Articles Posted in Immigration Reform

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that visa procedures would be lifted with Malaysia. Prime Minister Erdogan appeared at a joint news conference after meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Mohamed Najib bin Abdul Razak and said that they agreed to lift visa procedures between the two countries.

“We are also planning to launch direct flights between Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen airport and Kuala Lumpur,” he said. Erdogan said that Abdul Razak was the first Malaysian prime minister paying a state visit to Turkey in 28 years.

“We will sign a free trade agreement between Turkey and Malaysia this year. Such an agreement will add momentum to our economic and commercial relations. Currently, our trade volume is about 1.2 billion USD. We can increase it up to 5 billion USD. We are going to attend Turkey-Malaysia Business Forum in Istanbul tomorrow. We will tell our businessmen that we are ready to extend full support to mutual investments. Our businessmen can also work together in the third countries,” he said.

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdul Razak, on his part, said that he invited Prime Minister Erdogan to Malaysia by the end of 2011 to sign strategic cooperation agreement and free trade agreement. “These two agreements will mark beginning of a new era in Turkey-Malaysia relations. There will be no more visa procedures between our countries,” he said.

The Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers has approved a draft agreement with Switzerland on visa facilitation.

“The government has approved a draft agreement between the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Swiss Federal Council on the facilitation of the issuance of visas. A relevant resolution was passed at its meeting on December15,” the Department of Information and Communications of the Cabinet Secretariat said.

The implementation of this agreement will help relax the rules for trips to Switzerland, in particular expanding the categories of Ukrainian citizens who to whom the simplified procedure for gaining Swiss visas applies. In addition, the agreement proposes cutting the time for processing visa applications, increasing the term of validity of multiple-entry visas and simplifying the procedure for their issuing.

The draft agreement also suggests the abolition of visa fees for certain categories of Ukrainians. As reported, Ukraine intends to agree on the relaxation of visa requirements with 14 countries, in including Switzerland, in 2011.

An interim cap introduced last summer has been deemed unlawful by the UK High Court; High Court Judges have ruled that ministers needed parliamentary approval before going ahead with the temporary immigration.

As a result, the temporary immigration cap is no longer in force. If you wish to apply for a tier 1 visa or tier 2 visa you should apply as soon as possible. Ministers can introduce a new cap when Parliament returns in January. MPs and Peers would then have an opportunity to oppose the immigration cap within 40 days.Ministers introduced the temporary cap — set at 24,100 a year — last summer as an attempt to reduce net immigration into the UK. The cap was challenged by the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) and the English Community Care Association.

Lord Justice Sullivan and Mr. Justice Burton found that the home secretary had not gone through proper channels when implementing the cap; The proposals should have been put to a vote in Parliament.

“There can be no doubt that [Theresa May] was attempting to side-step provisions for Parliamentary scrutiny set up under provisions of the 1971 Immigration Act and her attempt was for that reason unlawful,” they stated.

Because of this, the High Court ruled that no limits were to be in place for Tiers 1 and 2 of the points based immigration system.

The English Community Care Association said the cap was implemented without regard for how it would affect care providers. Vacancies could not be filled by British staff. There is insufficient demand for these jobs among the UK Citizens and residents.

The immigration cap has been highly controversial, even within the UK Government. The Lib Dems the junior Coalition partner has called for the cap to be more flexible so that UK companies can hire the highly skilled staff they need from abroad.

The Ghanaian High Commission in the UK is in the process of introducing automated visa and passport application procedures.

In a press release copied to ghanabusinessnews.com, the High Commission says the news system when completed will facilitate online visa and passport applications. The new system the Mission said will come into effect on January 17, 2011 and applicants can complete their applications on the Mission’s website at www.ghanahighcommissionuk.com.

It will also use text messaging and email services to notify applicants when the Mission receives applicant’s documents, and when approved applications are ready for collection or dispatch

Citizenship and Immigration Canada will again start accepting applications under the federal Immigration Investor Program from 1 December 2010. Applicants under the Immigration Investor Program will need to have a personal net worth of $1.6 million CAD, which doubles the previous net worth requirement of $800,000. Moreover, applicants will be required to make an investment of $800,000. Under the previous rules, only a $400,000 investment was needed.

According to Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, changes to the criteria for the immigration investor program were overdue.

“These changes were necessary,” said Kenney. “The requirements had not been increased in more than a decade and we need to keep pace with the changing economy.”
Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) said that Canada had the lowest requirements for their investor immigration schemes compared to other countries with similar programs. To reduce the backlog of applications and to avoid a rush of applications before the changes take place Canada suspended the Immigration Investor Program in June 2010.

“The new criteria now align it more closely with other immigrant-receiving countries,” CIC said in a statement.

CIC said that the previous requirements were leading to a backlog of applications. By raising the net worth and investment requirements, Canada hopes to reduce the number of applicants and only let in those who can make a substantial investment in the Canadian economy.

“Higher investment amounts mean provinces and territories will receive more investment capital to put toward job creation and economic development projects,” Kenney said.

Canada’s Immigration Investor Program grants applicants a permanent residence visa and a guaranteed repayment of their investment. The immigrant investor program was already an expensive way of gaining permanent residence in Canada. Doubling the investment requirements is bound to put off some people. It remains to be seen if the changes will in reality result in increased investment into Canada. There are already a number of ways in which you can emigrate to Canada and a number of other Countries around the World without having to invest any money.

New Zealand is to open a full Embassy in Vienna, Austria, in January 2011, Foreign Minister Murray McCully has announced. New Zealand already has a Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Vienna, which will now be co-located with the Embassy.

“New Zealand and Austria share many common values and have a good record of cooperation on international issues,” Minister McCully says.

