UK Immigration Runs Pilot Of Visa Expiry 'reminder' Service

The UK's immigration authorities have announced a new scheme to remind foreign nationals in the UK when their visa is close to expiry. The pilot scheme has already started.
 
The Home Office has randomly selected a proportion of those whose visas are due to expire in June 2013. It has asked Capita to contact everyone in this sample by letter, email or text message to remind them that their visas will expire soon. The communication will advise the selected visa holders to either apply for a new visa, for a visa extension, or to prepare to leave the country.
Capita will send a further reminder one month before each visa holder's visa is due to expire and another seven days before the expiry date.

Home Office 'will update records' if they are wrong

The Home Office has issued a statement reading; 'we will continue to work closely with Capita to ensure information provided is accurate. If we receive evidence to show that an individual's leave is not due to expire in the next 2 months, they have already applied to extend their leave or they have left the UK, we will update our records."

If you are in the UK with a time-limited UK visa such as a Tier 1 high value migrant visa, a Tier 2 skilled worker visa or a Tier 4 student visa and you need help dealing with a renewal, you should give us a call. We have 25 years of experience dealing with the Home Office and we will be able to advise you about all your options.'

Senior Capita staff told the Westminster parliament's Home Affairs Committee that the emails had been sent to the wrong people because the UKBA had wrongly given Capita the names of people who had leave to remain. The UKBA has since been abolished by the Home Secretary Theresa May who said that the agency was 'not good enough'.

If you would like to apply for a UK visa, GlobalMigrate.com can help.GlobalMigrate.com is a specialist visa consultancy . We can help with a wide range of visa applications to your country of choice. Please feel free to contact us for further details. Visit Us At:www.global-migrate.com Or Contact Us At: +44 (0) 207 - 993 - 4762  
 

Facebook Founder Announces Pro-Immigration Lobby Group

Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of facebook, has announced that he and other tech industry bosses have founded Fwd.us, a group which will lobby for reform of the US immigration and education systems. It has appointed advisors from both the Republican and the Democratic parties and will aim to be politically neutral. The group includes numerous well-known Silicon Valley figures including Marissa Meyer of Yahoo and Eric Schmidt of Google.


Mr Zuckerberg wrote an opinion piece which appeared in The Washington Post on Thursday April 11th 2013 in which he calls for

• Comprehensive immigration reform 'allowing us to attract the most talented and hardest-working people no matter where they were born'
• Better education for US students, particularly in technology, engineering and mathematics
• Greater investment in scientific research for the public good.

Mr Zuckerberg says that the US is a land of immigrants. He is the great-grandchild of immigrants and a great example of the American story. He says 'My great-grandparents came through Ellis Island (the island where European immigrants arrived in New York). My grandfathers were a mailman and a police officer. My parents are doctors. I started a company.'

He continues 'None of this could have happened without a welcoming immigration policy'. He adds 'Today's students should have the same opportunities – but our current system blocks them. We have a strange immigration policy for a nation of migrants. And it's a policy unfit for today's world'.

US needs 'the most talented and hardest working people'

 

He says that it is especially important in today's world to retain the brightest immigrants in the US because 'today's economy is based primarily on knowledge and ideas – resources that are renewable and available to everyone….To lead the world in this new economy, we need the most talented and hardest-working people'.Mr Zuckerberg asks, when ideas are so important,

• 'Why do we kick out the more than 40% of math and science graduate students who are not US citizens after educating them?
• Why do we offer so few H-1B visas for talented specialists that the supply runs out within days of becoming available each year, even though we know each of these jobs will create two or three more American jobs in return?
• Why don't we let entrepreneurs move here when they have what it takes to start companies that will create even more jobs?'
•  

Tech industry wants to see everyone benefit from knowledge economy

 

Mr Zuckerberg says that the new organisation, FWD.us will work with both political parties and the presidential administration to try to see its goals implemented. He says that it will use 'online and offline advocacy tools to build support for policy changes' and will aim to see 'all members of society gain from the rewards of the modern knowledge economy.

