred to as permanent residence) in the UK. The Life in the UK test demonstrates knowledge of UK civics and culture.
Applicants for settlement who are currently in the UK under the following visas are affected:
For the first time in a decade, Germany has seen an increase in immigration into the country, according to numbers published by the national statistics office.
At the end of 2010, approximately 6.75 million foreign nationals were registered in Germany, bringing the immigrant population of Germany to just over 8 percent. This was a rise of 58,000 over the previous year.
A recent study by Canadian professor Tony Fang recommends that Canada should increase its immigration levels to bolster investment in housing and boost the nation's gross domestic product.
Canada already has the highest immigration rate per capita out of all major countries. The country already has a number of skilled immigration programs to help deal with skills shortages in the labour force.
On 1 April 2011, the United States began accepting Fiscal Year 2012 (FY 2012) H-1B petitions from US employers wishing to hire overseas workers in specialty occupations. The overseas workers are mainly in professional level jobs that require you to at least have a bachelors degree. The earliest start is 1 October 2011. While capped at 65,000 petitions per year, currently only 5,900 have been lodged.
The Canadian government is providing CAD $22 million to help skilled immigrants in Ontario find work.
The Bridge Training program helps skilled migrants enter the Canadian workforce and find employment which best matches their skills and qualifications. This program also funds regional projects in Ontario to helps skilled migrants obtain Canadian licenses in regulated professions, or get the training they need to get work in regulated or non-regulated occupations.