“The Embassy in Vienna will help to consolidate New Zealand’s diplomatic footprint in Europe. Vienna is an important gateway into Central and Eastern Europe and it is the home of many significant international organizations. A key focus of the Embassy will be to develop trade and economic links with Austria and its neighboring region.”
Career diplomat Philip Griffiths will take up the position of Ambassador to Austria in January 2011. Mr Griffiths will also hold the position as New Zealand’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Vienna.

Details of massive fraud and abuse of the popular H-2B work visa program have been made public by a government report, which shows that in one of such cases more than 87 Indian nationals paid at least USD 20,000 each to enter the US illegally.

“Several recent convictions have shown that some employers and recruiters may be abusing the foreign workers in the program,” the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in its letter to Congressman George Miller, chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor.

The report details 10 cases of wrongdoings that showed violations in areas such as unfair wages for employees, excessive fees charged to employees, and fraudulent documentation submitted to federal agencies to circumvent program rules. The 10 cases that we reviewed demonstrate fraud and abuse committed by recruiters and employers participating in the H-2B visa program and operating in 29 states.

“The 10 cases that we reviewed demonstrate fraud and abuse committed by recruiters and employers participating in the H-2B visa program and operating in 29 states,” the report made public yesterday said.In six of the 10 cases GAO reviewed, there were allegations that employers did not pay their H-2B employees the established hourly wage, overtime, or both.

In six cases, employers charged their H-2B workers fee that was for the benefit of the employer or charged excessive fee that brought employees’ wages below the hourly federal minimum wage. Also in eight of the 10 cases, employers were alleged to have submitted fraudulent documentation.

The H2B working visa is a non-immigrant visa which allows foreign nationals to enter into the US temporarily and engage in non-agricultural employment that is seasonal, intermittent, or based on a peak load need. According to GAO, a company in Louisiana obtained USD 1.8 million from a fraudulent H-2B visa conspiracy to bring 87 Indian nationals into the United States illegally.

The company submitted fraudulent H-2B documentation to federal agencies allegedly seeking workers from India.It charged at least USD 20,000 each for the H-2B visas but never employed the Indians. The GAO report said representatives of the firm traveled to India to assist the Indians with the application process and corresponded with the US Consulate on behalf of the workers. These conspirators were indicted on federal criminal charges in 2008.

The Swedish National Migration Board will allow visiting students to apply online for their entry visas and residence permits, as well as pay their fees on its website. The goal of the move is to offer better service, as well as reduce the waiting time to process applications. The service will be initially introduced on a small scale, then gradually be introduced to Swedish embassies and consulates.

Two groups of applicants can now make use of the electronic services. Those who do not need an entry visa to visit Sweden can apply for a residence permit for visiting students on the agency’s website. The application will then be processed in Sweden and the permit issued by the embassy or consulate indicated by the applicant.

For Chinese residents, those who must apply for a visa for any kind of visit to Sweden, or a residence permit for visiting students can do so online for applications handled by the Swedish embassy in Beijing.

Applicants can submit all their information online and pay the application fee electronically before the mandatory embassy visit, making the application process more efficient.The Swedish consulate in Shanghai will also offer these services next month. They will be rolled out at other Swedish missions next year.

According to the agency, in 2009, Sweden’s embassy and consulate received nearly 2,500 applications for visiting student permits out of about 16,900 in various other countries around the world.

According to a new study by the Conference Board of Canada (CBC), immigrants can help boost innovation in Canada, which is currently lagging behind other developed nations.

“Immigrants tend to be motivated individuals willing to take risks in search of greater opportunities, which should predispose them to be innovative,” said Diana MacKay, Director, Education and Health. “At every level we examined—individual, organizational, national and global—immigrants were associated with increased innovation in Canada.”The CBC says that Canada is consistently ranked 14 out of 17 industrialized nations in its capacity to innovate. In it’s report, Immigrants as Innovators: Boosting Canada’s Global Competitiveness, the CBC used various criteria to show that countries benefit by encouraging immigration.

The report found that at least 35 percent of Canada Research Chairs are foreign-born, even though immigrants only make up one-fifth of the population. In addition, immigrants win proportionally more literary and performing arts awards in Canada than native born Canadians.

Immigration also leads to an increase in trade between Canada and the immigrants’ countries of origin. According to the CBC report, a one percent point increase in the number of immigrants to Canada can increase the value of imports into Canada by as much as 0.21 percent and raise the value of exports by 0.11 percent.

Foreign direct investment in Canada is also greater from countries who are well-represented in Canada’s immigrant population, according to data compiled by the CBC from Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada.

Germany is monitoring Bulgaria’s effort to fight crime and corruption and supports its bid to join the 25-nation Schengen Zone that allows passport-free travel in most of the European Union, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said. The German premier arrived at the Bulgarian capital Sofia today to discuss bilateral projects and Bulgaria’s plan to become a Schengen member, along with neighboring Romania, in March 2011.

“We will evaluate the readiness of each country to join the Schengen Zone depending on how well it has covered the list of criteria,” Merkel told reporters. “Germany supports Bulgaria’s efforts to join the Schengen Zone.”
The two Black Sea countries, which entered the EU in 2007, would follow eight other former communist countries that became Schengen members on Dec. 18, 2007, as the EU expands its influence east and gives its newest members increased rights within the EU.

The European Commission, the EU’s Brussels-based executive arm, is expected to assess in November whether Bulgaria and Romania are ready to take the Schengen step in the planned timeframe, Merkel said.

The two newest EU states are set to receive 45 billion euros ($60 billion) of EU aid in part to improve infrastructure to EU levels, including security systems. The most important issue is to ensure the supremacy of law, so that people outside the Schengen area cannot obtain Schengen zone visas through corruption.