With immigration becoming a major issue of debate in the United Kingdom, the government of the nation has finally reviewed its immigration policy. The new policies have brought about a strict on immigration especially from the non-European nations. Till the policies are implemented, a temporary limit would be set up for the time being.

As of now, the temporary limit is 24,100 for the non-European migrants. This number would be enforced till April 2011 when the revised policies would be implemented. With the aim of lowering the levels to those of the 1990s, strict measures are being put in place.

As promised by the Government during its election campaigns to reduce the rate of immigration in the UK, the government is fulfilling its promise made to its public. At the same time, this cap might have dire effects on the economy of the nation. This has been warned by many people which including both the employers in the nation as well as the Education Secretary.

For instance, the Indian food industry in the UK is booming far and wide in the nation. For this industry to boom in the nation, cooks and chefs from India are a must who could contribute to this industry. It was seen that despite recession, this industry continued to boom with many people developing a taste for the Indian cuisine.

With India being one of the major sources of potential skilled migrants to the United Kingdom and with one industry more or less dependent on the Indians, the question is whether right measures are being taken by the government?

It is agreed that a cut has to be made on the level of immigration. At the same time, it cannot be imposed at such a cost where in the development of the nation’s economy is at stake.

More so, with the policies being changed, this would obviously mean delays in the timelines for processing. With stricter policies in place, all that one could do is simply speculate over the issue.

With the recent decision of the UK government bringing about a cap on immigration especially from the non EU nations, many businesses in Britain have warned that would be forced to deploy all the jobs overseas. This also includes India as due to the new immigration policies, there would be a severe shortage of skilled professionals in UK.

With the above on the move, it would be soon that jobs pertaining to call centers based in Britain and other occupations regarding Finance and Information Technology would be shifted to other nations. These nations would be especially the ones where in it would be less expensive and easy to find the required staff.

The above warning has come about when Damian Green, the Immigration Minister for Britain was to come to India on a visit for three days. The main purpose of this visit to guarantee the Ministers as well as the businesses that the new policies are not about creating more barriers or closing the doors. It is about bringing controlled immigration with a system that is quick and fair.

According to a new survey, about two-thirds of those who suggested of relocating the jobs preferred to shift to India and another one-third intended to move to China. The survey said that the employers wanted the best professionals. They are not bothered about the origin of these workers. This was not possible with the local employees who do not fit the bill.

As per an official from the British Chambers of Commerce, the companies in Britain are not against hiring local people but they find it difficult to find such professionals who meet their eligibility criteria along with the required attitude and motivation which is important for their business to flourish.

On the other hand, the various businesses in the nation have also said that these new rules can be a threat and might lead to damaging relations with other nations. This is specifically true for nations like China and India. This is because the nation required the markets and entrepreneurial skills from these nations at one point of time.

With the recent decision of the UK government bringing about a cap on immigration especially from the non EU nations, many businesses in Britain have warned that would be forced to deploy all the jobs overseas. This also includes India as due to the new immigration policies, there would be a severe shortage of skilled professionals in UK.

With the above on the move, it would be soon that jobs pertaining to call centers based in Britain and other occupations regarding Finance and Information Technology would be shifted to other nations. These nations would be especially the ones where in it would be less expensive and easy to find the required staff.

The above warning has come about when Damian Green, the Immigration Minister for Britain was to come to India on a visit for three days. The main purpose of this visit to guarantee the Ministers as well as the businesses that the new policies are not about creating more barriers or closing the doors. It is about bringing controlled immigration with a system that is quick and fair.

According to a new survey, about two-thirds of those who suggested of relocating the jobs preferred to shift to India and another one-third intended to move to China. The survey said that the employers wanted the best professionals. They are not bothered about the origin of these workers. This was not possible with the local employees who do not fit the bill.

As per an official from the British Chambers of Commerce, the companies in Britain are not against hiring local people but they find it difficult to find such professionals who meet their eligibility criteria along with the required attitude and motivation which is important for their business to flourish.

On the other hand, the various businesses in the nation have also said that these new rules can be a threat and might lead to damaging relations with other nations. This is specifically true for nations like China and India. This is because the nation required the markets and entrepreneurial skills from these nations at one point of time.

