A research made in Australia regarding immigration outlines that Australia would face a potential skills shortfall if steps are not taken to increase workforce participation. According to the report by the Victorian Employers Chamber of Commerce, Australia will have a skills shortage, and will require 1.4 million additional workers by 2025. Australia is expected to see strong population growth, figures based on the continuation of high birth and net migration rates, but the report paper warns the ageing population will mean a decline in workforce growth which will exacerbate labour shortages. “The prominence of demographic change and skill shortages has recently been overtaken by the economic downturn of the last 12 months. With unemployment increasing over that period, it would be easy to assume we no longer have a labour or skills shortage problem. However, skills shortages still exist in many industries, and the reality of Australia’s ageing workforce means we face a structural deficit of workers over the next 15 years”,  the paper says.
The report indicates that under current trends and government policies, the nations participation rate (The percentage of Australia’s working-age population that is employed or seeking employment) would fall from 65.2 to 61.8 by 2025. Based on their findings, the organisation has recommended a number of measures, including removing barriers to work for older people, and boosting skilled immigration intake. Providing further information, one of the reporters of a famous Australian newspaper, Darin Ritchie said “To meet moderate levels of labour-demand growth, Australia’s participation rate would need to be 68 per cent. To address this workforce deficit, Australia needs to raise the average retirement age, increase the workforce participation of disadvantaged groups, increase migration, or offset labour demand through productivity growth.”

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Trade courses now hold a ticket to Australia as trade occupations like Plumbing, Carpentry or Masonry are quite popular for helping a student take permanent residency (PR) in Oz land. There were times when an MBA or courses in beauty industry from Australian educational institution were more than popular to fetch a dream job and also a PR in Australia. If Sajan John, Director of Melbourne based Ind Aus Business  Links, is to be believed then in the present times a student who completes an MBA also has to struggle to get a PR in Australia. He said, “There is a huge shortage of technically qualified manpower in the fields of painting, carpentry, brick laying (mason), plumbing and electricians. Not only would one get a PR after a two-year course in any of these disciplines but also get a handsome monthly income.”
Mr. John further elaborated that following the huge media publicity on the attacks against Indian students in Australia, the waiting period to get a student’s visa has gone up from one month to two. Prior to a student visa being issued by the Australian Embassy in India, most of the students are called for a personal interview.  John came to India early this month and is conducting a series of seminars across the state and in Chennai for prospective students immigrating to Australia for studies.  He stated, “Nursing is still in demand but my advice to prospective nurses looking to immigrate to Australia is not to be duped by agents. We have seen a good number of cases of nurses, who arrive there to do a course in community welfare, which they are told is an easy way to get a job as a nurse. But at the end of the day they end up nowhere,” said John.
Speaking about the tuition fees and courses charges in Australia John said, “The total tuition fee for a two-year course in either a university or any of the various colleges in any technical areas would be in the range of Australian $18,000-22,000 ($16,700-20,430)”.  According to John, living expenses would range around Australian $1,000 a month and this can be recovered by working 20 hours a week. “After the course those who start working can earn around Australian $40 an hour in these trades. This is huge money but surprisingly from the various seminars I have conducted here the demand from students here is still for MBA and for nursing careers. The minimum eligibility for students aspiring for a higher education in these technical trades is Class XII and a score of 5.5 in International English Language Testing System (IELTS) ,” said John.

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admin Immigration Immigration, Immigration to Australia

With ageing population and impending labour problem, this year Canada is accepting the highest ever number of immigrants from across the globe. With the introduction of fast track immigration, the entire procedure had grown simpler for the immigrants, who could seek immigration under different categories of skilled worker category, federal investor category and Quebec investor category.
The Canadian government had implemented major changes to ease the influx of talented and hard working immigrants to fill shortage in its labour market, therefore, applicants falling under Canada’s 38 priority occupation list (POL) and Australia’s critical skill list (CSL) were processed on the fast track system and the aspiring candidates got decision within a short span of 6-12 months. Now businessmen could easily make it to their dream destination as permanent residents under the Canadian Federal Investor Programme and Quebec Investor Programme without worrying about clearing IELTS.
With just two years business experience and having net worth equivalent to CDN 8,00,000, the businessmen qualify for this opportunity enabling their entire family to immigrate.

