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Australia will lower the barriers for entry for many people who with to obtain student visas.
The student visa assessment level for 38 countries will be lowered across one or more visa subclasses as of 2 April 2011. The changes come after an internal review of Australia's student immigration system by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC).
Some UK Government Visa fees will more than double from 6 April 2011. This will affect non-EU nationals who wish to live, work or study in the UK. UK employers and educational institutions will also have to pay higher UK sponsorship fees.
Some of the changes to UK visa fees are as follows:
Tier 2 Visa changes include the following: All immigrants wishing entry to the UK must be filling a graduate level position. You do not necessarily need to have an academic position. However, you will need to show that you have the right level of skills for the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC). Following recommendations from the Migration Advisory Committee 71 occupations can no longer come under the Tier 2 visa scheme. UK immigration considers that these occupations are below "graduate level". This will be relevant both for Tier 2 (General) and Tier 2 (ICT) applications.
From 1 April 2011 you can again apply for an H-1B visa. However, the earliest employment start date is 1 October 2011.
Recently Business leaders asked a congressional subcommittee to reduce the amount of red tape required to obtain an H-1B visa. However an academic claimed that the H-1B visa program makes it easier for employers to hire cheaper foreign labor.
Canada's Temporary Foreign Worker Visa Program will see stricter requirements. Immigration Minister Kenney claims that the changes will be an improvements to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) and had the following to say:
Today the 5 April 2011 is the last day to apply for your Tier 1 General Highly Skilled Visa, but only from within the UK. From tomorrow the only independent skilled migration visa that will be available is the Tier 1 Exceptional Talent Visa which will be almost impossible to obtain and will be limited to only one thousand people a year Worldwide.