The Oz Immigration and Citizenship Department is many decades old now. The department celebrates its 65 years of building its immigration program, which is one of the nation’s most prominent aspects that has helped the nation to reach the position where it is today. The nation’s immigration policy is known all around the world which has assisted the nation to build such a culturally diverse community.

Following the World War II, Australia got its sixteenth Prime Minster, Ben Chifley who later established the immigration department on July 13th, 1945. It was initially established as Department of Immigration (DI). After going through many times of name changes, the department got its name, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship in the year 2007. Under the leadership of Ben Chifley, the nation got its first ever immigration minister, Arthur Calwell.

Arthur Calwell was very ambitious about nation building, and keeping that in mind he began to plan migration program in an intention to make the nation attract overseas skilled workers. Since then, the nation’s migration program has been attracting seven million overseas people from across the globe. The United Kingdom and Ireland have, however, always been the major sources of immigrants for Australia. Today, DIAC has over eight thousand employees working for it in every Australian state, and it has it operations in sixty nations around the world.

And over the decades, overseas migrants have contributed to Australia’s economy and helped it achieve the reputation of one of the world’s most culturally diverse and welcoming nations. On DIAC’s 65th establishment year, the department promises that it will continue to welcome the skills it requires, thereby helping the nation sustain its stability!

When it comes to immigrating to a better country, Australia is definitely one of the sought after nations. The nation always has certain jobs in demand for which it seeks foreign skilled migrants. These occupations are mentioned in the ANZSCO list which consists of two lists – Schedule 3 and 4.

Those occupations which feature in Schedule 3 have to be applied for under the General Skilled Migrant category. The occupations under Schedule 4 have to be applied for via the Sponsored (State Nomination/Blood Relation) or under Regional Programs. In both the cases, the applicant has to score a total of 120 points to qualify for immigration. The job of a Social Worker is enlisted in both the above lists which provide an option for the applicant to apply under any of the above categories.

Tasks and Responsibilities

• Evaluating the resources pertaining to health and welfare, housing, employment, recreation and other services linked with the community.
• Playing the role of a facilitator for the clients in need and the community services.
• Taking interviews both for individual as well as for family cases and find out the nature and extent of the problems of the clients.
• Collecting all the records and reports pertaining to the case.
• Maintaining contact with the clients to monitor their progress.
• Leading and assisting for the execution of pilot projects for the development of the community and so on.

Apart from the above, there are other responsibilities as well which a telecommunications engineer would be expected to perform.

Qualifications

• A bachelor’s degree or higher education.
• In some cases, both qualification as well as relevant experience is required to qualify for the same.
• On the job training might be required in specific cases.

If you are intending to immigrate in search of better opportunities for life, write to us ASAP at ajay@abhinav.com to know more!

We all agree that blogging is an important tool for marketing, and so the concept has to be implemented rightly. If looked on a daily basis, there are millions of blogs which are created. Off these, there are hardly few which are successful. And so, bloggers realize it the hard way that blogging is not all that easy as it seems to be!

As always, there are two sides of a coin and it implies here as well. Blogging serves many benefits although ensuring that those benefits are reaped is a different task altogether. This clearly means keeping away all the barriers making your blog a failure. Just like any other aspect, blogging too is an art! Here are the key points that you should be aware of at all times:

