Canada’s Federal Skilled Worker visa program is filling up fast. Those looking to emigrate should consider the Canada immigration Federal Skilled Worker program. This skilled immigration program is for people in a range of different occupations; If you have skills and experience in occupations listed on the Priority Occupation List under the Canadian skilled worker visa category you will not need sponsorship by an employer.

There is a maximum cap of 500 Federal Skilled Worker applications per eligible occupation and as of 3 January 2012, the following occupation caps have been reached:

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The US Consulate General in Shanghai is increasing in size in order to deal with the rapidly increasing number of US visa applications it processes. In 2011, US consular officers in China had processed more than 1 million non-immigrant visa applications, 30 percent of them in Shanghai. These visa applications are mainly from Chinese citizens wishing to visit the US on B-1/B-2 visit visas.

“We recently signed a lease to expand our consular facility by increasing the number of interview windows from nine to 20. Then we can interview more applicants on a daily basis,” said Robert Griffiths, US consul-general in Shanghai.

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The UK Border Agency, along with its commercial partner Gerry’s, has now launched a premium lounge service at its Visa Application Centre (VAC) in Pakistan to help facilitate the processing of visas for local applicants.

All UK visa applicants can benefit from the new facility located in Karachi where a UK visa can be issued within 15 working days on receipt of a complete application with relevant documents.

The premium service should lead to faster services to the business community in Pakistan and also make it quicker and easier for Pakistani people to obtain visit visas to attend upcoming UK events like the golden jubilee celebrations of Queen Elizabeth II and the London Olympics. The service includes a dedicated lounge for visa applicants that provides a personalised service for the submission of their applications and passports for visa processing. UK visa applicants can also receive free SMS alerts regarding the status of their UK visa application.

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Canada has a large demand for biologists and other scientists; Those looking to emigrate can apply under the Canada immigration Federal Skilled Worker program. This skilled immigration program is for people in a range of different occupations including for biologists, zoologists, pharmacologists, and geneticists. If you have skills in occupations listed on the Priority Occupation List under the Canadian skilled worker visa category you will not need sponsorship by an employer.

Canadian Immigration uses a Priority Occupation List which is a list of occupations deemed in demand by the Canadian Government; There is an ongoing national skills shortage in a number of areas. Skilled workers are people who are selected as permanent residents based on their points score and ability to become economically established in Canada.

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In a report released today by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) in Australia, figures indicate that there has been an overall annual growth of 8.3 per cent in the Australian immigration’s first working holiday visa program.

The figures for the 2010/2011 program year indicate that DIAC approved a total of 162,980 Australian working holiday visa applications. The figure is an increase of 10,000 visa grants over the the 2009/10 year, which was the first year to see an overall decline in the number of Australia visa grants for working holiday makers.

A number of countries saw a particularly dramatic rise in Australian working holiday visas granted, with Ireland seeing the biggest increase with a substantial 87.4 per cent rise on the previous year, followed by Taiwan which saw an increase of 41 per cent.

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The UK and Ireland have signed an important agreement reinforcing their commitment to preserving the Common Travel Area (CTA) while further cracking down on illegal immigration and spurious asylum claims.

The countries signed a statement working towards joint standards for entry and ultimately enhanced electronic border systems to identify those with no right to enter the CTA before they arrive at the border.

An accompanying memorandum will promote the exchange of information, such as fingerprint biometrics and biographical details, particularly from ‘high risk’ countries, as part of the visa issuing process.

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Canada is carrying out the biggest citizenship-fraud crackdown in its history, Canadian Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney announced last week. The Canadian government is now investigating 6,500 people from more than 100 countries for their allegedly fraudulent attempts to become Canadian citizens or maintain permanent resident status.

In order to become a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident is required to have lived in Canada for three years in a four-year period. In order to retain your status as a permanent resident, you must be physically present in Canada for two years out of a five-year period.

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Australian immigration from 1 July 2012 will be introducing significant changes to their skilled migration program. If you wish to come under the current skilled immigration programme you should apply for a skills assessment as soon as possible. You need to be ready with your skills assessment and, have passed the English language test before you can submit your immigration application.

Australian immigration’s new skilled worker program will be called the Skilled Migrant Selection Register, known as SkillSelect. This is similar to the New Zealand immigration system; You will have to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI). The SkillSelect will work as an electronic two-stage process where prospective visa applicants first submit a claim for skilled migration through an online EOI. Following this, they may then be invited to submit an Australian visa application on the basis of their EOI.

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Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney announced this week that the department will expand their network of international visa application centres into West Africa in order to assist local Canadian visa applicants.

Canada’s immigration department will open six new Canadian visa application centres (VAC) on 16 December. The new centres will be located in:

Lagos, Nigeria
Bamako, Mali
Niamey, Niger
Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire
Dakar, Senegal
Yaounde, Cameroon

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The Australian immigration minister, Chris Bowen, has overturned a decision to deport an elderly South African couple.

The immigration department initially decided to deport Ernest and Daphne Konschel, both in their 80s, because they were deemed to be a burden on the taxpayer. Mr Konschel has failed a second health test after developing mild dementia and, as their permanent visas have not been issued yet, they were to be sent back to South Africa after having lived in Australia since 2006, but have overstayed their current visas.

However, Mr Bowen announced his goodwill gesture on a Sydney radio station, stating that the couple would receive some “good news before Christmas.” He added that although the official stance in such cases would be deportation, he decided to intervene “on compassionate grounds or common sense grounds.”

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