United States is all about to introduce certain changes in its immigration policies for overseas artists and performers. The chief of the US immigration is all set to make efforts to deal with the problems faced by foreign performers and artist especially about their visa denials. Since last year, many complaints came from Hollywood celebrities and performing artists about their visa denials which lead to delay in shows and performances.

There have been delays in the immigration process for O and P visas which are special category of visas for artists and performers. Last year, the Skirball Cultural Centre in Los Angeles faced with the cancellation of its performances of Argentine music group because they were not issued the visas by California immigration department. In fact, another Indian group was supposed to perform at a California festival but couldn’t do it because they too were not issued the visas by California immigration.

The problem is quite serious as this directly affects the art and culture of the nation. This also makes it difficult for artists to freely continue their cultural exchange activities within the nation. Denial rates for O visas which are issued to individuals increased from 9.6 percent to 19.6 percent and P visas which are issued to groups have increased from 11.1 percent to 26.8 percent this year.

Immigration chief Mayorkas has decided to consider the matter more seriously so that the procedure of judging the visa application of foreign artist would be more consistent and transparent.

Bill Brady , Illinois state Senator and Republican candidate for governor spoke to the press about various issues including one of the most controversial issues ‘immigration’  in an event. Supporting the immigration of foreign national into the nation, he expressed his opinion on the same in a liberal tone. The event was organized and supported by the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

He addressed the issue of immigration through a larger perspective and then expressed his ideas and opinions about the same. Brady said that the birthrate of the country is such that it will be difficult for us to grow as a nation. United States enjoys the position as one of the most powerful developed nation of the world and to hold that position, we need people to contribute towards its economy. There is a need for reformation in the immigration policies of the country which would help in stopping the flow of illegal immigrants entering the nation. Instead of checking the entry of foreign nationals into the nation, we must open doors for them to let them enter only in a legal way. Through this way, US will witness the higher growth rate of it as a nation which can be up to four percent or more.

Brady’s comments received lot of appreciation from the audience but were also criticized by some reporters as well. After the event, Brady’s opponent, Governor Pat Quinn spoke against him and criticized him for his ideas. But it is very strange that during the event, in her six minute long speech, she didn’t touch upon the issue of immigration at all.

Reports say that the Obama administration is all set to take the issue of Arizona’s immigration law to the court. The administration hopes, the court would determine whether the controversial law pose threat to the nation’s federal immigration enforcement authority, as well as immigration policies or not.

For the uninformed, Arizona had recently passed a very cruel immigration law which prevent the migration of illegal immigrants, specially the Hispanics. However, the legislation also aims at putting a curb on traffic in illegal drugs. The controversial issues attached to the Republican state’s law created conflict between the state and the federal governments. Now, the latter is slated to challenge the state authority in front of District Judge, Susan Bolton, just before the Arizona’s immigration law is all set to take its effect on August 29.

Reportedly, the US federal Justice Department filed the case against the Arizona legislation, claiming that it may infringe the constitution and foreign policy of the United States. Since the federal authorities do not want the Arizona immigration law to deliver a negative message, thereby creating a bad image for the nation as a whole. Immigration has been an issue in the US of late, however, the federal authorities are not denying that immigrants play a very important role in building the US community. These people are an integral part of the nation and they take active part in generating revenues in the US economy.

There are various groups that have already raised their voices against the Arizona immigration law. Now, it is time for the federal authorities to take the action. It would be interesting to know the court’s decision on this regard!

Saudi Arabia has got rid of its dark clouds which were hovering over many aspiring Saudi Arabians who are willing to immigrate to Quebec and Canada. As Saudi Arabia now holds the secure position after the deal between the two countries which allows the people from Saudi Arabia to immigrate to Quebec and Canada based on relaxed immigration laws.

The immigration laws and policies were quite relaxed and simple for Saudi national from 1984 to 2002 but after the terrorist attack of 9/11 in the United States forced the Canada government to think twice before allowing any Saudi Arabian to enter inside their territories. Many requirements and conditions were imposed on them in relation with visa and immigration for security reasons. This is because many attackers of 9/11 attack were from Saudi Arabia only. For security purposes, Canadian foreign affairs, immigration and security officials used to ask the Saudis to first apply for the entrance visas and only then they can be allowed to work or study in Canada.

