Australia has been condemning attacks on students since a while but recently they sent a clear message to every person living in Australia that violence of any kind with foreign students will not be tolerated. Australian High Commissioner in India, on Tuesday made a statement outlining the fact that Indian students studying in Australia would be ensured safety and racist violence against them would not be tolerated.
As the media reported the merciless racist attacks on Mr. Sukhraj Singh, an Indian student in Canberra along with many other such cases the higher authorities of Australia remain in question. The statement was made by the Australian High Commissioner in India after the sentencing of the guilty person in Sukhraj’s case, who was detained, has now been sentenced to four and a half years in prison without the possibility of a parole. The high commissioner said that it was a demonstration that Australia is adopting “zero tolerance” approach to violence against students. The statement continued, “There is no place in the Australian society for racism or racist violence and the perpetrators of any such acts will face the full force of the law.” On the other hand, the case judge, Pamela Jenkins who sentenced the accused also condemned the attacks. Judge Jenkins said the assault was among a number of racist attacks that had provoked international and local community outrage and should be condemned. “Short of becoming prisoners in their own homes, there is little potential victims can do to prevent such attacks,” she said.
The widespread outrage reflects previous statements from the Australian government and the Australian immigration department insisting that living in Australia is safe for overseas students. Australia can not afford to ruin its image as an unsafe foreign study destination as the Indian student industry in Australia contributes a huge amount to Australian economy each year as it also remains one of the most popular destinations for students coming from India. Other than India many students from China, UK and the US who choose to study in Australia eventually end up immigrating to Australia or start working in Australia once they finish with their courses. For more information and queries please refer to our website http://www.angadinfo.com/ or e-mail us at rajdeep@angadinfo.com
Agriculture is the new buzzword in the job industry. With the Growth of population and urbanisation all around the world, we are diverting our minds from the most important ingredient of life; Food. Every individual eventually is working to bring food for their families, along with other necessities for a comfortable life. Agriculture industry is going to grow in the next coming few years. Many countries like UK, Canada are now realising the same. The farming sector of UK is experiencing a deficit for certain jobs in growing agriculture industry. The shortfall in job market has been a cause of concern for many. There is also a growing alarm that skill shortages would hinder the UK’s ability to produce enough food as about 60,000 new employees are needed in next ten years to make up for the shortfall. The only vision for this as adopted by UK is that more and more people could enter and take up the jobs in the sector on work visas.
What is seen as a small problem right now could become a major problem in later stages. As UK’s ageing work force is on the verge of retirement is mainly the prime problem which threatens the farming and food production industries. The agriculture job sector does not allure many British workers as they consider it as unattractive and as a result the shortfall in the farming sector would need to be filled by people from abroad who desire to work and live in UK.
Lantra, the farming sector skills council revealed their findings to MP last week on the issue. Their findings reveal that 41 percent of the people working in agriculture are over 50 years of age out of which the average age of the farmers was 55 and half of them did not have any successors to run their farms after they retire. However, in farming industry 31 percent of the vacancies are hard to fill as there are skill shortages in UK as compared to 21 percent shortages in any other industry. Obviously there are going to be provisions and measures to help UK recruit skilled workforce in the industry. Immigrants on work visas to UK are likely to play an important part in helping the country’s agricultural industry to flourish and provide the food that is needed to feed the UK’s growing population. For more information and queries please refer to our website http://www.angadinfo.com/ or e-mail us at rajdeep@angadinfo.com
The economy of Australia has grown exceptionally when the skilled immigrants flew in bringing with them wealth of knowledge and new skills. The fiscal growth underwent economic boom following a balanced rate of Immigration. Australia not only praises immigration in helping the same but also encourages it. Since the inflow of immigrants has increased since last few years, Ken Henry, Australia’s federal treasury secretary, revealed that the statistics indicate that Australian population would grow to 35 million by 2050. The population increase of extra 13 million people is expected to be as a result of growth in immigration industry to Australia. Metropolitan cities like Sydney and Melbourne are expected to have a population of about 7 million people by that same year.
Speaking on the same, Prime Minister of Australia Mr. Kevin Rudd mentioned that he is in favour of indirect or direct immigration to Australia out of which major population growth could take place. He said, “I actually believe in a big Australia. I make no apology for that. I actually think its good news that our population is growing. I think it is good for us, it’s good for our national security long-term, and it’s good in terms of what we can sustain as a nation.”
