The Australian Department of Immigration are introducing a new system for occupational coding.
The new system is called the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO). This replaces the previous ASCO coding system and is being introduced as the new standard to capture occupation information in all visa, settlement and citizenship programs.
ANZSCO will also be used within skilled visa programs, where it is a requirement for visa eligibility, as the standard by which a visa applicant's skills to undertake a specific occupation in Australia are assessed.
For more information, see www.immi.gov.au
www.commonwealthimmigration.com
www.teaching-australia.com
Wednesday 30 June 2010
Tuesday 29 June 2010
UK government to introduce Tier 1 and Tier 2 visa "caps"
28 June 2010
The UK government have today announced that they are pressing ahead with plans to implement a cap or quota on all non-EU economic migrants.
This is likely to affect all applications for Tier 1 and Tier 2 visas.
A permanent cap is set to be introduced from April 2011. In the meantime, a temporary cap is to be imposed which will see overall numbers between now and April 2011, reduced by 5 %.
The criteria for Tier 1 visas (Highly Skilled workers) is to be tightened from July 19th by increasing the points threshold by 5 points.
We therefore advise all applicants and employers to look at applying for such visas, as soon as possible. The announcement of a cap is unprecedented in UK immigration and is likely to lead to an increase in applications.
This may then lead to visas being unavailable until the new visa year commences in April 2011. The new criteria effective from April 2011 may well see further restrictions to ensure an immigration cap is effective.
If you wish to go ahead with a Tier 1 or Tier 2 application, then please contact us so that we can assess your eligibility
www.commonwealthimmigration.com
www.teaching-australia.com
The UK government have today announced that they are pressing ahead with plans to implement a cap or quota on all non-EU economic migrants.
This is likely to affect all applications for Tier 1 and Tier 2 visas.
A permanent cap is set to be introduced from April 2011. In the meantime, a temporary cap is to be imposed which will see overall numbers between now and April 2011, reduced by 5 %.
The criteria for Tier 1 visas (Highly Skilled workers) is to be tightened from July 19th by increasing the points threshold by 5 points.
We therefore advise all applicants and employers to look at applying for such visas, as soon as possible. The announcement of a cap is unprecedented in UK immigration and is likely to lead to an increase in applications.
This may then lead to visas being unavailable until the new visa year commences in April 2011. The new criteria effective from April 2011 may well see further restrictions to ensure an immigration cap is effective.
If you wish to go ahead with a Tier 1 or Tier 2 application, then please contact us so that we can assess your eligibility
www.commonwealthimmigration.com
www.teaching-australia.com
Thursday 24 June 2010
new Australian Prime Minister
Australia has its first female Prime Minister. Julia Gillard was sworn in after the ruling Kevin Rudd stepped down.
It will be interesting to see if this leads to a ministerial reshuffle and any change to the incumbent Chris Evans, as Minister for Immigration.
Will this lead to any delay in implementing the new immigration points system effective on 1st July ?
www.commonwealthimmigration.com
www.teaching-australia.com
It will be interesting to see if this leads to a ministerial reshuffle and any change to the incumbent Chris Evans, as Minister for Immigration.
Will this lead to any delay in implementing the new immigration points system effective on 1st July ?
www.commonwealthimmigration.com
www.teaching-australia.com
Tuesday 22 June 2010
Press Release - Stamford restaurant faces fine for illegal workers
Stamford restaurant faces £50,000 fine!
Why are some employers so stupid - if you break UK immigration laws you risk losing your business and face very heavy fines and even imprisonment:
This has been published by the Border Agency today.
It states “Five illegal workers have been caught in Stamford by our officers.
Acting on intelligence, our officers visited the Voujon Indian restaurant in Broad Street at 1805 on 10 June 2010. The officers sealed all exits before interviewing the workers and checking their immigration status.”
Rachel Challis, UK Border Agency's Boston-based team, said:
'We will continue to pull the plug on the illegal jobs which lure illegal immigrants to come to the UK. Anyone in Lincolnshire who takes on a foreign national without permission to work is breaking the law and undermining law-abiding businesses.
'Rogue employers should be warned that they face heavy fines and could end up in jail.”
UK immigration can become complex but as Tim McMahon, who is a Cambridge based UK government registered immigration consultant, says absolutely that UK immigration rules are not to be messed with.
The UK government have a clearly set of employment rules that state what and when employers can employ workers from countries outside of the European Union.
We have helped many businesses with very varied backgrounds secure the necessary work visas for overseas staff. These are qualified specialists that the business needs. Because these individuals are rare and in demand it is essential to manage the process by the regulations to the benefit of all involved.