• Be Aware of Competition: Blogging is the in-thing and so, more bloggers join the bandwagon each day. So, the level of competition rises with each day which means the blogger has to survive and fight his way ahead. This requires hard work and perseverance for which you should be ready before even starting your blog. More so, loads of smartness is required!
• Patience is a Virtue: Sometimes the desired results don’t come about even after working hard and taking the right steps. But do not give up…wait and analyze the situation. See how the trends are going about and where you are going wrong. Patience and passion – both are equally important for a successful blog.
• Constant Updating: Since blogging is about sharing knowledge, experience as well as the latest trends, it is important for you as a blogger to constantly update yourself at all times. This means, as a blogger, you should be the master of your industry and niche area. For the success of any blog, it is important that the blog is constantly updated and caters to all the latest information for the visitors to pour in at all times.
• Criticism is Healthy: It is important to learn that any form of criticism should be taken in stride. It is one of the key processes for your growth as a blogger. There would be times when the readers might not agree with what you have posted on your blog. This might lead to a negative feedback. These comments would help improve your blog and thus, prove your credibility and that of your blog.
• Being Active is Important: Spreading the word about your blog in the right sense is the most important apart from the high standards of content. Creating a community of your blog always helps. This could be done on various social networking sites such as Facebook and so on. Active participation is important here for your blog to be popular. It is even more important to reply instantly to all the comments made by the participants. With this, the much required personal touch is also added which would again add to the credibility of your blog. And so, there would be more followers.

Above all, it is important to keep the blog alive and active at all times. With the rising competition, it is important to be social, participate in other forums and communities and be known. More so, your endeavor should be to create a brand image of your blog online which would help in generating more traffic towards your blog. So, blogging is easy to start but difficult to keep up with the pace. Do chip in your bit in the comments!

Sometimes I really wonder that why so many philosophers keep writing about life that ‘life is this or life is that’ when ultimately what matters is that, we live this life? Why we keep talking about life and discuss its various aspects as many of us fail to live it fully? Everyone is gifted with just one life and let’s make the most of it. Isn’t it?

Let us see what all things we can do to make it interesting.

• Friends: After family, its friends who are the brightest colors on the canvas of our life. Without friends, life seems boring and limited but friends expand our social network. Human being is a social animal and can not live alone in isolation, in this context friends play a significant role in our community.
• Health : There is a famous saying which says that ‘health is wealth’ and it has not been said just like that. It really means a lot because a healthy body with healthy mind can enjoy this life more nicely in comparison to an ill or unhealthy body. A fit body is more active and so can perform multiple tasks without any difficulty. In fact, we must have noticed in our everyday life also, that whenever we become ill, our mind gets occupied with our illness and this takes away our lot of energy which could have been used otherwise. To remain fit, one can include any form of physical exercise such as yoga, dance, running or even cleaning home as part of our daily activity. But one must not forget that diet is another factor which largely determines our level of fitness.
• Work: Many of us select our profession on the basis of one thing and that is ‘money’. Today, most of the youngsters run after pursuing those courses which would provide them with well-paid jobs with which they can buy all the comforts and luxuries for themselves. If we do not enjoy what we do, then I guess, our work would become a burden for us. Hence, our choice of career must be based on our interest and of course money as well. Those who enjoy their work and do it passionately, they always look more happy and contended with their life.
• Vacations: When I was a child, I always used to look forward for my summer vacations because those were the most beautiful and carefree days of my life. Going out on vacations with family and relatives was always a different experience. And I am sure the fondest memories of our lives are formed on such vacations and outings only. It helps in breaking the monotony of everyday routine life, in which we perform almost the same tasks daily.
• Habit:  If we have this habit of taking out some time for ourselves and do ‘our’ during that time, this would always keep us in good mood. It’s good to pursue some hobby on the regular basis like watching movies, reading, dancing or even cooking. This is one way to make everyday interesting.

It’s easy to crib about life that it’s boring and has nothing interesting to offer but its difficult to take the responsibility of our own life and make efforts to break its monotony Nothing happens on its own,  and unless we do not get  involve with our life , it will remain the same for us. So, friends do not sit and wait for things to happen for you because it’s ultimately your journey and you way. Good Luck!

Recently, a gang of criminals were arrested in Northern Virginia by the US Immigration Authorities. It was a group of about thirty members and associates carrying out their illegal criminal activities in Northern Virginia. All the members of the group were foreign nationals according to the information revealed by the federal officials.

