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UK Border Agency has published new versions of application forms yesterday, and a new version of the Tier 1 (General) policy guidance.

New versions of the following application forms were published:
* Tier 1 (General) form
* Tier 1 (Post-study Work) form
* Tier 2 form
* Tier 4 (General) form
* Tier 4 (Child) form
* PBS Dependent form
Last month UK authorities withdrew the facility to pay the application fee by cash at public inquiry offices, and the above application forms have been amended to remove all references to cash payments. They have also made the following additional changes to the Tier 1 (General) and Tier 2 application forms.

* Tier 1 (General) – we have corrected a question number (U2)
* Tier 2 – We have changed the help text about enrolling biometric information at a post office.

One should use the new forms from now on. However, in line with paragraph 34 (I) of the Immigration Rules, we will continue to accept applications made on the previous version of the application forms up to and including 27 September 2010. Any application submitted until 27 September 2010 will be considered under the new Immigration Rules, regardless of the version of the application form used.

The change to the Tier 1 (General) policy guidance relates to migrants who are currently in the UK as Innovators. The table in paragraph 46 has been amended to show that these migrants’ applications will be treated as applications to switch into Tier 2 (General), not as extension applications.

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Canadian immigration also intends to significantly increase the investment requirements for the immigrant investor program:
– A personal net worth of $1.6M instead of $800,000
– An investment requirement of $800,000 instead of $400,000
Canadian immigration feels that that the investment requirements are too low. The investment requirements have not changed for more than ten years. The current system attracts more applicants than are required each year under the immigration plan. This has resulted in an increase in processing times.

Canadian immigration will not be accepting any more Canadian immigrant investor applications until the new system is operational. This is to prevent a surge of applicants before the change in the immigration requirements.

Immigration Minister Kenney had the following to say about the immigrant investor program:
“Canada needs investor immigrants.” These changes are necessary to keep Canada’s program competitive with that of other countries, and keep pace with the changing economy.

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Visa applications from foreign students to study in Australian universities have dropped by 15,500, almost 12%, over the past 12 months, according to figures just released by the Department of Immigration.

As negotiations continue over whether the Labor or conservative parties will assume government following elections on 21 August, the National Tertiary Education Union has warned that the fall in applications threatens Australia’s A$18 billion (US$16.2 billion) education export earnings.

It also has the potential to undermine the financial viability of universities and other education providers that have become increasingly reliant on international student fee income, the union stated.

“This drop in international student visas applications clearly indicates Australia is becoming a less attractive study destination for international students,” said Matt McGowan, the union’s Victorian Division Secretary. He also added that the reasons for the fall are no doubt many and varied and include the damage caused to Australia’s reputation from the reporting of attacks on international students, stricter regulations to weed out less reputable providers and reductions to announced cuts in net immigration by both parties in the federal election.

McGowan said fees from international students were the second most important source of income for universities and, on average, accounted for 15% of their total earnings. For a number of universities, the fee income accounted for up to half their annual budgets. In other words, some of our universities and the jobs of our members at those universities are very vulnerable to any cuts in international student numbers.

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The number of illegal immigrants in the U.S. has dropped for the first time in 20 years as substantially fewer undocumented workers from Mexico, Latin America and elsewhere are crossing the border in search of jobs, an independent research group says.

The analysis by the Pew Hispanic Center suggests the nation’s economic downturn and increased border enforcement have reduced the number of illegal immigrants, who make up roughly 4 percent of the U.S. population.

The study released Wednesday estimates that 11.1 million illegal immigrants lived in the U.S. in 2009. That represents a decrease of roughly 1 million, or 8 percent, from a peak of 12 million in 2007, before Arizona intervened with its new enforcement measures.

More….

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The Czech government announced on Saturday that it would be closing its embassy in Costa Rica, as well as four other countries, Congo, Venezuela, Kenya and Yemen.

The closing is part of the Foreign Ministry’s budget saving plan. The Czech general consulate also said it would be closing its consulate in Mumbai, India and up to 10 missions.

The opposition Social Democrats have criticized the plans saying they would harm Czech exports.

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Tourists will no longer get their visas on arrival in Sri Lanka September 30 onwards except Maldivians and Singaporeans. On Friday, Department of Immigration and Emigration of Sri Lanka announced that it was withdrawing the visa-on-arrival facility for tourists from 79 countries including India, UK, USA, China, Japan and host of European nations. It is from these and West Asian countries that Sri Lanka gets its chunk of tourists.

It means tourists going into Sri Lanka will now have to get their tourist visas stamped from Sri Lankan missions abroad. The decision comes a day after Economic Development Minister Basis Rajapaksa presided over a road show in New Delhi entitled “Sri Lanka as a destination for tourism and investment in its infrastructure” sponsored by the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). The function was to promote the Island nation as a tourism hub.

But the Lankan government quite clearly has one major problem in issuing visas on arrival – lack of reciprocity. Only citizens from Singapore and Maldives will continue to get their visas on arrival as our citizens are extended the same facility by them. Sarath Kumara said the government was mulling the decision to withdraw the facility as there was no “reciprocity” from 79 countries.