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admin Immigration Immigration, Immigration to Canada

Vetassess, the Australian assessment body, just announced that they are going to implement a new policy from 01st January 2010 for the assessment of all people who are applying to immigration to Australia. The changes made by the assessment body would be applicable for General Professional Occupations and not applicable to the Trade Occupations. Vetassess is responsible for many occupation assessments some of which are:

−    Office Manager (ASCO) 3291-11
−    Urban and Regional Planner (ASCO) 2523-11
−    Property Manager (ASCO) 3293-13
−    Construction Project Manager (ASCO) 1191-11
−    Financial Investment Advisor (ASCO) 3213-11

Currently, VETASSES only demand that an applicant have a qualification ‘comparable to the Australian standard’ in order to receive a positive assessment, with no criteria set regarding the qualification content or work experience. However, in order to receive a positive skills assessment through Vetassess from 1 January 2010, applicants will now need to have:

−    A qualification that is in a ‘highly relevant field of study’ to the nominated occupation;
−    Between 1 year and 3 years (depending on occupation) of ‘relevant employment’ to your nominated occupation

This clearly sets the bar higher for Vetassess applicants, demanding that they present far more evidence demonstrating their experience and study as it directly correlates to their nominated occupation. The changes have the potential to affect anyone in a general professional occupation who is looking to be assessed under Vetassess, but especially those who lack the necessary qualification or work experience to be positively assessed in their nominated occupation under the new rulings.  As per the Vetassess statement made after the changes have been announced, “DIAC will continue to accept all VETASSESS Skill Assessments from both the old and new system provided that your nominated occupation remains on the Skilled Occupation List and VETASSESS is the designated assessing authority for that occupation.  However, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship may ask you to have a current VETASSESS assessment if there is a significant gap between the date of assessment and the date of applying for your visa.”

A number of immigration pathways have been tightened due to restrictions implemented by both the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) and the various Australian states and territories. As a result, some migrants could find that without the ability to receive a positive skills assessment from VETASSESS in a specific nominated occupation, they will lack any route to Australia. According to VETASSESS if you lodge a complete application before 31 December, you will be assessed under the current rules (with the further recommendation that applicants ensure to send their applications no later than 18 December, in order for VETASSESS to receive the application in time). However, if anything is missing from your application, then it is likely you will be assessed under the new criteria. Even if you feel confident that you will qualify under the new criteria, it would still be preferable to be assessed under the current familiar criteria and be in the best position possible to avoid any potential hurdles to your immigration to Australia

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admin Immigration Immigration, Immigration to Australia

UK constricts Immigration Policies keeping Elections in Mind

UK makes an ‘immigration policy’ move that could unfavorably impact entry of foreign immigrants including those coming from India into the country. As the British Prime Minister, Mr. Gordon Brown announced in his first speech on immigration in 18th months that UK vows to tighten immigration rules to restrict the number of professionals coming to UK under any kind of immigration scheme.

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admin Immigration Immigration, UK Immigration

On 09th November 2009, Australian Government has proposed a few changes to the requirements of Living Costs and evidence of funds for international students. The Minister for Immigration and Citizenship announced that the requisite amount required for ‘show money’ for a student visa application for international students will increase under the proposed changes. Other than the proof of funds required for a visa, the genuinity and availability of finances would also be questioned. The proposed changes would be crucial for the grant of a visa to any applicant who is wishing to pursue education in Australia.

Changes in Living Costs and Evidence of Funds

As, it is made mandatory by the Migration Regulations that international students must show evidence of sufficient funds so that they have no problems paying the living costs and cost of studying during their stay in Australia.  In order to sustain living in Australia, the foreign student must provide enough evidence of funds as it is necessary to ensure that the student has the capability to concentrate on their studies and have a great studying and living experience.  Students can however work part time in Australia so that they are also able to supplement some of the money they need and also enrich their work experiences. However, permitting a student to work part time does not signify that they should depend on it for their living costs and take their studies for granted in order to make their ends meet.

Now the Australian legislation is going to make changes and would increase the financial amount required for a visa application. Previously under the Migration Regulations the basic rate of living is set for $12,000 per year. If approved by the Governor General, the proposed changes will come under effect from 01st January 2010. Under the proposed new regulations, prospective student visa applicants and their family members must have access to the following funds to meet the living costs requirements:
$18 000 per year for the main student
$6300 per year for the student’s partner
$3600 per year for the student’s first child
$2700 per year for every other child; and where required demonstrate that the funds they are relying upon to meet the costs of studying in Australia will be genuinely available to them during their stay in Australia.

The proposed changes will come into effect after an observation that the funds required earlier, since 2001, were not adequate anymore for a healthy stay of students in Australia. Students would be required to prove that the funds they are showing would be genuinely available by various procedures, if questioned by the authorities. The immigration authority would check the applicant’s previous financial and immigration history as well to ensure that they only allow a genuine student to enter Australia. On top of that the authorities would also check the employment histories of the student or the person who is sponsoring the living cost and studies of the student. If doubted again, the immigration authorities could ask for more information from the student. A students relying upon a bank loan may need to show that these funds have been deposited into a bank account to which they have unrestricted access, and that they have the financial capacity to service the loan both before they depart for Australia and once they arrive.

