Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has affirmed that recovery efforts are going on and the Canadian economy is creating jobs on a frequent manner. He said that the recovery is steady ad the Canadian economy has already started creating jobs which shows glimpse of recovery.

But this facet doesn’t mean that we should declare success. No matter how smoothly the economy is running, this is not the time to relax or withdraw yourself completely from the economy wheel, Harper affirmed.

Statistic Canada has confirmed that Canadian economy has shown a massive recovery with a growth of 5 per cent pace in the fourth quarter. Although Harper confirmed that it is too early for them to affirm that the nation has surpassed recession in a successful manner.
His speech in the House of Commons expressed that the domestic demand of the nation is strong but since the export markets are facing uncertainties, the recovery is slow and should not be taken lightly.

Talking about the employment rate he said that it is true that the unemployment rate is high but the level was less as compared to the recession times of 1980s and 1990s. in addition, there is a creation of new jobs too!

Surely, a good news for prospective applicants who are planning to immigrate to Canada in the upcoming future. With more job opportunities crafting in future, it is the right time to search for employments in Canada.

Of late, the number of refusal cases of Labor Market Opinion (LMO) applications of Canadian employers is increasing, thanks to the more demanding regulations pertaining to the LMO applications and to some extent the global economic downturn! Whatever the reason, the fact is that more and more interested international workers and Canadian employers are finding it tough to get the approval of the Human Resources Development Canada on their LMO applications and this is no good for the country.

Labor Market Opinion approval becomes important when it comes to obtaining certain Canadian work permits by Canadian employers. When the employers want to hire overseas workers, they need to make application for a LMO to the HRDC. In order to obtain the approval of the Service Canada, the employers are required to convince the HRDC that they have tried to hire a Canadian for the job that they are eventually offering to an overseas worker. An employer should make all the efforts, like publishing advertisements on newspaper for the vacancy in order to convince the authority. Once the Service Canada is satisfied that there are no Canadians who fit the bill for the offered job, it gives confirmation/approval or confirms the offer of employment to the overseas worker and then issues the Labor Market Opinion letter to the employer.

It is unfortunate for Canada to have increasing numbers of refused LMO applications, especially when the country needs more international workers. So, here is the lesson for Canadian employers that they should prepare their LMO applications more carefully and convincingly, so that they could get the approval. All you employers need to do is that make your applications as persuasive as possible when it comes to making the efforts in searching for the local worker to fill the offered job!

New Zealand has shown positive signs as far as Immigration is concerned! The annual Immigration growth touched an all time high in the last five years with the arrival of permanent migrant outshining departures by 21,253 in the year 2009, confirmed Statistics New Zealand.

The statistics are having a positive impact on the Kiwi economy. Alan Bollard, Governor of Reserve Bank confirmed that NZ economy is gradually coming out of the economic catastrophe.

The growth in immigration might fuel consumer spending and accelerate a demand for housing in the country. Also, fewer citizens are leaving the country as compared to last few years. Close to 41,600 citizens left NZ to settle abroad last year, 19,160 fewer than in 2008.  The figures clearly show that departures are falling at a gradual level.

Recession had a huge impact on NZ tourism, while other parts of the world were not left untouched too! Promotion of the Kiwi Land as a prospective travel destination for Aussie people also enhanced the number of visitors coming to NZ in a major way. The visitors from Australia rose by 11%.

Reports also show that 341,000 people came to NZ in December, as compared to 322,000 in December 2008. More arrivals would mean aiding spending in an industry, hence enhancing the NZ economy. The news is surely a positive ray, not only for the NZ citizens but for all those immigrants who are planning to move to New Zealand.

According to a survey released by Asia New Zealand Foundation, Asia would play a critical role in New Zealand’s economy in the upcoming future. The stats depict that 81% believe Asia is important to the NZ’s future while 40% out of them think it to be immensely important. The reports from 2008 stated that 75% would believe that Asians would play a critical role for the Kiwi future.

The report also said that more Kiwis think that free trade agreements would enhance the Kiwi economy; the stats went up from 74% to 78% as compared to 2008. Talking about those who think that import from Asia would favor the NZ economy, the number enhanced from 58% to 63%.

Richard Grant, executive director of the foundation elaborated that the survey was based on questions that had connections with recession, economic crisis and its impact on Immigration. It forced the respondents to think about the state of Kiwi Land in the upcoming years. In addition, they were asked questions on various facets that would affect the country, particularly Asian tourisms, free trade, to name a few.

Trade Minister, Tim Groser said that Asian was never so critical economic factor for the Kiwis.  Ethnic Affairs Minister Pansy Wong said that the outcome is really pleasing. The reports clearly signify that Asia and NZ have a lot in store for each other as far as the future years are concerned.

In this era of globalization, Immigration is playing a critical role in enhancing the economies of various countries!

