Page 3 - Immigration Laws

Starmer, Meloni hold talks on curbing migrant boats reaching UK, Italy

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is meeting Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni in Rome on Monday, as the two very different politicians, from left and right, seek common cause to curb migrants reaching their shores by boat. Support for Ukraine is also on the agenda for the trip, part of Starmer's effort to reset relations with European neighbors after Britain's acrimonious 2020 departure from the European Union. The center-left Labour Party prime minister isn't a natural ally of Meloni, who heads the far-right Brothers of Italy party. But migration has climbed the U.K. political agenda, and Starmer hopes lessons from Italy can help him stop people fleeing war and poverty trying to cross the English Channel in flimsy, overcrowded boats. More than 22,000 migrants have made the perilous crossing from France so far this year, a slight increase compared to the same period in 2023. Several dozen people have perished in the frigid Channel, including at least eight who died off the French coast

Unauthorised migration into EU countries declines despite heated politics

Unauthorised migration to European Union countries dropped significantly overall in the first eight months of this year, even as political rhetoric and violence against migrants increased and far-right parties espousing anti-immigration policies made gains at the polls. There was, however, a spike in migrant arrivals to the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago close to the African coast that is increasingly used as an alternate stepping stone to continental Europe. Irregular migration dominated the European parliamentary elections in June and influenced recent state elections in eastern Germany, where a far-right party won for the first time since World War II. The German government this week announced it was expanding border controls around its territory following recent extremist attacks. What do the numbers show? Despite the heated debates, irregular crossings over the southern borders of the EU the region that sees the most unauthorised migration were down by 35% from Januar

Difficult but crucial: Discussing high immigration and demographic changes

Political correctness should not prevent us from discussing them

Biden restarts immigration programme with more vetting for sponsors

The Biden administration is restarting an immigration programme that allows migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to come to the United States, and it is including additional vetting of their US-based financial sponsors following fraud concerns. The Department of Homeland Security had suspended the programme earlier this month to investigate the concerns but indicated that an internal review found no widespread fraud among sponsors. Together with our existing rigorous vetting of potential beneficiaries seeking to travel to the United States, these new procedures for supporters have strengthened the integrity of these processes and will help protect against exploitation of beneficiaries, the agency said. The programme launched in January 2023 and is a major piece of the Biden administration's immigration policies that create or expand pathways for legal entry while restricting asylum for those who cross the border illegally. The policy is aimed at countries that send la

Canada cracks down on foreign worker exploitation: New rules from Sept 26

The Temporary Worker Programme is meant to be a temporary solution for businesses that can't find qualified Canadian workers to fill job vacancies

Planning to move to Canada, US, UK, or France? A guide to jobs and salaries

Take a look at the most sought-after jobs and average pay in countries like the USA, Canada, the UK, Australia, France, and New Zealand

Indian students turning to US as Canada, Australia, UK tighten rules

In recent years, several countries have been tightening their immigration rules, directly impacting international students

US September visa bulletin: Diversity visa numbers released for DV-2024

The US offers a range of immigrant visas, including those based on family ties, employment, adoption, and special categories

Foreign students face uncertain future amid global immigration crackdown

The impact is already being felt - aggregate visa data for the first quarter of 2024 showed volumes to the UK, Canada and Australia down between 20% and 30% from a year earlier

IndiGo Airlines fined $5,832.60 for late payment by US customs

IndiGo reportedly received the intimation about the penalty from the US authority on 24 July, and is currently exploring the possibility of a waiver of the penalty

UK to fast-track returns of illegal migrants to safe nations like India

The asylum applications of migrants entering the UK illegally from countries on its designated safe states list, including India, will be fast-tracked to deport them back speedily under new Labour government proposals. UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has said she has begun the work to move staff from the previous Conservative-led government's now-abolished Rwanda scheme to a new Returns and Enforcement programme. In place of the policy of trying to fly out illegal migrants to the African country, the Home Office plans to increase the returns to the countries of origin, starting with an increase in raids on businesses employing illegal workers. We are drawing up new plans for fast-track decisions and returns for safe countries, Cooper wrote in The Sun on Sunday'. Most people in this country want to see a properly controlled and managed asylum system, where Britain does its bit to help those fleeing conflict and persecution, but where those who have no right to be in the country are .

