Commencing September 8 onwards, visitors intending to travel to US would have to pay $19 fee which would go towards covering the costs of other assets linked with human resources and computers.
Similar is the story Kao Zi Chong, who is an undergraduate and intending to enroll in an American University on September 16. Under the rules of the newly launched fee structure, he would have to pay US$14 (S$19) before gaining entry in the country.
The US Embassy has confirmed that the fee structure would come into action from September 8 onwards. Also, the fee has been collected as a part of the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). When it comes to Singapore, applicants going to the US from this country for the purpose of work or vacation have been on the VWP since the year 1999.
The fee would be taken from the visitors when they will get the clearance from the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (Esta). The same is a system which takes care of the people who are eligible to visit the country without having visa with them.
Kao Zi Chong also stated that the amount is not that big but it has been hoped that it would fasten up the Immigration process even further.
Those who have applied for the US visa before the mentioned date don’t have to pay this additional amount of money. Also, visitors from nations (under the VWP) who are intending to visit US for work or vacation, for as long as 90 days, are not required to have a visa either.
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.
The US is about to invest six hundred million dollars for security purposes at the US borders. On Thursday, Senate agreed to hire thousand more US Border Patrol agents to be deployed at the US borders.
New York Democrat, Sen. Charles .E. Schumer who is currently looking after the matters concerning illegal immigration of his party appreciates the step taken by the Congress government. He further said that by increasing the budget for the US Border Security, Congress has proved that it is committed towards the US Border security. By emphasizing on the importance of border security, he said that he always feels that border security should be one of the top priorities for the government.
To manage the budget, now the US immigration will be charging higher fees on worker visas. The money will mainly be coming from those companies which hire mostly foreign workers. This would make the immigration process costlier for both the companies which recruit foreign nationals as well as for foreign immigrants applying for working visas.
According to the proposal offered by the Republicans, more security agents should be deployed at the borders and the detention of illegal immigrants must be expanded. The original budget proposed by the President Obama actually called for lowering the number of Border Security Officers but this had to be changed owing to the pressure coming from Democrats and Republicans. It would take around $176 million to hire thousand more Border Patrol agents and $32 million for aerial vehicles required for the security purposes. There are chances that some five hundred customs and immigration personnel will also be needed which would require at least $89 million dollars.
According to a report published by the UK Border Agency, it has been proved that every year plenty of UK marriage visas are granted to people who come from Pakistan, but these go through without a proper immigration check!
If reports are to be believed, almost six thousand seven hundred and fifty people from Pakistan were given UK marriage visa in the year 2009. The report stated that almost one third of these people obtained their visas through faking procedures, hence almost 2,000 of these UK marriage visas are given to fraud people.
Also, the reports pointed out that almost in 31 per cent of the above cases, the officials from the UK immigration authorities could never find ample proofs that the applicants could support them financially as well when they are on their way to join their spouses living in the UK.
A lot of applications are found to be decked with plenty of spelling mistakes which may give rise to the evidence that they are fraudulently done! In some cases, unexplained financial deposits have been found as some applicants are found to have lied about their jobs and getting certain benefits related to tax system.
According to Damian Green, who is the UK Immigration Minister, this is a serious matter. Lack of scrutiny has lead to thousands of UK Marriage visas granted to fraud people.
To avoid such instances, prospective applicants are always advised to file a genuine immigration process by going through a legal immigration consultant.
Are you looking forward to settle and work in Alberta permanently? Then Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program (AINP) can surely help you realize your dreams of seeking better opportunities for life. The AINP has been initiated by Government of Alberta and the Immigration and Employment Ministry in association with Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) in concern with immigration process to Alberta.
There are various categories for immigrants which come under this program based on which an applicant can apply for immigration. One of the categories is the US Visa Holder Category. This category is meant for those candidates who are at present working in the United States on a temporary skilled worker visa. The purpose of this category is to promote the entry of US visa holders who are working temporarily in the United States into Alberta to strengthen the permanent labour force of province. Such candidates are quite high in demand in Alberta.
The eligibility criteria for this category include the following conditions:
An applicant must be able to demonstrate his intentions and abilities to live permanently in Alberta.
An applicant must be currently an employee of the United States employer.
He must be having a valid visa in one of the following categories- H-1B, H-1B1, H-1C, E-3 to show it as proof when the CIC accepts the application of the candidate.
An applicant must have worked for at least one year in the United States in any one of the qualifying visa categories as mentioned above.
The current profession of an applicant must come under AINP Occupation under Pressure List for the Strategic Requirement Stream-US Visa Holder Category (this list may include certain changes depending upon Alberta’s current needs in labour market).
There can be inclusion of other conditions as well, for that one must refer to the official website of Citizenship and Immigration Canada. For further information, you can contact any visa and immigration consultants for professional help and guidance.
The occupation of heavy-duty mechanics is one of the new occupations that have been added to the new list of 29 occupations brought out by the Canadian government for the Federal Skilled Worker program. A heavy-duty equipment mechanic caters to repairing, adjusting, overhauling and maintaining heavy-duty equipment which is used in transportation, oil and gas, construction, landscaping, forestry and so on. They are usually employed by firms owning and operating heavy equipment, rental and service establishments, urban transit systems and so on.
Qualifying Criteria
The applicant must have completed a three to five year apprenticeship program or should have a bachelor’s degree or a diploma in a related subject.
An applicant must have the relevant work experience of at least one year.
Overall, a person must have experience of around 2-4 years; actual number of years of experience to apply under this occupation is dependent on many factors such as whether the applicant is married and his English language skills.
