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The most recent data available shows that the US, E-1 Treaty Trader visa and E-2 Treaty Investor visa bring four times more immigrants into the US than the much publicised EB-5, immigrant investor program, according to the Center for Immigration Studies [CIS] - an anti-immigration research organization. While the CiS is an anti-immigration organisation their report despite containing numerous inaccuracies is actually quite interesting.
According to data from the 2013 Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) 'Yearbook of Immigration Statistics', 680,000 US green cards were issued to immigrants from Muslim-majority nations between 2009 and 2013. Among those receiving the green cards were refugees, sparking calls from one anti-immigration US senator for a reduction in the number of green cards being granted. However, the statistics may be misleading in that about half of immigrants may actually already be in the US and are changing status to permanent residence.
The case of a British man, in Australia on a working holiday visa who was recently deported, has led to calls for an overhaul of the Australian visa system. Chris Bailey, the chief operating officer of high growth start-up company, Disrupt, was stopped by Australian immigration officials following his return from a business trip to the United States.
For the fourth consecutive year, demand for H-1B foreign skilled worker visas has greatly exceeded the H-1B visa quota. There is now a lottery for the available visas. Having allowed H-1B visa submissions from April 1, 2016, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on 7 April 2016 that petitions received for H-1B visas had exceeded the 85,000 available.
The United Kingdom Home Secretary Theresa May in 2014 revoked the Tier 4 visas of 48,000 international students, and ordered their deportation, after a BBC documentary in February 2014 uncovered cases of cheating on an English language test at one institution.
The move was made after the BBC's Panorama reported that fraudulent activity was occurring at one school in East London relating to the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC).
Fortunately, despite a number of changes to the Tier 2 points-based system for skilled workers, prompted by a recent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) report, UK immigration minister James Brokenshire announced that the working rights of Tier 2 visa dependants will not be affected by the changes, a decision welcomed by the Permits Foundation.