Martin Ferguson, Australian Tourism Minister, in his recent interview with IANS, said that Indian economy is applauded as the tenth biggest economy of the world. In addition, the nation is facing tremendous growth period, an aspect that would surely generate opportunities for masses who are interested in the “tourism” aspect!

Despite the recent spate of the racial attacks, Oz is intending to have more Indian tourists, captivating on the 11.9 percent jump in the inflow of visitors last year. The minister said that despite the recession, Australia got a good inflow of visitors last year. According to the statistics, 120,500 Indian tourists came to Australia last year. The stats point out an increase of 11.9% as compared to 2007-08.

The Minister said that Aussie as a country is gradually becoming as an applauded and prospective travel destination as compared to other places like Britain and North America. The main reason as to why Aussie is emerging as a major attraction is because it offers a wide range of adventure activities, he further added

Ferguson said that people of all genres come to Australia. Some spend a fortnight here, stay in luxury hotels, visit some destinations like Sydney and look for adventurous activities! Also, in attempt to lure other Indian tourists, Australia would be coming out with various attractive campaigns with airlines companies, in order to provide competitive travel packages.

Also, keeping in mind the popularity of Internet, the Tourism Australia website is getting all ready to serve its global target audience in the best way possible, the Minister later said.

Reports from U.S. Department of Homeland Security say that illegal migration has fallen by 1 million people in 2 years; however, private researchers are questioning the reality of this fall. Statistics represent that January 2009 marked 10.8 million illegal immigrants as compared to almost 12 millions in the year 2007, which represents a fall of more that 1 million illegal overseas migrants.

Jeffrey Passel, a demographer with the nonpartisan Pew Hispanic Center, elaborated that it is believable that the number of undocumented applicants and illegal immigrants have fallen by a huge margin, but the way the measuring has been done, Jeffrey said that it has been a little overstated.

Passel went on to say that the U.S. Census Bureau has made certain amendments with the way it has been measuring the statistics since the last two years. Therefore, there are chances that the mends might have distorted the results in a huge manner.

Others believe that no matter what the size of the population is, it is certainly true that illegal immigration has dropped by a huge extend, especially during the phase of recession. Also, another group believes that the fall might be a result that more illegal immigrants are leaving the premises, and not because fewer illegal immigrants are coming.

Steve Camarota of the Center for Immigration Studies has confirmed that illegal immigration in the U.S. has plummeted for sure. The main reason behind this is that a lot more people are going home as compared to the ones intending to come to the U.S.

According to stats, a majority of undocumented applicants come from Latin America, followed by Mexico and El Salvador. Now these figures would certainly awake Obama as far his Immigration Reform is concerned.

The recent speech by President Obama speculates that the “Immigration Reform” will have to wait – at least, for this year!

In his speech, he mentioned that the government needs to work on its broken Immigration system in order to implement legal migration and secure the borders. Another facet that needs to be focused on is that people should work by rules and contribute in enriching the American economy!

He didn’t mention much about the Immigration Reform during the entire speech, barring these few words. It is strange to see that the president went on to say so much while taking the oath, but has not been able to do much in the same field since his arrival.

Readers can have a look at the video:

Skim through the speech by Obama through this link: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-state-union-address

According to another source (http://immigration.change.org/blog/view/state_of_union_address_fails_on_immigration_reform), President Obama just mentioned few words on Immigration system and stated nothing as to what all needs to be done this year.

Apart from just few words on immigration system, President addressed various issues like recession that hit the country an year back, debts, unemployment faced by the people of his nation, declining of home values, Democrats and Republicans, American economy, American spirit, strength and strong union, to name a few.

Until and unless a final decision on the reform does not come, speculations of these kinds would continue to mark their presence in the air!

As per the report by the immigration minister Jason Kenney, Canada is going to accept fewer refugees and family class immigrants in 2010. Instead, the country expects to focus the 2010 immigration levels plan on economic immigration, thereby helping the country to recover from the recession.

Jason Kenney’s annual report presented in parliament in late 2009 makes it clear that the immigration department has reduced the immigration levels for refugees by 3,000 and family class immigrants, including spouses, children, parents, grandparents and relatives by 8,000. However, the department sets the total immigration targets for 2010 same as the recent years at between 240,000 to 265,000.

This time the government is aiming to accept more of immigrants under the economy class, including future entrepreneurs, skilled workers and live-in caregivers. It is hoping to welcome a total of 166,800 under the economy class in 2010, who would play an important role in Canadian economy.