As it is widely known that Australia has minted money and grew as a strong economic nation because of its popularity among people who want to take a skilled immigration abroad. Much of Australia’s financial status is because of those skilled immigrants who come to live and work in Australia and students on student visas each year. Ken Henry however expressed concern because of the growth of immigrant population and the popularity of skilled immigration to Australia. He said that the country would have to make changes in the immigration policy after weighing each and every aspect to ensure that the clean and balanced environment of Australia could handle the influx of so many people. Like many developing countries go through several twists and turns and adverse effects of a large population, Australia would have to ensure that Australian population growth would “test the limits of sustainability: economic, social and environmental”. The Treasury Secretary further said, “With the right decisions, one can envisage a period of unprecedented prosperity. I expect the country’s economic boom to last with the help of immigration into Australia “for decades”.
Critics however analysed that one of the major problems of a large population growth would the quality of life would deteriorate and people would suffer. What allures the migration population now would be a question of hesitation for them. The bottom line adopted by majority of the Ministers under the immigration panel is to ensure that the people living in Australia would get one of the world’s best life styles and experiences and they should keep checks and balances while thinking of immigration of population.
For more information and queries please refer to our website http://www.angadinfo.com/ or e-mail us at rajdeep@angadinfo.com
If change continues at the current rate of growth, UK’s population will grow by 10 million in just 25 years. Some recent figures from The Office for National Statistics (ONS) mentions that the population will rise from the current level of 61m to 71.6m by 2033. Two third of the population rise, out of the total is likely to be because of growth in immigration rate in UK. The projected increase in UK is defined on the basis of fastest population growth over a century. The claims of expected population growth is greatly challenged by some as suspecting the UK immigration trend as witnessed in the country over the last few years may not continue. Statisticians said at least 70 per cent of the population rise over the next 20 years will be attributable directly to immigration. The government receives statistics in advance so that they plan strategies for necessary spending therefore the projections of population growth with immigrants of National population size are drawn every two years.
As well as the continued increase in UK immigration the projections claim: – The number of over 65’s will rise by 32% by 2033 to 15.6m. In 25 years time there will be a ratio of 2.8 persons of working age to every person of pension-claiming age – this is a fall from the current 3.2 people. The statistics provided by ONS states that a total of 180,000 new immigrants will immigrate to the UK every year and the trend would continue for next 25 years which will have a direct impact on the local population and added growth as the immigrant population could also double following the birth of children in their families.
Pointing out the issue, the UK immigration minister Phil Woolas mentioned that the projected number was 10,000 lower a year than previously projected by the ONS showing the new points-based system to UK immigration was working. He said, “Today’s projections show that population growth is starting to slow down, the impacts of the radical reforms we have made to the immigration system over the last two years are working”. For more information and queries please refer to our website http://www.angadinfo.com/ or e-mail us at rajdeep@angadinfo.com
There are going to be new provisions for the required health examination reports for a visa application for Australia. Following emendations to the same, on November 9, 2009, The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) will change the requirement for a health examination report. Based on the new provisions, DIAC will suspend the arrangements that allow some of the visa applicants to re-use the old or previous health examination reports.
To obtain a Temporary visa, applicants currently can reuse the previous health reports. But under the new provision, there are going to be upgraded system for permanent health clearance. Currently, the system allows applicants to fill out a Form 26 for medical examination but the new rules would require that the applicants obtain a full permanent health clearance. The changes are going to be made by DIAC as the department received a number of complaints in regard to the “upgrade” process. As many applicants and immigration agents have complained that where “upgrades” have been requested, they have resulted in processing delays, and in some cases clients have been forced to complete new medical examinations anyway. Some of the arrangements however have been reversed by DIAC, and some that appear to be working quite well have been retained are:
Temporary health examination reports which were locally cleared and remain valid can still be re-use for a further temporary visa application.
The rules surrounding re-use of health clearances also remain the same (e.g. a 457 visa applicant who completed full permanent medicals “upfront” and received a permanent health clearance can “re-use” this clearance for their permanent visa application if it is still valid).
For more information and queries please refer to our website http://www.angadinfo.com/ or e-mail us at rajdeep@angadinfo.com
U.K. has announced some new additions to the shortage occupation list. The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has announced that since UK is in need of more immigrant labour in some specific category, there are still some occupations that lag behind. MAC recommended that teachers in special schools and skilled meat boners and trimmers should also be included in the skilled shortage occupation list. Mac has advised British government to sensibly fill the skill shortages by allowing people to immigrate under prescribed categories. Based on the recommendations, the above said occupations will be added to the shortage occupation list which implies that employers will be able to directly recruit skilled labour to these job categories without needing to carry out a resident labour market test. However, with the slump in the economy MAC has also recommended that some occupations in engineering category and construction jobs and ship and hover officer jobs should be removed from the list.
