‘The conditions at the old location were just not acceptable any longer,’ said Michael Aytes, acting deputy director of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services. ‘The idea is to have a welcoming, comfortable place that demonstrates to our customers how much we value them.’

Visitors will be able to make an appointment, easily travel to the centres by public transport or benefit from free car parking, and wait in comfort before completing all the necessary procedures under one roof.

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Minister Kenney also issued new instructions for how Canadian immigration visa officers will treat Federal Skilled Worker applications, including all those that have been submitted since February 27, 2008.

The Action Plan for Faster Immigration calls for visa officers to process the Federal Skilled Worker applications of candidates who have at least one year of continuous full-time or equivalent paid work experience in the last 10 years in one of 38 qualifying occupations that are in high demand in Canada or who have an offer of Arranged Employment in Canada or who have been legally living in Canada for at least one year as a temporary foreign worker or international student.

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“This annual support shows our government’s continuing commitment to help the development and continuation of important programs and services that can make a real difference in the lives of newcomers to Canada,” stated Minister Kenney.  “Programs, such as language training, job search and employment services, help newcomers integrate and succeed in Canada.  As newcomers become productive and contributing members of the community, their success is Canada’s success.”

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“This annual support shows our government’s continuing commitment to help the development and continuation of important programs and services that can make a real difference in the lives of newcomers to Canada,” said Minister Kenney. “Programs, such as language training, job search and employment services, help newcomers integrate and succeed in Canada. As newcomers become productive and contributing members of the community, their success is Canada’s success.”

The funding represents an increase of over $40 million, or more than 20 percent from 2008-09. Funding for the provinces of Ontario and Quebec are provided for in separate bilateral agreements. (See backgrounder for a breakdown of the provincial and territorial settlement funding allocations outside of Quebec and Ontario.)

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Most UK trained tradespersons under 45 can obtain a lifetime work and residence visa [without having to have a pre-migration joboffer] - and this skilled visa may be held concurrently with your UK passport. Tempted? Find out if your trade is on the list of Australian occupations in high demand.

In addition, Australia is now offering immigrants four-year employer or three year state-sponsored immigration, with the option to stay on permanently. If you are under 45, and have 6-7 years experience in your trade - inclusive of UK training/apprenticeship/study - you can almost certainly get a visa!

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Whilst Senator Evans admitted that a small reduction to the skilled migrant quota was still “more likely than not”, he was very conscious of the damage that could be done to Australia image as a result of a ‘knee jerk reaction.’

The president of the Australian Chamber of Commerce, Peter Anderson, agreed that sudden changes in the migrant program could damage the country’s migrant-friendly reputation and warned that any cut would impact the productive capacity of the economy at a time when that capacity was most needed.

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If you are thinking about living and working in another country, the following overview of current and future immigration plans for some key destination countries can provide a good start. If you would like to assess your chances of immigrating to the country of your choice, the end of each section has a link to a relavent assessment form.

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The study outlined a number of measures that should be taken to ensure a healthy long-term domestic labor market; including more options for temporary foreign workers to become permanent residents. The study praised recent changes to Canadian immigration policy, such as the new Canadian Experience Class and improvements to the Off-Campus Work Permit program for foreign students.

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Hector Goudreau, the Alberta Minister for Employment and Immigration, whose province has been suffering from labour shortages in many sectors, is pleased to welcome Filipino workers because of their “good work ethic, skills, flexibility, and adaptability.”

Many of the overseas Filipino workers that DOLE plans to transfer to Canada are currently in Middle Eastern countries on contracts that will soon be expiring.

According to Philippine Labour Secretary Marianito Roque, overseas Filipino workers earn higher wages in Canada than they do in the Middle East.

The Government of British Columbia recently had its first job fair in Manila to recruit thousands of skilled workers to help alleviate provincial labour shortages in the hospitality, tourism, and transportation industries, as well as the health and education sectors.

Michael Chew, associate director of BC’ Provincial Nominee Program called it “match-making between the needs of the employers in BC and the available skills in the Philippines.”

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Jack Jedwab, executive director of the Association for Canadian Studies, says that the increase is partly explained by Canada’s new focus on temporary workers, and the fact that many Filipinos fill caregiver and service-sector jobs in British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario.

In terms of the number of permanent residents in Canada, Filipinos are the third largest group, its size more than doubling in the past five years.  Chinese-Canadian and Indian-Canadian are the two largest groups of Permanent Residents, although their numbers have dropped in the past few years.

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