The Immigration department’s stance on the refugee immigration levels issue made critics raise their voices! Some went on to say that the image of Canada would be affected by this decision. Kenney’s report says that, the country will accept somewhere between 9,000 to 12,000 immigrants, including dependents in 2010, from people applying for refugees after arriving in the country. The number strikes a dramatic reduction of refugee immigrants from 2006, when the country’s former Liberal government allowed 22,500 to 28,800. Similarly, the maximum target for family class immigrants for 2010 is 63,000, a significant drop from 71,000 in 2009!

From the CEO’s Desk…

The year 2009 was a turning point for the Immigration Industry in different aspects. Many countries faced challenges of balancing their immigration policies and targets in line with looming recession. Those who received their Immigration visas were not sure whether or not and when to land in the new country. And despite toughening the economic scenario and the immigration polices, people who applied for immigration continued to have an upswing.

The immigration consulting market became more interesting with new products like Denmark Green card and Hong Kong Quality Migrant program coming into picture. Of the two, the Denmark Green card is the biggest disappointment. The Denmark Visa Consulate offices lack the necessary Human Resources and Infrastructure to manage the constant inflow of applications. This has resulted in the ever increasing application processing delays and the absolute lack of transparency while processing. In addition, it being a non-immigrant visa has discouraged many applicants and those who qualify for other options prefer Canada and Australia as they offer Permanent Resident status from the first day post landing.

UK Tier 1 became tougher with educational requirements being limited to Master’s degree holder. As the year ends, it has been proposed that the Tier 1 program has become too tough and even Bachelors degree holders should also be permitted to apply. However, this program is known for its quicker (mostly under one month) processing. On the negative side, the higher application fee and the procedure of demonstrating funds is a major deterrent for those interested.

Australia adopted stringent processing time frames and by the final quarter, only occupations nominated under the CSL (Critical Skills List) were expected to get (within 12-15 months) priority processing. Majority of the other lists and categories will experience longer processing delays – at times more than 3 years.

Canada is the surprise winner and despite a very limited occupation list, the country continues to attract maximum interest from prospective Immigrants. The main reason for this is the shorter processing timelines. Also, its geographical positioning making it neighbours with the USA is another advantage. But as the year closes, there are strong rumours that Citizenship and Immigration Canada is proposing to toughen its selection criteria. Hence, this country is being eyed very keenly this New Year.

Prospective Immigrants also interested in the French Skills Talent and Migration visa; although it has a very limited in scope as it is essentially targeted at the self employed, entrepreneurs and investors.

ABHINAV stood out amongst other consultants. It grew its business by over 100% and we are among one of the few India based consultants that meet the requirements of authorised representatives as prescribed by Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Our highly trained human resources ensure that our clients get excellent services irrespective of the country they apply for.  Our website – www.abhinav.com – is now among the premium Immigration websites and enjoys top 26,000 ranking at year end.

Exciting years lie ahead and the company has earmarked Pune and Hyderabad as its new office location. Both these new branches will be operational by March’31st 2010.

In Immigration business since 1994, the company is best placed to service aspirations of immigration and visa applicants out of India and around.

Ajay Sharma

Principal Immigration Consultant of Abhinav

The recent changes brought out by the Australian High Commission that were announced in September involved no priority processing. This is especially for all those Australian state sponsored visas. This would have a drastic effect even to those whose applications are in the final stages of processing. With this, the applicants have been asked to wait till 2012 to get a final word on their visas. And the worst part being that no money would be refunded back to the candidates.

These changes have created a lot of rage amongst the applicants who have invested so much of their time, money and resources only for the process to be prolonged further. The Department of Immigration and Australian Citizenship brought out a notice instead of issuing a statement to the press. The statement includes the following –

• The requirements set forth by the Australian employers are to be met. This is being catered to by the employer – sponsored skilled migrants and the critical demand occupations.
• The demand and the number of applications usually go beyond the required numbers.
• In times of recession, it is mandatory to take such actions to ensure that the country does not recruit beyond its capacity. The economic condition of the country determines the number of immigrants taken in per year.
• The country still welcomes immigrants but now it has a much focused approach.
• To ensure that immigration caters to the recession, a critical skills list has been brought out based on which the candidates would be given a permit.
• This list focuses on the demands posed by the various industries in the country which leads to a lot of variation in the skills needed.
• The key body referred to in this regard has been the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace relations (DEEWR).
• The above mentioned Critical Skills List (CSL) is constantly under review with close contacts with the state and the territorial governments, industries and other unions. This is to make sure that the relevant measures are being taken with the economic situation.
• The current applicants selected for priority processing includes those with skills mentioned in the CSL.
• For a General Skilled Migrant visa, the processing time would be around 12 months (with skills mentioned in the CSL). Immigrants who were students in Australia are permitted to live and work till they get a final approval/decision on their visas.

With changes being made constantly, it is best to get an expert opinion first before actually applying for immigration. Avoiding problems is always better than doing damage control. Thus, contact an Immigration and Visa expert to know more on the same.