The US tech industry has long been campaigning for reform of the US immigration system. Since 2007, the sector has backed various bills which would have seen

• More H-1B visas – Temporary work visas which allow foreign graduates to work in the US in a 'specialty occupation'.
• L-1 visas – L-1 visas are intra company transfer visas that allow international companies to transfer staff from overseas branches to the US.
  • L-1A visas are for managers and
  • L-1B visas are for skilled workers with 'specialized knowledge' of the 'petitioning organization's product, service, research, equipment, techniques, management, or other interests and its application in international markets, or an advanced level of knowledge or expertise in the organization's processes and procedures'.
• Employment-based permanent resident visas for graduates and entrepreneurs

If you would like to apply for a US visa, GlobalMigrate.com can help.GlobalMigrate.com is a specialist visa consultancy . We can help with a wide range of visa applications to your country of choice. Please feel free to contact us for further details. Visit Us At:www.global-migrate.com Or Contact Us At: +44 (0) 207 - 993 - 4762   

USCIS Holds Lottery To Pick Successful H-1B Applications

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that it has held a lottery to decide which H-1B applications for the 2014 fiscal year will be approved.

Each year, the US issues 65,000 visas to foreign skilled workers to work in the US in 'a specialty occupation'. The workers should have a degree though an applicant with a range of training and experience amounting to 'degree equivalence' may qualify

The US also issues 20,000 H-1Bs to foreign workers with master's degrees or other postgraduate degrees. Where sufficient applications to meet the cap are received in the first week that USCIS begins accepting them, the rules state that USCIS will then hold a lottery for each category to allocate the visas.

We warned of high demand

Global Migrate warned earlier this year that the number of applications for the 2014 fiscal year was likely to be high. We advised all those seeking H-1B visas to get their applications in as soon as possible after USCIS began accepting applications.

This year, USCIS received 124,000 applications by 5th April. It received enough applications to fill the quota for both specialty occupation visas and advanced degree visas and so it has held two lotteries, one to distribute the 20,000 H-1Bs for advanced degree graduates and one to distribute the remaining 65,000 H-1Bs. The lotteries were held on 7th April 2013. The advanced degree visa lottery was held first. The applications of any applicants who were unsuccessful were then entered into the main H-1B lottery, giving graduates with advanced degree a second bite of the cherry.

Each year, USCIS begins accepting applications for the fiscal year beginning on October 1st on April 1st in the same year (though in the preceding fiscal year). The visas will only be valid from the October of the fiscal year for which they are issued. Every year, the number of H-1B petitions far exceeds the 85,000 visas available. This year the quota was reached in the fastest time since 2008 when it took only two days. In 2007, the cap was reached in one day.

H-1B cap is set too low

Some economists are saying that the fact that the lottery was required for the first time in five years is a sign that the US economy is recovering. But many others say merely that it is a sign that the H-1B cap is set far too low.

The world-renowned Economist magazine carried an article on 6th April which said that 'the cap on visas is entirely arbitrary and unnecessary and almost certainly imposes high economic costs on the country'. The article says that 'skilled immigrant workers are more likely…to create patentable inventions or start new businesses' than are natural-born Americans.

The article warns the US that other countries are seeking to attract skilled international workers and reports that Canada has launched its new 'Start-up visa' which will award a permanent resident visa to any foreign entrepreneur who can attract CAN$75,000 in investment from Canadian investors for a business start-up.

If you would like to apply for a US visa, GlobalMigrate.com can help.GlobalMigrate.com is a specialist visa consultancy . We can help with a wide range of visa applications to your country of choice. Please feel free to contact us for further details. Visit Us At:www.global-migrate.com Or Contact Us At: +44 (0) 207 - 993 - 4762  

UK Immigration Grants New Tier 4 Sponsorship Licence To LMU

The UK's Home Office has issued a new Tier 4 sponsorship licence to London Metropolitan University (LMU). The Home Office made the announcement on 9th April 2013 and said the licence would be effective immediately. LMU's previous Tier 4 sponsorship licence was revoked on 29th August 2012.

