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Calls for increased skilled immigration are coming from Australia's mining industry as unemployment rates down under continue to fall.
Goldfields Chamber of Mining and Energy is urging the federal government to increase skilled immigration to help Australia's mining sector cope with expected labour shortages in the near future.
This is following a report by Access Economics warning that a lack of skilled workers could stifle Australian economic growth.
Top people in the UK education sector are warning the Government that restrictions on student immigration will adversely affect British universities.
A consultation on whether the Government should tighten the reigns on student immigration for non-EU students taking below-degree level courses is currently underway.
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on 27 January 2011 that it received enough H-1B petitions for fiscal year 2011 to reach the annual cap of 65,000 visas.
Applications are considered to have been received on the date that USCIS physically receives the petition -- the postmark date does not matter. Any petitions received after 26 January 2011 will not be considered for an H-1B visa.
During the 2009-10 financial year, the Australian state of Victoria was the first choice for Chinese and Indian immigrants emigrating to Australia, according to statistics released by Australia's Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC).
Overall, Victoria has seen a decline in the number of new overseas settlers; There was also a lower rate of immigration in the whole of Australia as a result of the global economic crisis of 2008.
UK Tier 1 highly skilled Visas will end in less than three months time. The replacement exceptional talent visa will be extremely difficult to obtain. If you are in the UK and qualify for the Tier 1 (General) highly skilled migrant visa you should seriously consider applying soon. It may take some time for you to obtain the relevant documents. You should also note that since 23 December 2010 it has not been possible to make Tier 1 (General) visa applications from outside the UK.
A Russian diplomat in Canada has voiced his concerns about Canada's strict visa regime for Russian citizens.
"We believe that it should be the procedure of all countries to make the movement of people easier but to our surprise, Canada has made it tougher," said Andrey Varlamov, consul for the Russian Embassy in Ottawa.