Skilled Chefs however still remain on the recommended list. MAC has also suggested measures to accelerate the efforts to train the local residents in the chef category to fill the need from within as next year the list is going to be reviewed again. Some other occupations that the MAC also recommended adding to the list are:
• specialised jobs in the electricity transmission and distribution industry;
• some medical specialists, including higher-level speciality paediatrics trainees; and
• Aircraft technicians and fitters.
A latest report by MAC includes its second partial review of its recommended shortage occupation list. For the report, the MAC reviewed all healthcare and engineering occupations, chefs, teachers (further/higher, secondary, primary, and special needs education teaching professionals), town planners, managers in construction, quantity surveyors, ship and hovercraft officers, veterinary surgeons, sheep shearers, work riders, ballet dancers, skilled fish filterers, meat boners and trimmers.
MAC first reviewed its first recommendations in 2008 and all the occupations in the shortage occupation lists have been reviewed once or more till this date. Speaking on the same, Professor David Metcalf CBE, who chairs the MAC, said, “The points-based system, including the shortage occupation list, has to operate for the benefit of UK workers, especially given the current economic climate. The Migration Advisory Committee’s latest recommendations take account of the impact of the worldwide recession on the UK. We have looked at the evidence and made recommendations that balance the needs of the UK workforce against those of employers. It is important to note that some shortages of skilled labour will still exist in a recession. This can be where there is a long-term structural shortage of skilled workers, where workers provide key public services, or in areas such as culture where the UK needs to maintain global leadership”. The government of UK however still has to issue a response to the recommendations made which is likely to follow in coming weeks.
For more information and queries please refer to our website http://www.angadinfo.com/ or e-mail us at rajdeep@angadinfo.com
Australian authorities have now started noticing the trend among many student visa applicants of fraudulently immigrating to Australia by acquiring student visas. Many agents around the globe along with corrupt employers have now started abusing student visa to smuggle people to Australia deceptively. According to the leading recruitment firm IDP Education Australia, “Unscrupulous landlords, employers and migration and education agents are using Australian student visas to smuggle people into the country”.
“There is a ‘chain of exploitation’ abusing the system through which people can move to Australia to study, in order to make money from vulnerable students”, said Tony Pollack, chief executive of IDP. He also mentioned that many authorities have caught people on student visas working part-time or studying in a fraudulent college. The applicants are usually conned with misrepresentative advice from many study visa agents. Tony Pollack further claimed that the problem affected hundreds of students and created a “deep resentment” among the student population who had been exploited.
Surprisingly, a research by the Australian authorities itself found that many immigration agents are themselves sponsoring the prospective fraud students by showing their bank accounts to apply for the visa as it is a must that for a student visa, a student must have about $12,000 in their account. The agents enrol bogus students in unregistered or fake colleges owned by deceitful landlords or the agents themselves. The colleges also mark the fake students’ attendance and misrepresent them as attending classes while they clearly are working outside. Pollack has said that the offenders enrolling bogus students for Australian Visas would be tracked down and will be punished.
A local newspaper of Australia, Brisbane Times, further quoted, “Indian students will face greater screening as the Government cracks down on visa fraud and scrutinizes the ability of students to finance life in Australia. Students from target countries will face more stringent interviews and curbed access to visa applications online. Addressing the issue, Senator Chris Evans said, “The message is clear. Genuine international students remain welcome in Australia but we will not tolerate fraud in the student visa program.” There are now going to be many rigorous measures taken by the Australian student visa council to combat the problem of fraud and false applications. Applicants deemed at risk of cheating the system will also be hauled in for interviews to determine their legitimate intention to study.
For more information and queries please refer to our website http://www.angadinfo.com/ or e-mail us at rajdeep@angadinfo.com
A new citizenship test has been unveiled by the Australian Government for applicants wishing to apply for an Australian visa. The new test would be taken by Australian visa holders who wish to apply for citizenship has been launched from today, October 20th. Migrants who want to become Australian citizens will have to be able to correctly identify the country’s prime minister and national flower, according to the new draft citizenship test. Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews said, “The aim of the test is to get that balance between diversity and integration correct in future”. The prospective citizen will have to give a correct answer to 12 out of 20 questions – drawn from a total of about 200. The new citizenship test is expected to be introduced later this year.
