Immigration Central | Serbia ends free entry, US nabs illegal Indian entrants, to give H-2B visas, NZ seeks nurses, UK horticulture workers

Representational image. (Photo: Matt Seymour via Unsplash)

Indians, no free entry into Serbia

From January 1, 2023, Indians wont be able to enter Serbia without a visa. Serbia has withdrawn the existing arrangement of visa-free entry to those holding an Indian passport. Indians will have to initially apply for a visa at the Embassy of Serbia in New Delhi or in their country of residence.

However, holders of Indian passports having a valid Schengen, the US or the UK visa, or residence permit of these countries can enter visa-free to the Republic of Serbia up to 90 days during a six-month period, and within the validity of said visas or residence permits.

The new visa regime is aimed at reducing illegal migration and as a precautionary step from Serbia turning into a migration gate. India, along with Türkiye, Tunisia, Cuba and Burundi, represented 2.5 per cent of illegal border crossings, recorded throughout 2021, on the Western Balkan Route; the number soared to 20 per cent this year.

Nurses & midwives' express New Zealand residence

New Zealand has added nurses and midwives on to the immigration green list, which means they can get immediate residency in the country. While doctors were eligible for the straight-to-residency pathway, nurses and midwives were not. The move is to stem the shortage of health professionals in New Zealand with a rough estimate that the country is in immediate need of at least 4,000 nurses, specially mental-health nurses.

However, nurses are not alone in benefitting from the new visa amendments. All teachers would be added to the work to residence pathway, along with tradespeople such as drain layers and motor mechanics. There would also be a temporary residence pathway for bus and truck drivers.

From March 2023, 10 professions, including gas fitting, drain layers, crane operators, civil-machine operators, telecommunications technicians and civil-construction supervisors will be added to the green list.

Halal slaughterers are expected to be part of the green list next year.

US giveaway: H-2B visas

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Labor (DOL) have made available 64,716 additional H-2B temporary non-agricultural worker visas for the fiscal year 2023. These supplemental H-2B visas are for US employers seeking to petition for additional workers at certain periods of the fiscal year before September 15, 2023.

The H-2B programme permits employers to temporarily hire non-citizens to perform non-agricultural labour or services in the United States.

The supplemental H-2B visa allocation consists of roughly 44,700 visas available to returning workers who received an H-2B visa or were otherwise granted H-2B status during one of the last three fiscal years. The remaining 20,000 visas are reserved for nationals of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Haiti, regardless of whether they are returning workers.

For the first half of FY 2023, there are 18,216 immediately available visas limited to returning workers regardless of the country of nationality, while 16,500 visas are available in the same category for the early second half of FY 2023 (April 1 to May 14).

Horticulture seasonal workers, the UK wants you

In order to boost its horticulture industry, the UK has announced that a total of 45,000 visas will be doled out to seasonal workers, who will be eligible for business in 2023. Under this, international recruits can travel to Britain and work temporarily for up to six months through the Seasonal Worker visa route.

Finland’s D visa for students, researchers

With the aim of increasing education and work-based immigration, Finland’s long-term D visas will be granted to students, researchers, and company executives as well as their family members.

The long-term D visa will expedite the entry of international students. With D visa, one can enter the country immediately after the residency permit has been granted.

Thus, people who have a residency permit for Finland would be able to move to the country sooner. This is because they don’t need to wait for the residence-permit card while completing their education abroad.

18.6% of 2021 Canadian immigrants were us

According to the 2021 Census data released by Statistics Canada, Canada is now home to over 8.3 million immigrants, which accounts for 23 per cent of the entire population. Canada now has the highest “immigrant share of population” among all G7 countries. Approximately 62 per cent of recent immigrants were from Asia with Indians accounting for 18.6 per cent, the Philippines 11.4 per cent and China 8.9 per cent of the total recent immigrants.

We were caught entering the US illegally

The US Border Patrol caught 4,297 Indians crossing the Mexican border illegally in October and November this year, compared to 1,426 during the corresponding months last year. In all, 16,236 Indians were intercepted in the entire fiscal year that ended in September. Overall, the number of Indians apprehended by US authorities for attempting to enter the country has more than doubled since last year.