Duties & Responsibilities
Repairing or replacing parts that are defective as well as adjusting equipment.
Finding out if there is any form of malfunctioning or faults with the help of computerized and other equipment used for testing purposes.
They might have to do repairing work on heavy trucks.
Evaluating all the cranes, bulldozers and other related heavy equipment for its performance. With this, inspecting the same for the detection of any faults or malfunctioning.
These mechanics have the option of specializing in any specific kind of machinery like power shift transmissions, hydraulics or electronics, combines or tracked vehicles and so on.
Apart from the above, there are other similar duties as well as which the mechanic is expected to perform. If you are a heavy-duty equipment mechanic intending to migrate to Canada, write to us at ajay@abhinav.com to get started with your immigration process ASAP.
With Australia tightening its immigration rules and making amendments in its occupation list, students from all over the globe are thinking US and UK as their prospective study destination. Chinese students are not lagging behind too.
The student recruiters in China are pacing up in sending the students to US and UK, seeing the less stringent rules as compared to Australia. Further, other aspects like racial attacks and closing down of certain private institutions have resulted in the increased popularity of US and UK with regard to the land of Kangaroos.
Various students who recently attended the Beijing International Education Expo are of the similar view that their recruiters are eager to send them to the educational institutes in the UK or US.
True that Australia is seen as one of the most liked countries for commencing higher studies, but the students have confirmed that Tier 4 UK visas and US F1 are easier ways to gain entry in the concerned countries a compared to Aussie land, that is what these students have to say on the issue.
Critics believe that students are still eager to make Australia as their study destination but with the crack down of lower level of courses, students are gradually running away from the country. The strict qualifying criteria sometimes create delay in the immigration process, hence making it difficult for the students to commence further.
If you are one of those students, who are facing dilemmas in choosing the apt study destination, consult a Study Visa expert for more info!
Are you looking forward to settle and work in Alberta permanently? Then AINP can surely definitely help you out in your Canada immigration process. The AINP is a program initiated by government of Alberta by the Immigration and Employment Ministry in association with Citizenship and Immigration Canada in concern with immigration process to Alberta.
This program is created especially for the growth and economic boom of Alberta by allowing capable and talented skilled workers from foreign countries to contribute to Alberta’s economy. Candidates who are selected by the Province Of Alberta along with their family members can apply for the permanent residential visa with the help of Citizenship and immigration Canada as a Provincial Nominee. But the procedure to apply for AINP is different for different stream and categories for which you are eligible for.
If you are applying as a worker which falls in the category of Employer Driven Stream of the AINP, then you must have some valid job proposal from your employer in Alberta and you must qualify under any one of the three streams of AINP. On an average there are three streams of immigrants who are applying as employees and they are; skilled worker and semi skilled worker stream and PNP self employed farmer stream.. There is one more stream which is called Alberta PNP strategic recruitment stream. To successfully migrate to Canada, an applicant has to fulfill the conditions of any one of these streams. There is a different condition for those who are applying under Alberta family stream.
Alberta is a beautiful place in Canada which has access to various facilities such as health care, hospitality, education etc which makes it an ideal destination for you to migrate. For further information and professional help, you can contact any immigration and visa consultancy companies from where you can receive professional help and guidance.
The world is becoming truly global with people commuting to different countries for work and education purpose. In fact, many citizens from developing countries move to developed country for better lifestyle and job opportunities. Hence, every country is coming up with different schemes and programs to update their country people about immigration and its laws.
There is going to be an immigration clinic which will take place at the local church of North Jersey. The community immigration clinic will take place on June 26 from 12 p.m. onwards for three hours continuously at Unity Christian Reformed Church for local people of the region. Many immigration specialists will be there to enlighten the people on various issues regarding immigration.
Amongst legal officials, mainly David Nachman and Victoria Donoghue will be there to take the charge of the whole event. The program will commence with a seminar which would include issues such as immigration process. After this, there will be a presentation on issues of immigration reforms and justice. This would be followed by free personal consultations in English or Spanish with immigration lawyers present there. This would serve as a great opportunity to receive personal guidance from legal officials.
The entire program will touch upon various immigration issues such as immigrant and non-immigrant visa processing, lottery program and the consequences of new Arizona law on people. The program is going to be a complete package for the people to know about the immigration process. The program will also create awareness amongst the participants about how organizations, churches, and local communities and people can help to seek fair immigration laws. Lastly, they can ask personal queries and doubts from immigration attorneys present there.
The government of Australia is on its way to accept the other English language tests such as TOEFL other than IELTS to test the language proficiency. Unlike before, Australia will now consider the other exams such as IELTS as well. Immigration Minister Chris Evans in an interview spoke that he has sent a written application to the ETS, the US Company that provides English proficiency tests such as TOEFL and IELTS citing his approval for considering other tests as well for the immigration process.
Like TOEFL, other tests also holds the potential to test the language proficiency of an applicant and not considering the score of such tests is like creating an inconvenience for the immigrants for no special reason. ETS representative Eileen Tyson in an interview expressed his high hopes from Australian government to implement the change soon as he firmly believes that this would make the visa process much hassle free for applicants.
Last month, Australian government came out with a new modified list of occupations that will come under the skilled migration program. Most of the foreigners enter into Australia through the skilled migration program only. This new move has been taken to meet the growing demands of higher skilled workers needed for the occupation in demand.
The new modified skilled occupation list has been produced by Skills Australia which is an autonomous department formed by the government to take care the needs of workforce. The structure of new list is made to keep long term targets in focus such as higher economic value and deliverance of highly skilled migrants in to the country.