According to Australia’s Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC), the new test is much simpler and fairer than the previous test. Some of the questions have been changed and even removed keeping in mind that all the questions should be given equal weight in terms of marks. The test would challenge the applicant’s knowledge of Australian history and existing norms. It is specially designed to test Australian visa holders and prospective citizens about their knowledge of general Australian civics and the privileges and responsibilities of becoming an Australian citizen. The questions would cover some of the political subjects like government, laws and democratic beliefs. A few example of the multi choice questions published on the DIAC website include:
1. Which of these is a responsibility of Australian citizens aged 18 years or over?
a) To attend local council meetings
b) To vote in elections
c) To have a current Australian passport
2. What is the name of the legal document that sets out the rules for the government of Australia?
a) The Australian Federation
b) The Australian Commonwealth
c) The Australian Constitution
All the test questions are taken from the revised citizenship resource book called the Australian citizenship: Our Common Bond. To apply for a citizenship, applicants can check the revised book to prepare for the test. Speaking about the test Senator Evans said, “The new test is not a general knowledge quiz about Australia. We want people applying for citizenship to understand the values of Australian society, our democratic beliefs, our rights and our system of law and what it means to be an Australian citizen. All prospective citizens should understand those concepts so all of the questions in the new citizenship test focus on the commitments that new citizens make in the pledge.”
For more information and queries please refer to our website http://www.angadinfo.com/ or e-mail us at rajdeep@angadinfo.com
In order to cope up with the problems of aging population and shortages of highly skilled workforce, the European Parliament adopted a measure to help deal with them by going ahead with the much awaited ‘Blue Card’ scheme. Impressed with the results of many countries which gladly accept skilled labor from around the world, Europe now also wants skilled workforce to help alleviate shortages in its labor market. The much awaited Blue Card system is now set to function for European Immigration and work permit.
Compared to the stats of skilled workforce around the world, it has been noted that as compared to US with a 3.2 percent of skilled workforce, Europe only has a total of 1.7 percent of working population as skilled labor. It has also been noted that the success of the United States Green Card has played an immense role in influencing the European Union’s decision to go ahead with the ‘Blue Card’ scheme to attract top talents. Apart from USA, the success of Canada and Australia has also played a role for the council’s decision making. Both nations are also pursuing skilled foreign workers with open arms by utilizing a points based schemes to attract overseas help. The point based system is based upon many factors such as education, experience and age.
The European Union’s Blue Card Scheme does not have any points based system but the scheme sure has provided details of some requirements for applicants. The Blue Card Scheme requires the pursuing foreign workers to have a valid job offer. They should have also earned a university degree from educational institutions with duration of at least three years or they are required to have at least five years experience in the relevant work sector. In addition, blue card holders will also have access to many social services like Pension Scheme, health care etc. The Blue Card holders will also be allowed to move to another member states after 18 months incase they get another job there. Also, after six months, family reunification would be allowed if the spouse has the ability to work as well.
Researches have shown that Europe will have a shortfall of 20 million workers by 2030 if the current demographic trend continues. Therefore, the goal of the scheme is to better harmonize the 27 different immigration policies. Some nations like UK, Ireland, and Denmark would be exempted from the Blue Card Scheme and Member nations will have a maximum of two years to implement the Blue Card.
For more information and queries please refer to our website http://www.angadinfo.com/ or e-mail us at rajdeep@angadinfo.com
Indian students on international campuses over the last few years have emerged as the biggest group world over, even lagging the number of Chinese students behind. As reported by the annual publications of Open Doors by the Institute of International Education (IIE), in association with the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, India remained the leading country of origin of foreign students in America for the seventh consecutive time in financial year 2008 increasing by 13% to 94,563 students overall.
Overall, more than 2 lac Indian students studied overseas last year. The attraction of foreign campuses is due to enormous reasons and not just because of infrastructure problems at home institutions- such as poor organisation structure, not enough seats for professional courses, improper competition or the reservation system. Studying overseas is considered as a huge opportunity for global careers and Indian students turn out to be the most skilled professionals among the lot. Indian families enroot their children since the beginning to the benefits of education and they go a long way to avail them with good education. Many families are willing to do investments in their children’s future by availing themselves of loans to send their younger ones abroad for further education. To top it all, Indian banks seem to have developed a great interest in providing loans for few years of educations abroad to aspiring students.