A Tier 4 sponsorship licence allows a UK educational institution to sponsor potential students from outside the European Economic Area to apply for a UK Tier 4 student visa. You cannot obtain a Tier 4 visa unless you are sponsored by a licenced UK educational establishment.
On 29th August 2012, the UK Border Agency, which was until 1st April 2013 in charge of UK immigration control, revoked LMU's sponsorship licence. The UKBA claimed that it had done so because LMU had not put systems in place to ensure that international students

• Spoke university-standard English
• Attended lectures while at LMU and
• Had valid Tier 4 visas entitling them to study at LMU.

Over 2,000 students told to leave

The UKBA decision meant that LMU was no longer allowed to teach international students. Over 2,000 international students already studying at LMU were told that they would have to find new courses elsewhere, obtain sponsorship from the new university and apply for a new Tier 4 visa (costing £716) from the UKBA if they wanted to continue their study in the UK, otherwise they would have to leave the country.

The decision caused considerable controversy. The National Union of Students condemned the decision as did Universities UK, the umbrella body for UK universities. It was rumoured that the decision caused a cabinet rift between Home Secretary Theresa May who supported the UKBA on the one side and Chancellor George Osborne and Business Secretary Vince Cable who opposed it on the other.

The vice chancellor of LMU, Malcolm Gillies, said that the UKBA decision was 'outrageous'. He said that LMU had made every effort to comply with the UKBA rules but said that UKBA rules were self-contradictory and almost impossible to comply with.

Judge allowed students to continue their studies

LMU immediately issued a statement saying that it would challenge the UKBA's decision in court. At an initial hearing in September 2012, the judge, Mr Justice Irwin, made an order that those students who were already studying at LMU should be allowed to continue with their studies for the time being, until the case was heard.

He also ordered that 1,000 students who were about to start courses in October should be allowed to do so, providing they had the correct visa. He barred LMU from sponsoring any further international students until the case was heard. The case is expected to come to court soon.

The UKBA was abolished on 1st April 2013 at the order of the Home Secretary, Theresa May. Mrs May announced her decision on 26th March 2013 and said she had decided to abolish it because it was 'not good enough'. Many people agreed with Mrs May. A committee of MPs, The Home Affairs Committee, whose job it was to scrutinise the work of the Home Office and the UKBA, issued many damning reports about the agency.

The chairman of the committee, Keith Vaz, a Labour MP, welcomed Mrs May's decision saying that it would enable the UK to gain control of its immigration system which has been out-of-control for years.

UKBA dismantled after scathing criticism

Last month, the committee released a highly critical report about the running of the UKBA which said that between July and September 2012, the UKBA processed just 14% of postal applications for Tier 4 visas within its target time of four weeks and just 18% of Tier 1 visa applications. Mrs May announced that it would be abolished it the next day.

The Home Office issued a statement on 9th April saying that it was now satisfied that LMU had put right all the flaws in its systems and so could have a new licence.

The statement read 'Home Office inspection teams looked at areas of concern that led to the revocation of the university's licence last year and have worked with university staff to ensure they have appropriate processes for recruiting and monitoring their international students'.

If you would like to apply for a UK visa, GlobalMigrate.com can help.GlobalMigrate.com is a specialist visa consultancy . We can help with a wide range of visa applications to your country of choice. Please feel free to contact us for further details. Visit Us At:www.global-migrate.com Or Contact Us At: +44 (0) 207 - 993 - 4762  

US Immigration Releases Waiting Times For Employment-Based Green Cards

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has released its March bulletin setting out the 'cut-off priority dates' of the green cards being processed in April 2013. The bulletin shows that there are long waiting times in many immigration categories.

Informing the public of cut-off priority dates is USCIS's somewhat confusing way of letting people who have made their applications for US permanent resident status know how long they will have to wait before they can finally get their 'green card' or permanent resident visa.

There is great demand for US green cards, not least in Employment-based (EB) visa categories, such as the EB-3 category for 'skilled workers and professionals'. The US operates a quota system and only a fixed number of green cards in any immigration category can be granted in any one year. Those that cannot get a green card immediately have to wait in line until one becomes available.