But now with the new visa deal , Saudis are allowed the visas which gives them the liberty to enter and exit in Canada for complete five years for as many times as they want to . The Canadian ambassador David Chatterson made an announcement of changes on the May 24th by saying that Canada welcomes the students and business people from Saudi Arabia with open arms. But no special announcement was made in relation to flexible visa rules.

The flow of Saudi Arabian immigrants has increased since 2002 and about 5,292 Canadian visas were granted to Saudi students and 1,665 visas to Saudi Arabian workers in 2009. This is quite large in numbers in comparison to the numbers of visas granted to Saudi nationals in 2002 which were only 199 to Saudi workers and 351 to Saudi students. There are about 8,200 students studying in Canadian educational schools who belong to Saudi Arabia and there are expectations of admitting two thousand more students from Saudi later this year.

According to an Immigration expert from America, the Korean government should implement an approach parallel to that of Canadian approach as far as its Immigration policies are concerned.

The Canadian government allows their individual province to have their individual policies, a step which would further enhance the economy in a major way. Additionally, the approach would allow the government to tackle all the immigration related issues with an ease.

Dr. Charles Harns said that by implementing individual policies for each province, the latter would be able to have their own economic goals. They should collaborate together and be partners in deciding as to what policy is apt for these provinces to achieve their goals. He went on to say that while there is no single model for Immigration in the country, he is really looking forward to an immigration model like that of Canada. The immigration policy of the latter allows each province to play a critical role in catering to the Immigration strategies in an attempt to meet the economic needs of the country. This allows them to balance the quantity of temporary migrants with that of the number of immigrants.

A similar model would allow Korea to lure global talent, at the time when the country faces the problem of aging population and other facets. In addition, it is good to have a healthy competition amongst the provinces, which would allow them to learn important aspects from each other and come out with the best practice.

“One man’s loss is another man’s gain”, this saying is truly applicable for Australia. The United States is all set to enjoy a stronger position in terms of the countries which are preferred by overseas students for pursuing their higher studies.

In recent years, Australia has seen a drop in the population of international students in the country. In the last few years, there have been controversies about racial attacks on Indian students and changes in the immigration policies which exclude many colleges from the Australian skills list. In fact, there have been rumors about imposing cap and ceasing student’s visa. Also, the fall out of many colleges which were offering vocational courses due to these changes have really scared students to take any chances. In fact, Australia refused applications of many students who applied for some course in various colleges. All these factors have resulted in the decrease of overseas students in Australia.

To clear the clouds of doubts from the minds of students, Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship spoke to the press and said that these rumours are baseless and Australia still welcomes international students with open arms. But the impact on the students is just too strong to be handled now. And students are now directing their steps towards United States to fulfill their dreams of overseas education. This would surely prove to be one of the strongest factors in the economic boom of the country in the near future. Overseas students in Australia generate about $18 billion into the economy of the country which is quite a huge amount and cannot be ignored just like that. But with the current situation, it seems that countries like US and Canada are now going to enjoy the benefits of international students.

Immigration has certainly become an issue of concern for many countries owing to many reasons such as high level of illegal immigration and heavy flow of immigrants into the country taking away the opportunities from the country citizens. And that is why so many countries are taking various measures to ensure legality in the system and spread awareness amongst the countrymen about immigration policies.

New Zealand‘s Ethnic Affairs Minister Pansy Wong will be  attending  the annual Australian Ministerial Council for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs meeting to be held in Melbourne tomorrow. The participation of New Zealand in this meeting will surely going to strengthen the bilateral relations of the country with Australia. Both the countries will be discussing on various issues in relation to immigration. They will also be sharing their ideas and suggestions on how to support the new migrants and foreign-born citizens.

In a statement to the press, she expressed that she has high expectations from this meeting and really looking forward for it. She further said that New Zealand has made a remarkable progress by providing the necessary help to the native New Zealanders (which also includes new migrants) so that they can give their contribution in the progress of the country. Ms. Wong intends to enlighten Australian counterparts about New Zealand’s progress and achievements and would also like to share some points and ideas which would help them to scale new heights of progress.

Both the countries are facing similar problems regarding various issues on immigration and this meeting is surely going to bring benefits to both the countries as they will be discussing various issues and will also be  sharing  their ideas and suggestions with each other.