Amit Shah launches programme to fast-track immigration services for OCIs

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday launched a special programme under which the immigration process of pre-verified Indian nationals and Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholders will be fast-tracked, an official said. The Fast Track Immigration-Trusted Traveller Programme (FTI-TTP) is a "visionary initiative" by the government, thoughtfully designed for Indian nationals and OCI cardholders, the official said. Eligible individuals will need to apply online and submit their biometrics (fingerprint and facial image) along with other required information as specified in the application form. The FTI registration will be valid for a maximum of five years or until the validity of the passport, whichever comes first, he said. Approved applications would receive a message to schedule an appointment to provide their biometrics details. Applicants may provide their biometrics at designated international airports in India or the nearest Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO)

Trump proposes green cards for foreign students graduating from US colleges

Former US President Donald Trump made a departure from his anti-immigration stance and proposed handing out green cards to all foreign students who graduate from US colleges

DIAL introduces biometric kiosks for faster immigration processing

Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) on Friday introduced biometric registration kiosks for faster immigration processing, which will be operated under the direct supervision of the Bureau of Immigration (BOI). DIAL said that five kiosks are currently operational at the international arrival pier of the airport and it plans to add five more soon. This expansion will further expedite the immigration process for arriving passengers. The specially-designed kiosks for foreign nationals arriving in India with a visa where biometric information was not collected during the application process, have been set up for the first time at any airport in the country, DIAL said in a statement. Before implementing this new mechanism, visa-holding passengers arriving in Delhi without biometric registration were required to utilise the designated immigration counters, resulting in an average wait time of 4-5 minutes per passenger, the private airport operator said. During peak hours, these qu

How UK migration curbs could shrink workforce, limit economic growth

Migration curbs could further shrink the workforce, increasing wage and price pressures and limiting economic growth

Portugal tightens immigration rules: Changes and impact on Indians decoded

Lisbon plans to require most foreigners to obtain a work visa before entering and living in the country

Explained: Canada hikes permanent residency fees by 12 per cent

Canada granted a record 437,000 foreigners permanent residency in 2022. It seeks to bring in 1.45 million new permanent residents by 2025-end

US lawmakers to address Green Card, H-1B issues at immigration summit

Eminent lawmakers from both the Democratic and Republican parties at an immigration summit have called for urgently addressing the Green Card backlog, an issue that is majorly impacting Indian professionals and the issues related to the H-1B visa. At the first-of-its-kind 'Tech Immigration Summit' at the US Capitol on Monday hosted by the Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora (FIIDS), the lawmakers pushed for removing the seven per cent country quota when it comes to issuing Green Card or legal permanent residency to foreign guest workers in specialised categories. In the absence of such a move, the Green Card waiting period for Indian immigrants would be more than 20 years and over 70 years in many cases. A Green Card, known officially as a Permanent Resident Card, is a document issued to immigrants to the US as evidence that the bearer has been granted the privilege of residing permanently. Congressman Ro Khanna, who is also co-chair of the Congressional India Caucus, called f

Supreme Court blocks Texas law that allows police to arrest migrants

Texas' plan to arrest migrants who enter the US illegally is headed to the Supreme Court in a legal showdown over the federal government's authority over immigration. The high court on Monday blocked Texas' immigration law from going into effect until March 13 and asked the state to respond by March 11. The law was set to take effect Saturday, and the court's decision came just hours after the Justice Department asked it to intervene. Republican Governor Greg Abbott signed the law in December and for months has unveiled a series of escalating measures on the border that have tested the boundaries of how far a state can go keep migrants from entering the country. The law would allow state officers to arrest people suspected of entering the country illegally. People who are arrested could then agree to a Texas judge's order to leave the country or face a misdemeanor charge for entering the US illegally. Migrants who don't leave after being ordered to do so could be arrested again and

UK, EU to jointly tackle illegal immigration as post-Brexit relations thaw

Britain and its former partners in the European Union have struck a deal to cooperate more on tackling illegal migration, in the latest sign of a thawing in relations between the two sides following Brexit. The British government said in a statement Friday that UK border agencies and Frontex, the EU's border and coast guard agency, will be able to access each other's intelligence to secure borders and tackle organised immigration crime. There will also be joint training, deployments of staff from one side to the other, and collaboration on research and development on new technologies. The agreement, which will be signed later in London, doesn't include any bilateral returns agreement, which means neither side will be obliged to to take any asylum-seekers under burden-sharing arrangements agreed on between the EU's 27 member states. Organised immigration crime and people smuggling are global challenges that require shared solutions and ambitions," UK Home Secretary James Cleverly ...