Consequently, some people have to wait a very long time for their green cards, particularly in popular categories such as EB-3. In order to try and keep people informed of processing times, USCIS issues a monthly bulletin which tells applicants what the expected 'cut-off priority date' for that month will be.

Priority dates explained 

An applicant's 'priority date' for an employment based immigrant petition is either the date on which an immigrant petition is filed with USCIS or the date that the Labor Certification application was filed with the Department of Labor.In cases where no Labor Certification is required the priority date is the date when the immigrant petition is filed with USCIS, typically using the I-140 form. In most employment based immigration categories you will need to file a Program Electronic Review Management (PERM) Labor Certification application with the Department of Labor (DOL) which will then be the priority date. Where this is the case, the applicant will usually, assuming successful Labor Certification, file an I-140 petition; the priority date will be the date of the filing of the PERM application with the DOL which is an earlier date than the filing of the immigrant petition with the USCIS.
USCIS usually processes I-140s within six months and then sends the visa to the National Visa Center for 'visa allocation'. However, because demand is so much greater than supply, successful applicants will then often have to wait for many years before a green card becomes available. The USCIS rules state that applicants are not allowed to submit their form I-485 application for 'adjustment of status' to become US permanent residents until a visa is available for them. This, is where the cut-off priority date comes in.
If USCIS says that the cut-off priority date for, say, April 2013, is 1 July 2005, then this means that, if your form I-140 was filed with USCIS before 1st July 2005, then, at the end of April, you should have reached the front of the queue and you will be able to take the next step and send your I-485 form to USCIS. USCIS will then process your form I-485 and adjust your status to become a US permanent resident with a US green card. If you send your I-485 to USCIS before your priority date is current, the USCIS mail room will return your application.

Some progress in eliminating backlogs

 

In its March bulletin, USCIS says it has made some progress in eliminating backlogs but it is still processing some employment based category 3 (EB-3) green card applications that were made over ten years ago.Under the US system, there are caps for each type of employment-based green card. In addition, there is a limit on the proportion of the year's allocation of any type of visa that can go to applicants from any one nation; nationals of a country such as India can receive no more than 7% of the green cards in any of the employment based immigration categories in any year. Because Indians account for many more than 7% of the applications for EB-3 permanent resident visas (or green cards) granted in any one year, applicants from India face longer waiting times than applicants from other countries from where fewer applicants come.
To take the EB-3 category again, there is an annual cap of 41,455 green cards that can be granted to EB-3 applicants. EB-3 green cards go to skilled workers, professionals and 'other workers'. USCIS is currently processing applications from before 1 July 2007 for applicants from most countries – a waiting list of nearly six years. Demand from India is so great that USCIS is currently processing applications from Indians who applied before 8th December 2002, a waiting time of over ten years. Many EB-3 visas are taken by IT professionals and it is because of India's predominance in the field of IT that its citizens have to wait for so long. EB-3 applicants from the Philippines are currently waiting nearly seven years.

Other employment based green card waiting times 

 

There are currently no waiting lists for EB-1 visas for priority workers. Priority workers fall into three categories; people with extraordinary ability in the arts or sciences, skilled academics and managers and executives.Applicants for EB-2 green cards from most countries are processed without delay but USCIS is currently processing EB-2 applications from Chinese applicants who applied before April 2008; a five year wait and Indian applications from before September 2004; a wait of over eight years. There are three sub-categories in EB-2;

• Members of the professions with 'exceptional ability' in the arts and sciences or business.
• Those with 'advanced degrees' such as masters' degrees in a subject related to a 'profession' such as architecture, law, medicine, accountancy or engineering
• Those whose presence in the US would be in the 'national interest' such as doctors who agree to work in areas where there is a shortage of doctors. It is not easy to qualify for the 'national interest waiver' as to grant an EB-2 national interest waiver visa, USCIS will want to be satisfied that it will 'greatly benefit' the USA to do so.