Amongst all these thirty gang members, twenty nine of them were men and one was a woman. Only one of them belonged to the US and the rest of them are from El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico. The gang members were targeted by the US immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during the three-day operation. The crime of illegal immigration is on the rise and this operation was targeting the Latino gangs as MS-13, Mexican Pride and Southside men.

Those who got arrested were deported from the country previously but they again entered the nation illegally. Various charges have been pressed against them including assault, possessing a concealed weapon, destruction of property and illegal migration. They will be deported from the United States after receiving their persecution for their criminal activities.

To reduce the criminal activities in the country, especially the ones being committed by foreign illegal immigrants, ICE will now be working closely with the law enforcement partners. This has been said by Scott Rittenberg, an official from the ICE’s Office of Homeland Security Investigation. These gangs are known for carrying out criminal activities catering to drugs and violence in the province. Their arrest is surely going to save the community from further troubles and inconveniences caused by their doings.

According to a report by ‘Department of Immigration and Citizenship,’ Muslim families share a good relationship with the Australians but as far as the Aussie media is concerned, they are applauding the Muslims as terrorists.

The report says that the Muslim clans feel safe in the country but are not happy with the behaviors of the local media who claim them as criminals. According to Ilan Katz, of the Social Policy Research Centre at the University of New South Wales, it has been strongly believed that the media is targeting the Muslims and this facet has served as a huge concern for them. Mr. Katz is the co-author of the study as well.

The interview was conducted amongst 72 people and the result has been shocking. The report states that the overall response towards the Muslims has changed, especially after the 9/11 attacks in the United States. He stated that the family members are of the view that the attitude of the community has become rigid and stringent towards them, after the incident.

The media channels portray the Muslims as terrorists, hence going all against them. Although the country is safe to live in, the media is not in favor of them. The Muslims are although positive about their friends, colleagues and neighbors who are friendly with them. In addition, they have been treated with low incomes as well as various discrimination attitudes.

Even though, there were reports that the demand for the US H-1B visa among Indians is declining over the last couple of years, new report says that Indian professionals accounted for the one-third of the H-1B visas holders last year. Until July 2, 2010, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services received only 24,200 H-1B visa applications for the second consecutive year.

About 10,400 petitions have been filed with the USCIS under the cap for individuals with advanced degrees. The category’s limit is 20,000. Reportedly, in the first week of when the USCIS started to accept applications, it had received just 13,500 petitions under the general category and 5,600 in the advanced degree category. As of May 14, the total number of applications received was 19,000 in the former category and 8,100 in the latter.

Last year, a total of 123,002 US H-1B visas were issued to Indians, out of the total 339,243 petitions filed. The figures show 36.3 percent of the total visas issued to overseas professionals in 2009 was for Indians. But, if we compare the figures with that of 2007, we can be able to point out how much the figures decline last year. In 2009, the number of Indians issued the visas fell by more than 1/5th since 2007.

The declination in the demand of US H-1B visa among India professionals between the years 2007 and 2009 owe to the global economic meltdown. Regardless of the drop of over 34,000 visas in two years, Indians still remain the leading community to receive the maximum number of the most coveted US H-1B visa. In the year 2007, a total of 157,613 Indians were issued with the H-1B visas and in 2008 the number fell to 154,725.

July 9 is a big day for certain visa holders, for, on this day Australia celebrates Constitution Day, where new citizens are welcomed or awarded Australian citizenship. This is the day when Queen Victoria gave her royal assent to the Constitution of Australia. Thus, Constitution Day is the occasion when the nation celebrates its creation.

Every year, when 9th of July is celebrated as Constitution Day by the whole nation, the Australian immigration department marks the day as the perfect occasion to welcome new Oz citizens. Today is this especial day where as part of the occasion, many ceremonies are taking place to welcome Australian visa holders as new citizens.

According to a spokesperson for the Australian Immigration Department, the Constitution Day is one of the nation’s most important days. It has also importance because of the fact that on this day the nation welcomes new citizens who are the prospective contributors to the Australian economy and community.