An important point is that the UK Borders & Immigration officers do publicise those employers who break the law and that will be bad for business at any time – even worse in hard economic times with many job shortages and customers definitely won’t like it.
www.commonwealthimmigration.com
www.teaching-australia.com
Why are some employers so stupid - if you break UK immigration laws you risk losing your business and face very heavy fines and even imprisonment:
This has been published by the Border Agency today.
It states “Five illegal workers have been caught in Stamford by our officers.
Acting on intelligence, our officers visited the Voujon Indian restaurant in Broad Street at 1805 on 10 June 2010. The officers sealed all exits before interviewing the workers and checking their immigration status.”
Rachel Challis, UK Border Agency's Boston-based team, said:
'We will continue to pull the plug on the illegal jobs which lure illegal immigrants to come to the UK. Anyone in Lincolnshire who takes on a foreign national without permission to work is breaking the law and undermining law-abiding businesses.
'Rogue employers should be warned that they face heavy fines and could end up in jail.”
UK immigration can become complex but as Tim McMahon, who is a Cambridge based UK government registered immigration consultant, says absolutely that UK immigration rules are not to be messed with.
The UK government have a clearly set of employment rules that state what and when employers can employ workers from countries outside of the European Union.
We have helped many businesses with very varied backgrounds secure the necessary work visas for overseas staff. These are qualified specialists that the business needs. Because these individuals are rare and in demand it is essential to manage the process by the regulations to the benefit of all involved.
An important point is that the UK Borders & Immigration officers do publicise those employers who break the law and that will be bad for business at any time – even worse in hard economic times with many job shortages and customers definitely won’t like it.
www.commonwealthimmigration.com
www.teaching-australia.com
Thursday 17 June 2010
Canada - still talking about changes
It is now a few months since the Canadian government launched a review into their current skilled worker programme with a view to perhaps expanding the occupations list.
We still have had no developments in this area, to the frustration of many potential immigrants. The current occupations list is very short and most analysts think it needs to be expanded to meet Canada's current and future needs.
The latest update is as follows from the government's website;
"Federal, provincial and territorial ministers responsible for immigration met in Ottawa today to discuss ways to improve Canada’s immigration system, given its increasing importance to Canada’s future"
It seems that everything seems to think we need change but nobody has announced any changes yet !
We'll publish any new regulations as soon as we hear about them.
www.commonwealthimmigration.com
www.teaching-australia.com
We still have had no developments in this area, to the frustration of many potential immigrants. The current occupations list is very short and most analysts think it needs to be expanded to meet Canada's current and future needs.
The latest update is as follows from the government's website;
"Federal, provincial and territorial ministers responsible for immigration met in Ottawa today to discuss ways to improve Canada’s immigration system, given its increasing importance to Canada’s future"
It seems that everything seems to think we need change but nobody has announced any changes yet !
We'll publish any new regulations as soon as we hear about them.
www.commonwealthimmigration.com
www.teaching-australia.com
Tuesday 15 June 2010
Australia - State sponsorship
As many of you will be aware, the overall points system and framework for Australia will be changed on July 1st. Exactly how it will be changed, we do not know.
However, there will still be a role for State sponsored migration.
This will be through State Migration Plans (SMP). Each state will be able to submit a SMP to the Federal government for approval. This will then detail the occupations in that state that are in shortage, and that the state can select for migration.
Broadly speaking, the system should be similiar to the current state sponsored category of subclass 176. However, until the new system is launched many states are not accepting new applications for state sponsorship.
The recent unveiling of the new Skilled Occupation List with fewer ocupations, means that state sponsorship through SMPs will be an important route forward for many hopeful applicants.
www.commonwealthimmigration.com
www.teaching-australia.com
However, there will still be a role for State sponsored migration.
This will be through State Migration Plans (SMP). Each state will be able to submit a SMP to the Federal government for approval. This will then detail the occupations in that state that are in shortage, and that the state can select for migration.
Broadly speaking, the system should be similiar to the current state sponsored category of subclass 176. However, until the new system is launched many states are not accepting new applications for state sponsorship.
The recent unveiling of the new Skilled Occupation List with fewer ocupations, means that state sponsorship through SMPs will be an important route forward for many hopeful applicants.
www.commonwealthimmigration.com
www.teaching-australia.com
Wednesday 9 June 2010
new English rules for UK immigrants
The government is moving ahead with plans to require those marrying UK citizens to prove they have a command of English.
The rules will require that anyone from outside the EU applying for a visa to join their spouse or partner will have to prove they have a basic command of English.
This will include spouses, partners, same sex partners and fiances. Although the level of English required will only be basic we hope that those from majority English speaking countries will be exempt. This will hopefully provide exemptions to those from majority English speaking countries such as in the Tier 1 visa process.
For full details see
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/newsarticles/2010/268071/15migrants-english-requirement
For everything to do with immigration, see
www.commonwealthimmigration.com
www.teaching-australia.com
The rules will require that anyone from outside the EU applying for a visa to join their spouse or partner will have to prove they have a basic command of English.