“It should be done on a reciprocal basis. I don’t think it is a big issue. Tourists who plan to come will come,” Sarath Kumara said.

The new rule, however, could mean a drop of tourists coming to Sri Lanka which is just beginning to see an increase in arrival of tourists after decades of civil unrest. Countries like the UK and US only recently amended travel advisories. As for India, according to tourism department data, more than 83500 Indian tourists came to Sri Lanka in 2009 – the largest number from one country to come holidaying in Colombo.

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The government will introduce simplified procedures for visa issuance for Hong Kong citizens in the near future, Mainland Affairs Council Chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan said Monday. During a meeting in Taipei to promote economic and cultural cooperation between Taiwan and Hong Kong, Lai said that over the past century, civilian exchanges between Taiwan and Hong Kong have been active, even more so since the beginning of the 21st century, which she said has helped lay the foundation for economic and trade relations between the two sides.

In the aspect of economy and trade, Hong Kong is Taiwan’s fourth-largest trade partner, and two-way trade and the number of travelers between the two sides are expected to reach US$38.8 billion and 3 million, respectively, Lai said. Meanwhile, the number of China-based Taiwanese businesses listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange has reached 60, and some leading Taiwanese companies now consider Hong Kong as the main place for raising business capital, Lai added.

She noted that with the aim of promoting civilian exchanges between the two sides, the government last year relaxed employment restrictions on Hong Kong students, allowing them to enroll in graduate programs after graduating from local universities, and also began extending the duration of stay on visas for Hong Kong-based Chinese citizens visiting Taiwan.

The government is also seeking to further streamline visa application procedures for Hong Kong citizens, Lai added. Despite the booming exchanges between Taiwan and Hong Kong, there are still some key details related to the exercise of public power to be addressed between the two sides, Lai went on. The meeting was the first of its kind between the Taiwan-Hong Kong Economic and Cultural Co-operation Council (ECCC) and its Hong Kong counterpart, the Hong Kong-Taiwan Economic and Cultural Co-operation and Promotion Council (ECCPC) , since they were set up earlier this year to improve and strengthen relations between the two sides.

Lai said she hopes the two sides will engage in talks on topics of mutual concern and enhance economic and trade exchanges and interaction through the forum. Also present at the meeting were Hong Kong Financial Secretary John Tsang, ECCC Chairman Lin Chen-kuo and ECCPC Chairman Lee Yeh-kwong.

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Amid increasing number of students coming to Britain, migration has risen by more than 20 percent last year in the country. Net long-term immigration was 196,000 last year, compared with 163,000 in 2008. The number of visas issued to students rose 35 percent to 362,015 in the year to June, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Increasing number of foreigners have been coming to the country for attending colleges and universities since a points-based system was introduced by the Labour government. But, campaign groups have claimed the system is a loophole, and said that many British students are giving up their plans to pursue further education because of unprecedented places.

Immigration Minister, Damian Green, has announced that there will be a thorough review of the rules. Many students enter Britain, with universities seeing them as a lucrative source of income at a time of cuts to higher education budgets. A recent research showed that a third of universities were preparing to increase the number of foreign undergraduates they admit from September.

Besides enrollment in traditional universities, tens of thousands of foreign students have been admitted to 600 ‘lower tier’ colleges, at which it is easier to gain a place but which are still accredited to hand out bachelor degrees. Last year, it emerged that some of these colleges offered qualifications in subjects such as circus skills, acupuncture and ancient medicine. Many of their students are given the right to work in Britain after graduating. The report said about 4,000 illegal immigrants are also thought to have taken advantage of bogus colleges to slip into the country.

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A significantly lower number of people in the southeastern city of Mardin have applied to authorities this year to visit their relatives in Syria during the three day festival after the month of Ramadan, known as Eid al Fitr in Arabic. Officials say the decrease in numbers can be attributed to the mutual waiver of visas between Turkey and Syria in a deal struck earlier this year.

Every year, Turkey and Syria open the Hudut Gate at the Mardin border for visits between the two sides during religious holidays. The governor of the Nusaybin district, Murat Girgin, says 6,000 Turkish citizens are able to enter Syria during the holiday according to a protocol signed with Syria. However, only 2,030 people have applied this year. The application period has now expired.

Murat Girgin said that a total of 2,030 Turkish citizens will visit their Syrian relatives using their identification cards on the second day of the Ramadan holiday and will be able to stay there for 48 hours. Turkish citizens who spend the holiday with their relatives in Syria can bring back up to 300 euros worth of goods through customs.

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The Department of Homeland Security is systematically reviewing thousands of pending immigration cases and moving to dismiss those filed against suspected illegal immigrants who have no serious criminal records, according to several sources familiar with the efforts.

Culling the immigration court system dockets of noncriminals started in earnest in Houston about a month ago and has stunned local immigration attorneys, who have reported coming to court anticipating clients’ deportations only to learn that the government was dismissing their cases.

Richard Rocha, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman, said Tuesday that the review is part of the agency’s broader, nationwide strategy to prioritize the deportations of illegal immigrants who pose a threat to national security and public safety. Rocha declined to provide further details.

Critics assailed the plan as another sign that the Obama administration is trying to create a kind of backdoor “amnesty” program.