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While the Indian people are looking towards West as an immigration destination they leave a spot in Asia, equally capable of providing the same opportunities or may be more than the West. Perhaps the West and other nations have now acknowledged the fact that ‘Singapore’ could be a very good destination for immigrating and settling down as well.

According to the Gallup Global Immigration Survey, Singapore is a top destination for immigration abroad. Based on the survey, if you were to take up all the people who wish to immigrate to Singapore, the present adult population of Singapore would jump from 3.6 million (present) to 13 million.

The Potential Net Migration Index (PNMI), Gallup released the present figures of people wishing to immigrate abroad. The PNMI is estimated as the number of adults who wish to leave a country permanently subtracted from the estimated number who wish to immigrate to the country, as a proportion of the total adult population. The higher a positive PNMI value, the greater the potential of net population gain the proportional to the population size. Based on the PNMI, Singapore emerged tops with the highest PNMI value of 260 per cent, followed by Saudi Arabia (180 per cent), New Zealand (175 per cent), Canada (170 per cent) and Australia.

However, analysts have studied that PNMI for Singapore is necessarily not surprising since Singapore has a small size and a strong, stable economy. According to the United Nations’ 2009 Human Development Report, Singapore is already a popular immigration destination. It ranked No.10 in the world in terms of the share of immigrants as part of total population, at 35 per cent. The UN report also showed that Singapore had a relatively low emigration rate of 6.3 per cent. “If most of those who say they want to come here are mostly economic migrants from other Asian countries, I won’t be surprised because Singapore’s economy is doing quite well relatively,” Dr Chua Beng Huat, a sociology professor at the National University of Singapore, told the local media when asked to comment on the Gallup survey findings.

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admin Immigration Immigration, singapore immigration

Immigration, if unchecked, in any form is dicey now a days keeping in mind the fanatic activities going around the world. Apart from just the extremist activities there are various checks that the immigration authorities ought to undertake. The UK Border Agency has been widely criticised for failing to stop illegal immigrants who pose as students. Reacting to the situation, the UK Border Agency has taken various methods following their critique and has responded to the allegations for such a failure.

In response to the same allegations, Head of the Points Based System, Jeremy Oppenheim said, “The points-based system means that only those colleges and schools who provide quality education and take responsibility for their students will be licensed to bring in foreign students. Schools and colleges are inspected by accreditation bodies and the UK Border Agency to ensure they are genuine. Before we tightened controls, around 4,000 UK institutions were bringing in international students; this currently stands at around 2,000. Anyone coming into the UK must satisfy the Border Force officer that they meet the immigration rules and will comply with any conditions attached to their visa. If they cannot, the officer can and will refuse entry.’

However many immigration officers have warned their authorities that the new rules designed to ensure that no bogus student enter UK, are not working.  Foreign students are supposed to show sufficient funds if they wish to come to UK to ensure that they can support their stay in the country. The UK Border Agency insisted that it is compulsory for all the entrants to satisfy the immigration rules. Many immigration officers at the big international air ports of UK like, Heathrow Airport are stunned to see the number of people entering UK on student visas. The numbers of people entering UK are so many in numbers that sometimes the queues they stand in stretch for hundreds of yards down the terminal. The airport authorities reported that there could be chaos and problems in future if the checks aren’t properly ensured.

Many interesting cases have been reported by media about bogus students and how they enter UK. As reported by an immigration officer about a recent case of an Indian woman in her 50s who presented herself as a student enrolled in an advanced course, despite the fact that she could barely speak English. The Immigration officer said, “She was going to do an ACCA accounting course, of which when asked in Hindi what ACCA meant, she didn’t have a clue. She wasn’t even able to say in her own language what the course was going to entail.”

It is likely that anyone coming in to the UK must satisfy the border force officer that they meet the immigration rules and will comply with any conditions attached to their visa. If they cannot, the officer can and will refuse entry ensuring that only genuine students with proper knowledge about the course would enter UK.

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admin Immigration, Study Abroad Immigration, UK Immigration, Uk Student Visas

The overnight closure of some Australian colleges in Australia sent jitters to the students of those campuses. The Meridian International School and the International College of Creative Arts, both in Melbourne, and the Meridian International Hotel School and International Design School, with campuses in Melbourne and Sydney, closed on Thursday. They provide tuition in hospitality, design, English, fashion and secondary education. However, the outcome of the sudden closure was not very surprising as several hundred international and local students rallied and protested against this sudden action of the college authorities.