This will include spouses, partners, same sex partners and fiances. Although the level of English required will only be basic we hope that those from majority English speaking countries will be exempt. This will hopefully provide exemptions to those from majority English speaking countries such as in the Tier 1 visa process.
For full details see
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/newsarticles/2010/268071/15migrants-english-requirement
For everything to do with immigration, see
www.commonwealthimmigration.com
www.teaching-australia.com
Tuesday 8 June 2010
our latest newsletter
Dear Subscriber,
Welcome to the Commonwealth Immigration Newsletter.
Please feel free to forward this newsletter on to your friends and family. However, if you no longer wish to receive this newsletter then just send us an email and we'll delete your details straightaway.
Previous issues of the newsletter are available to read on our website. You can also now click onto dedicated Country Info pages on our website for each of the countries that we specialise in.
Just go to www.commonwealthimmigration.com and click “Countries and Visas”.
UK – NEW GOVERNMENT TO IMPLEMENT QUOTA?
The new UK government took office last month with Damian Green appointed as Minister for Immigration.
The coalition government between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats has reached compromise on many issues. However the government has still retained the Conservative idea of a “cap” or quota on numbers, as their main immigration policy.
The following is an extract from the agreed Programme for Government on the subject of immigration;
“The Government believes that immigration has enriched our culture and strengthened our economy, but that it must be controlled so that people have confidence in the system. We also recognise that to ensure cohesion and protect our public services, we need to introduce a cap on immigration and reduce the number of non EU immigrants.”
No timeframe has been indicated for this and it is important to stress that it does not affect EU migrants or migrants in other categories such as spouses, students etc..
However, this may logically result in an annual quota of visas to be granted, in categories such as Tier 1 and Tier 2. Applicants intending to apply in these categories may be advised to start the process sooner rather than later, in case a future quota would work to their detriment.
In any event, new figures show that net migration to the UK is set to drop below 100,000 a year. This of course is a key target of the new government - the aim of reducing the level to "tens of thousands, rather than hundreds of thousands".
New official immigration figures show that more eastern European migrants (from the 2004 Accession countries such as Poland) are leaving than arriving.
The annual citizenship figures for 2009 also published show more than 203,000 people were granted UK citizenship last year.
The overall statistics show a continued decline in net migration to the UK – the number of people coming to work and study minus the number of people leaving to live abroad – to 142,000 in the year to September 2009. This compares with a net migration figure of 160,000 in the previous year to September 2009.
UK info page;
www.commonwealthimmigration.com/united_kingdom_uk.htm
AUSTRALIA – NEW OCCUPATIONS LIST
A new Skilled Occupations List (SOL) for migration to Australia has been published by the Department of Immigration.
The new SOL contains fewer occupations than the old SOL, with a reduction from 408 to 181 occupations.
The new SOL can be viewed at;
http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-skilled-migration/pdf/new-list-of-occupations.pdf
The new list does not affect those whose applications have already been submitted. It also does not affect those looking to apply through State sponsorship.
All State governments in Australian will still be able to sponsor skilled migrants in accordance with the State’s own “State Migration Plan” regardless of whether the migrant’s occupation is on the SOL.
The government’s review into the points system has still not been published.
If you are looking to move to Australia then please contact us so that we can check your eligibility.
Australia info page;
www.commonwealthimmigration.com/australia.htm
KEEP UP TO DATE THROUGH OUR IMMIGRATION BLOG
– UPDATED FREQUENTLY
http://immigration-newsletter.blogspot.com/
We hope that this email has been informative for you. However, remember everyone's circumstances are different so if you or a friend or family member want to check your eligibility to emigrate then either
1) complete the Online Assessment form on our website
http://www.commonwealthimmigration.com
or
2) give us a call on (+44) (0) 1223 830 916
Regards from Commonwealth Immigration
www.teaching-australia.com
http://www.commonwealthimmigration.com
Welcome to the Commonwealth Immigration Newsletter.
Please feel free to forward this newsletter on to your friends and family. However, if you no longer wish to receive this newsletter then just send us an email and we'll delete your details straightaway.
Previous issues of the newsletter are available to read on our website. You can also now click onto dedicated Country Info pages on our website for each of the countries that we specialise in.
Just go to www.commonwealthimmigration.com and click “Countries and Visas”.
UK – NEW GOVERNMENT TO IMPLEMENT QUOTA?
The new UK government took office last month with Damian Green appointed as Minister for Immigration.
The coalition government between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats has reached compromise on many issues. However the government has still retained the Conservative idea of a “cap” or quota on numbers, as their main immigration policy.