Indian students are being considered as huge market surpluses by many overseas universities which mainly depend on offshore students as they generate large revenues for them. For instance, in 2007-08 educational institutions in Australia earned around A$13.7 billion, purely from international students out of which about 97,000 students came from India.
The Australian ‘education’ dream however now seem to fade away with the new buzz across the country about racial attacks on Indian students and on the other hand the impacts of recession on the global market. Inspite of all, many students are still pursuing Australia as it was once considered as a hottest campus for education. According to the latest figures as provided by the US Embassy, a dramatic decline of 25% in the numbers of F1 student visas issued in India for the financial year of 2009 (Oct- 208 to Sep 2009) as this year only 25,860 visas were issued against 34,510 issued in FY 2008.
Many experts still believe that inspite of the downturn and decrease in number of students going abroad, the numbers of students seeking admission abroad will continue to rise. Speaking on the same, Ms. Shevanti Narayan- country co-ordinator, educational advising services, United States India Educational Foundation- said, “Worldwide economic recession is bound to have an impact n the number of students applying to the USA. However, interest in US higher education continues. Large numbers of students still throng the US university fairs that we organise and we continue to meet students at our centres all over the country seeking guidance on the application procedures. The benefits of US higher education can not be undermined an Indian student equipped with US education comes out with a truly global edge.”
People still see US as a preferred destination for education abroad simply because of its multi-ethnic population as many students are getting paranoid with racial attacks. Ms. Narayan further added that US continues to be a popular destination for Indian students. The quality, choice, value and flexibility are some of the factors that make Indian students choose US over any other country. The US educational experience encourages one to be innovative, creative and think independently. The long term career prospects of a student are enhanced as the method of teaching is designed to apply theoretical knowledge. The American approach to education is recognised as among the best and most innovative in the world.
Australia on the other hand is going to suffer setbacks while attracting the same amount of foreign students as following the recent attacks on Indian students the Australian government has now taken precautionary measures to filter genuine students out of the lot. Michael A. Opie, Manager International Students (International office- Charles Darwin University) was quoted saying, “I was told by all agents that the number of applications are down for Australia and that they expect it to take atleast 6 months to recover. I think the steps taken by the Australian government will help but now that many Indian students are being interviewed before a visa is granted I suspect that this will mean that fewer visas are refused for diploma level studied. This will also reduce the number of students coming to Australia. Prospective students are also aware that there are likely to be changes in migration rules in the near future and this is also causing some hesitation about applying to study in Australia.”
Following the uproar on systematic rules and regulations for student visas, UK Border Agency has also streamlined the system for applying for a visa under Tier 4 system which was amended recently on October 1st. Speaking on the same, Ms. Sally Goggin, Head Education, British Council India and Sri Lanka says, “We are still seeing an increase in the number of students going to the UK. Education is so important to Indian families that they will put this ahead of many other things and continue to invest in their children’s future. I think education is seen as even more important in a time of economic slowdown as it becomes a key routine to ensuring a secure career. The new visa regulations have been introduced over the past few months and students and agents are slowly getting used to these and the process is therefore coming easier now that the transition from the old to the new system has taken place. Based on what we are hearing from UK institutions and the UK border agency numbers have increased this year”. This year a rough estimate has shown that in 2008 there were over 30,000 Indian students in UK and over 15% increase has taken this year.
Canada also does not lag behind. Canada is expecting a hike in the number of students from India. Indian students are weighing advantages as they are allowed to work part time and even gain a permanent residency after they finish with their studies. Studying in Canada is also seen as an advantage for a fast track global job market. Ms. Maria Mathai, Director, Canadian Education Centre, India said, “The cost of studying and living in Canada has remained stable at about Rs. 4-4.5 lac per year. Besides there has been significant interest and a positive vibe generated by the launch of the Canadian experience class visa which is a policy is favourable to international students. Most institutions in Canada have seen an increase in enrolments and some have had record number of applications. This year we are quite optimistic and expert to continue to demonstrate an increased percentage in overall numbers of Canada.”
Apart from that, countries like France, New Zealand and Germany have also opened doors for Indian students on job market front. France now allows its students to stay back for 6 more months to look for jobs after they finish with their studies. New Zealand, under the skilled immigration category allows skilled students to stay back and gain a permanent residency status. The demand for student visas among Indian nationals is going to rise within coming months.
Source- Economic Times
For more information and queries please refer to our website http://www.angadinfo.com/ or e-mail us at rajdeep@angadinfo.com
Subscribe posts by Email