Indian Immigration to Canada should be encouraged

Former Canadian immigration minister Monte Solberg says that immigration solves many problems in Canada, including labour shortages.

"Immigration should be encouraged between India and Canada to build strong connections between the two nations," he said, adding that health care workers were in particular demand.

Canada offers a variety of skilled immigration routes such as the Provincial Nominee program; This allows skilled Indian workers to gain permanent residence in Canada through sponsorship from a Province or Territory which is experiencing skills gaps in certain sectors. There is also an independent points based system called the Federal Skilled Worker program.

He also talked about lesser known immigration routes into Canada used by Indians such as the immigrant investor scheme.

Solberg said that people wishing to come under the immigrant investor scheme to Canada could gain permanent residence quite easily. He went on to say that the success rate for applications under the immigration investor scheme from Punjab, for example, was at 100 percent.

According to Solberg, immigration policy is unlikely to change in the near future.

UK expects 230,000 fewer student visas over next 5 years

The UK Government has announced that it expects to reduce the level of student immigration into the country by almost a quarter million over the next five years, due to stricter visa rules.

A Home Office report said that the new student visa rules should lead to total net student migration from outside the European Union being reduced by 230,000 between 2011 and 2015.

This is only about half the reduction announced by Theresa May, Home Secretary, in March when she gave details on the student visa changes. She said then that the curbs would reduce net immigration by 400,000.

The Government is coming under increasing criticism for its policy on immigration. Much of the net immigration into the UK comes from EU countries; Britain is required under EU law to allow citizens of most EU countries to live and work in the UK.

By restricting immigration of non-EU immigrants, the UK is damaging its global competitiveness by denying British firms top overseas talent. This is also causing problems for the UK's £40 billion per year education sector. Immigration restrictions are putting off overseas students from coming to the UK

UK Student Tier 4 Visa - More restrictions on working

There have been significant changes to the Tier 4 student visa category recently. The Tier 4 student visa changes include the following:

• You will only be allowed to work in the UK if you are a student sponsored by higher education institutions (HEIs) and publicly funded further education colleges. You will be able to work part-time during term time and full-time during holidays.
• You will only be able to sponsor dependants if you are a student sponsored by a higher education institution on postgraduate courses lasting 12 months or longer, and if you are a government-sponsored student on courses lasting longer than 6 months;
• You will only be allowed to continue studying in a new course if the educational institution confirms that the new courses represent genuine academic progression from previous courses studied in the UK.
• There will be a streamlined application process if you are considered to be a low-risk national sponsored by Highly Trusted sponsors.

Students have in the past been attracted to the UK because they have been able to work while studying and because there was in many cases a route to permanent residence and eventual citizenship in the UK. There has been a significant reduction in the number of students who are allowed to work in the UK. Tier 1 Post Study Work will be abolished in April 2012. UK immigration is making it increasingly difficult to gain permanent residence in the UK. In the long term further restrictions on student immigration to the UK may very well cause damage to the UK economy.

Bulgaria Launches Blue Card Scheme, Welcomes Non-EU Workers

As of June 20, Bulgarian companies, which are experiencing shortages of highly qualified and highly skilled workers, can hire citizens of countries outside the European Union.

Workers from outside the European Union can apply to work in Bulgaria under the EU Blue Card scheme, which allows workers with a job offer to take employment in a member state.

One of the requirements for a non-EU citizen to get a blue card is a higher education certificate. The applicants also have to have at least five years of experience in the job position they apply for.

The workers will be hired only if there are no suitable Bulgarian applications for the vacant position.

The document, which very much resembles an identity card, will be issued by the Interior Ministry after the applicant has obtained the approval of the Employment Agency.

The blue card scheme is expected to attract citizens of countries such as Ukraine, Serbia, Russia, Turkey, Croatia, and Moldavia to Bulgaria.

Once hired, the foreigner will have to work in Bulgaria at least one year after which he is entitled to move to another EU country. There however he can stay for no more than 3 years. When this period expires, he will be obliged to return to his home country for 18 months.

In Bulgaria the Blue Card will be issued for about two weeks. The document allows the holder to take his family too. It will not be given to asylum seekers and nationals of third countries operating in the EU as seasonal workers.

The EU Commission has given EU member states until 1 July to implement the blue card directive. Not every member state will take part in the program. For example the UK is one country that will not allow entry of people under the Blue Card scheme.