This year, Australia is going to acknowledge a total of 500 new citizens from seventy nations across the globe in a number of ceremonies across Australia. The ceremonies on Constitution Day have been giving new entrants the opportunities to be proud of being Australians and likewise, this year’s ceremonies are going to give the nation’s newest citizens an opportunity to acknowledge their citizenship in one of the most friendly and welcoming nations in the world. Several ceremonies on Constitution Day are going to take place in prominent cities like Sydney, Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra and Brisbane.

Australia has always been a great place to be in. If you are planning to immigrate to the nation, it is advised to seek the professional help of an Immigration and Visa Consultant!

A Muslim preacher who was barred the entry from Britain last week for his bad behavior and conduct is banned in Canada also where he was due to give his words in an upcoming event hosted by Toronto.

Dr. Zakir Naik’s speeches include the element of terror in it. The man from Mumbai is an applauded lecturer in India and serves a role model for the Muslim community all over the world. His views are entirely different from what other religious leaders have to say on other controversial topics.

These views have led to his exclusion from Britain and now Canada; both the nations need an Indian citizen to go through the vista formalities before entering the premises. The news have become so popular over a span of few days that even a community has been created on a very famous social networking site stating “Keep Zakir Naik Out of Canada.”

He said that capital punishment should be given to homosexuals. In addition, his views are lined with the fact that a person who abandons Islam as faith deserves nothing less than a death penalty. Here are some of his other views too. It was in the year 2009, where he posted a video warning people against beating the spouse on the face or leaving any mark on it. Before that his views were that a man has all the freedom to beat his spouse “lightly”. He also mentioned it somewhere that western women are more prone to rape as they wear wrong dressing and revealing attire (that’s what the community said)

With growing terrorism in world, many countries are taking extra measure for the security of its citizens. Pakistan is that one country, which is worldly famous for producing the most deadly terrorist. Many terrorist receive their training in Pakistan and so many Pakistanis who live abroad are often looked at with suspicious eyes.

Recently a Pakistani man named Mohammad Shafiq Rahman of South Portland got arrested in Maine for breaking the immigration law. He was arrested during the investigation of Times Square bombing but supporting him; the government lawyer said that Rahman is not dangerous to the community and should be released from jail. Rahman was amongst the three Pakistani men in New England who got arrested on immigration charges and during that time only, the authorities were also investigating the car bombing case which took place on May 1.

Rahman got married to an American on March and was planning to settle in America permanently for which he was seeking permanent resident visa from the immigration authorities. Rahman has forwarded a written application requesting the court to release him on bail. Though the immigration officials are claiming that Rahman is not harmful for the community but he is a flight risk and hence do fall into the zone of suspects.

Rahman’ s name has been linked with Faisal Shahzad who got arrested on Monday on the charges of supporting terrorism and illegal weapons in Times Square case.  But Rahman’s lawyer Cynthia Arn does not accept this charge and says that her client is innocent and has no connection with this terrorist. There has been no legal investigation going on to find out if actually there is any connection between them and this link up is simply made in the air.

Rahman was a computer programmer who happened to meet Shahzad by chance because they both were a part of the same local community but it’s been now eight years that Rahman has ever spoke to him. He’s been living in United States since 1999 and he has no past criminal record. He is a family man and has been working as a professional employee at a consistent level.

Rahman is desperately seeking his bail but court is hesitant in granting him the bail because of his wife’s confused decision in supporting Rahman to get his legal status. Actually Rahman got married twice, in the year 2005 and later in 2006 and his current wife Sara initially came forward to help him get a legal status but took a step back later on. She says that her action of not supporting her husband was influenced by some claim on Rahman’s personal life made by federal authorities which were baseless. Sara is now in support of her husband and also attended the hearing of his immigration case in Boston.  Officials doubt that Rahman might have supported Shahzad and must have given some money to him but how that money has been utilized is still unknown.