If you would like to apply for a US visa, GlobalMigrate.com can help.GlobalMigrate.com is a specialist visa consultancy . We can help with a wide range of visa applications to your country of choice. Please feel free to contact us for further details. Visit Us At:www.global-migrate.com Or Contact Us At: +44 (0) 207 - 993 - 4762 

Australian Government Criticised For Misleading Immigration Figures

The Australian immigration minister has released figures which show that there were 12% more Temporary Work (Skilled) (Subclass 457) visas granted in February 2013 than in the same month in 2012.

Mr O'Connor said that this sharp rise justified the plans of the Australian government to reform the 457 visa system to prevent abuse of the system or 'rorting' as it is known in Australia. Critics say that most 457 visa applications are not fraudulent and that the visas are issued to foreign workers who are filling genuine gaps in the Australian labour market. They also say that the February figures have been taken out of context and are misleading because the number of 457 visas granted has actually been falling since August 2012.


In March, Mr O'Connor said 'Rogue employers are deliberately employing people from overseas without giving a local a chance' and called for a reform of the 457 visa system. On 3rd April, Mr O'Connor said 'The 457 increase continues…which…underlines the need to bring about the reforms so that the 457 visa is used for the purposes it was constructed – which, of course, is to fill temporary shortages'.

Number of 457 visas was dropping 

But figures from DIAC, the Australian government's Department for Immigration and Citizenship show that the number of 457 visas has actually been dropping since last August. They show that the February figure was an anomaly in a generally downward trend.

Australian industry body the Australian Industry Group (AIG) said that the figure does not show that there has been abuse of the system but, instead, shows that the 457 visas system is working. Innes Wilcox of the AIG said 'These latest figures, to us, just demonstrate that this is a system that is working, that is flexible…It (the figure) does move around from month to month and just to pick out one month is slightly misleading. When you have unions themselves using 457 visas to fill skill gaps that makes you realise that we do have a low unemployment rate in Australia. We do have skills shortages in quite specific areas and in quite specific regions'.

Australian employers can only employ a worker with a 457 visa if they are going to perform an occupation which is on the Australian Consolidated Shortage Occupations List, a list of occupations for which, the Australian government says, there is a shortage of trained Australians.

Though Australian unions have been leading calls for a clampdown on rorting of the 457 system, one union has had to admit that it has brought in workers on 457 visas itself. The Transport Workers Union employed three 457 workers as officials. TWU secretary Tony Sheldon told the Australian press on April 3rd 2013 that the union had been unable to find anyone who was able to fill the roles in Australia.

Gillard is 'demonising foreigners' – Abbott

 

The Australian opposition leader Tony Abbott has complained that Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and her Labor government are attempting to drum up support for the forthcoming election in September 2013 by 'demonising foreigners'. Ms Gillard has said that her party will introduce legislation to reform the 457 visa system and 'put Aussie workers first'.

The Australian opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said that the extra visas issued in February were issued because they were required. He said '457 approvals are a function of demand. It's a demand driven program and the minister seems to completely not understand this'.

Meanwhile in South Australia the state government revealed that of the 1,360 workers in the state on 457 visas, 20% work in the public sector, 93% of them in health services. South Australia's Manufacturing and Innovation Minister Tom Kenyon said 'it's resident medical officers, registrars, nurses and medical practitioners in general. They're skills we may not have to hand immediately and we need'.

If you would like to apply for a Australian visa, GlobalMigrate.com can help. GlobalMigrate.com is a specialist visa consultancy . We can help with a wide range of visa applications to your country of choice. Please feel free to contact us for further details. Visit Us At: www.global-migrate.com Or Contact Us At: +44 (0) 207 - 993 - 4762

London Mayor Boris Johnson has said that it is 'no wonder' that young Britons are being outcompeted for jobs by immigrants who come to the UK from eastern Europe. Mr Johnson says that eastern Europeans are better educated than Britons and more industrious.

Mr Johnson said that it was 'economically illiterate' to blame the immigrants for getting jobs or for 'getting up early and working hard and being polite and helpful'.