The following is an extract from the agreed Programme for Government on the subject of immigration;
“The Government believes that immigration has enriched our culture and strengthened our economy, but that it must be controlled so that people have confidence in the system. We also recognise that to ensure cohesion and protect our public services, we need to introduce a cap on immigration and reduce the number of non EU immigrants.”
No timeframe has been indicated for this and it is important to stress that it does not affect EU migrants or migrants in other categories such as spouses, students etc..
However, this may logically result in an annual quota of visas to be granted, in categories such as Tier 1 and Tier 2. Applicants intending to apply in these categories may be advised to start the process sooner rather than later, in case a future quota would work to their detriment.
In any event, new figures show that net migration to the UK is set to drop below 100,000 a year. This of course is a key target of the new government - the aim of reducing the level to "tens of thousands, rather than hundreds of thousands".
New official immigration figures show that more eastern European migrants (from the 2004 Accession countries such as Poland) are leaving than arriving.
The annual citizenship figures for 2009 also published show more than 203,000 people were granted UK citizenship last year.
The overall statistics show a continued decline in net migration to the UK – the number of people coming to work and study minus the number of people leaving to live abroad – to 142,000 in the year to September 2009. This compares with a net migration figure of 160,000 in the previous year to September 2009.
UK info page;
www.commonwealthimmigration.com/united_kingdom_uk.htm
AUSTRALIA – NEW OCCUPATIONS LIST
A new Skilled Occupations List (SOL) for migration to Australia has been published by the Department of Immigration.
The new SOL contains fewer occupations than the old SOL, with a reduction from 408 to 181 occupations.
The new SOL can be viewed at;
http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-skilled-migration/pdf/new-list-of-occupations.pdf
The new list does not affect those whose applications have already been submitted. It also does not affect those looking to apply through State sponsorship.
All State governments in Australian will still be able to sponsor skilled migrants in accordance with the State’s own “State Migration Plan” regardless of whether the migrant’s occupation is on the SOL.
The government’s review into the points system has still not been published.
If you are looking to move to Australia then please contact us so that we can check your eligibility.
Australia info page;
www.commonwealthimmigration.com/australia.htm
KEEP UP TO DATE THROUGH OUR IMMIGRATION BLOG
– UPDATED FREQUENTLY
http://immigration-newsletter.blogspot.com/
We hope that this email has been informative for you. However, remember everyone's circumstances are different so if you or a friend or family member want to check your eligibility to emigrate then either
1) complete the Online Assessment form on our website
http://www.commonwealthimmigration.com
or
2) give us a call on (+44) (0) 1223 830 916
Regards from Commonwealth Immigration
www.teaching-australia.com
http://www.commonwealthimmigration.com
Thursday 3 June 2010
Australia - Teachers on the new list
The new occupations list has been released for Australia, effective 1st July.
The following Teaching occupations are on the new list;
Early childhood (pre-primary school) teacher
Secondary school teacher
Special needs teacher
Teacher of the hearing impaired
Teacher of the sight impaired
Special education teachers
For more information on migration, please see;
www.commonwealthimmigration.com
www.teaching-australia.com
The following Teaching occupations are on the new list;
Early childhood (pre-primary school) teacher
Secondary school teacher
Special needs teacher
Teacher of the hearing impaired
Teacher of the sight impaired
Special education teachers
For more information on migration, please see;
www.commonwealthimmigration.com
www.teaching-australia.com
Tuesday 1 June 2010
UK migration dropping
New figures show that net migration to the UK is set to drop below 100,000 a year. This of course is a key target of the new government - the aim of reducing the level to "tens of thousands, rather than hundreds of thousands".
New official immigration figures show that more eastern European migrants (from the 2004 Accession countries such as Poland) are leaving than arriving.
The annual citizenship figures for 2009 also published show more than 203,000 people were granted UK citizenship last year.
The overall statistics show a continued decline in net migration to the UK – the number of people coming to work and study minus the number of people leaving to live abroad – to 142,000 in the year to September 2009. This compares with a net migration figure of 160,000 in the previous year to September 2009.
It seems that other factors such as the UK economy and the weak pound, rather than government policy are the main drivers in this reduction.
For more information on migration, please see;
www.commonwealthimmigration.com
www.teaching-australia.com
New official immigration figures show that more eastern European migrants (from the 2004 Accession countries such as Poland) are leaving than arriving.
The annual citizenship figures for 2009 also published show more than 203,000 people were granted UK citizenship last year.
The overall statistics show a continued decline in net migration to the UK – the number of people coming to work and study minus the number of people leaving to live abroad – to 142,000 in the year to September 2009. This compares with a net migration figure of 160,000 in the previous year to September 2009.
It seems that other factors such as the UK economy and the weak pound, rather than government policy are the main drivers in this reduction.
For more information on migration, please see;
www.commonwealthimmigration.com
www.teaching-australia.com
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