The administrators however stated that it would be unlikely that the company that owned the colleges is in a position to refund students their fee amount or pay anything to the staff members.  The Global Campus Management owned about four college campuses in Sydney and nine in Melbourne, all of which are now closed. The act of sudden closure has however left an uncertain future for almost 2,700 international students and about 370 staff members.

Speaking on the issue Voluntary administrators PPB Corporate Recovery stated that it was unlikely that students are going to receive any funds from the organization. Some of the students were only few weeks away from completing their courses. However, keeping in mind their future it is a possibility that these students may be relocated to some other colleges so that they would be able to complete their courses or they could be covered by insurance.  “We’re working closely with the Commonwealth and state authorities, they have various schemes available. I think they are organizing meetings next week with the students and they will be dealing with them on a one-by-one basis,” he said.

As far as the staff’s payments are concerned, the employees would be paid as they are covered by the government’s safety net scheme. Mr. Parbery said, “The administrator had also received inquiries from parties showing interest in buying the collapsed colleges. We actually have got some people that have on the twelfth hour come to the company and want to talk to us. We will have some initial discussions with those parties.”

The students, on the other hand, were shocked and shaken by the sudden actions of the company that owned their colleges. Many students talked to the media and told their wailing stories. Vanun Mathun and Prachi Bhanot told the local newspapers that they have each paid the college $7,000 for a summer semester after being pressured by the college managers in the last month. They had no idea whether they would get any money back.

Taking actions on the same, The Australian Education Union (AEU) has called for tougher industry regulations for private training centres. The President of AEU, Angelo Gavrielatos said a new set of tough national standards were needed to reduce the risk of students and teachers being left in limbo in the future. He said, “There is a growing number of private colleges collapsing and it’s the students who pay the price. There is no doubt many of these problems are due to the unchecked privatization of this sector”. He called for minimum teaching qualifications for staff, a requirement for providers to demonstrate their financial viability and a proven track record in providing education. The government of Australia, keeping in mind the education standards and the comfort of International students would introduce stricter registration measures for private education providers next year.

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admin Immigration, Study Abroad Immigration, Study Visa Australia

As reported by a local newspaper New Zealand is one of the most desired choices of people who wish to immigrate outside their home countries. A global survey by Gallup Shows, the adult population of New Zealand would balloon to more than 11 million if it were to take in all adults who wish to settle there, making it the third most desired place for immigration.

Calculating on the basis of Potential Net Migration Index (PNMI), New Zealand came third.  The PNMI is calculated on the number of adults wishing to leave a country permanently subtracted from the estimated number who wish to immigrate to the country, as a proportion of the total population. A higher positive PNMI value means the larger the potential for net population gain proportional to the country’s population size. New Zealand posts the third-highest positive PNMI across 135 countries surveyed, with a net migration index value of 175 per cent, behind Singapore’s 260 per cent. Canada registered fourth on 170 per cent and Australia had 145 per cent.

Appreciating the research project on immigrants, Paul Spoonley, Professor and Head of the Research Project from Massey University said that the results were interesting and somehow not surprising keeping in mind the global sentiments. He said, “Economic migrants see countries like Singapore as a centre for opportunities, but lifestyle migrants will choose New Zealand for the quality of life, education and peace that it offers. New Zealanders are perceived overseas to be friendly and welcoming, and in the wake of a global terrorism threat, the fact that we rank highly on the peace scale makes it even more attractive to be living here.”

As per the Global Peace Index which lists about 140 countries in terms of a variety of factors based on domestic peacefulness and international relations, New Zealand was ranked as the world’s most peaceful country this year. At the bottom end of the Gallup scale, the Democratic Republic of Congo scored minus 60 percent, meaning more than half of its people want to leave the country permanently than settle in it. The poll interviewed about 260,000 people aged 15 and older in 135 countries. The survey found that around 700 million people, or 16 per cent of the world’s population, wanted to migrate permanently if they had the chance. Stating to which, the report quoted, “This translates to more than the entire adult population of North and South America combined.” With 165 million saying they would like to move to America permanently if they could, the United States was the most desired destination overall in terms of absolute numbers.

Other destinations include Britain, Canada and France (around 45 million each), Spain (35 million) and Saudi Arabia (30 million). On the other hand, a study released by the Department of Labour, New Zealand states that increasing immigration numbers will boost the economy, reduce production costs, increase goods and services competitiveness and benefit exporters, domestic investment and consumer spending.

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