Writing in UK newspaper The Daily Telegraph, Mr Johnson tells his readers that he was cycling to work 'the other day' when he met a recruitment consultant called Katie. The woman recruited staff for restaurants in London. Mr Johnson says that he asked Katie what percentage of the posts that she filled was taken by British workers. Katie told Mr Johnson that only about 10% of jobs went to British-born workers.

She told him, he said 'It's the schools, I think. They teach the kids that they can earn all this money but they don't explain that they will have to work hard. The people I recruit have a different work ethic'.

Without immigrants there would be 'fewer restaurants' in London

 

Mr Johnson also argues against the notion that the jobs taken by foreign workers would be taken by UK workers if the foreign workers were excluded from the UK labour market. He says that, instead, it is likely that, if the jobs were not filled by foreign workers 'the chances are there would be fewer restaurants, since the costs would be higher and the service less good and the reputation of London as the world capital of posh tucker (haute cuisine) would be less exalted than it is today'.

Mr Johnson blames the former Labour government of the UK for allowing the UK's schools to deteriorate. He says that about 25% of UK school children leave primary school unable to read, write or do basic maths and this means that UK school leavers will lose out to 'industrious people from eastern Europe who can take down a telephone message correctly.'

Mr Johnson says that the Labour government did not reform the school system and instead used immigration to fill the skilled roles that ill-educated Britons could no longer perform. He says that the current government must reform the education system to enable British workers to do the jobs in future that they cannot do today.

Global-migrate.com is a specialist visa consultancy with nearly twenty-five years of experience dealing with visa applications. We are OISC registered. We can help with a wide range of visa applications to the UK or your country of choice. Please feel free to contact us for further details.

Home » News » UK Immigration News

London mayor says hard-working immigrants out-compete Britons

09 April 2013

---

For concise and recent immigration information watch our news.

London Mayor Boris Johnson has said that it is 'no wonder' that young Britons are being outcompeted for jobs by immigrants who come to the UK from eastern Europe. Mr Johnson says that eastern Europeans are better educated than Britons and more industrious.
Mr Johnson said that it was 'economically illiterate' to blame the immigrants for getting jobs or for 'getting up early and working hard and being polite and helpful'.

Latest news

• 09 April 2013 UK MP warns against immigration 'arms race'
• 05 April 2013 Think tank says scrapping UK immigration authority could be a mistake
• 03 April 2013 UK ministers considered barring children of illegal immigrants from schools

Writing in UK newspaper The Daily Telegraph, Mr Johnson tells his readers that he was cycling to work 'the other day' when he met a recruitment consultant called Katie. The woman recruited staff for restaurants in London. Mr Johnson says that he asked Katie what percentage of the posts that she filled was taken by British workers. Katie told Mr Johnson that only about 10% of jobs went to British-born workers.
She told him, he said 'It's the schools, I think. They teach the kids that they can earn all this money but they don't explain that they will have to work hard. The people I recruit have a different work ethic'.

Without immigrants there would be 'fewer restaurants' in London

Mr Johnson also argues against the notion that the jobs taken by foreign workers would be taken by UK workers if the foreign workers were excluded from the UK labour market. He says that, instead, it is likely that, if the jobs were not filled by foreign workers 'the chances are there would be fewer restaurants, since the costs would be higher and the service less good and the reputation of London as the world capital of posh tucker (haute cuisine) would be less exalted than it is today'.Mr Johnson blames the former Labour government of the UK for allowing the UK's schools to deteriorate. He says that about 25% of UK school children leave primary school unable to read, write or do basic maths and this means that UK school leavers will lose out to 'industrious people from eastern Europe who can take down a telephone message correctly.'
Mr Johnson says that the Labour government did not reform the school system and instead used immigration to fill the skilled roles that ill-educated Britons could no longer perform. He says that the current government must reform the education system to enable British workers to do the jobs in future that they cannot do today.

global-migrate is a specialist visa consultancy. We are OISC registered. We can help with a wide range of visa applications to the UK or your country of choice. Please feel free to contact us for further details.