Concerned about the rising numbers of immigrants, the British Interior Minister James Cleverly has said that from next spring, the minimum annual salary threshold for foreign workers will be raised to £38,700 ($48,000) from the current £26,200 ($33,000). The Minister added that the list of jobs will also be reformed and rules about workers bringing their dependents will be toughened to curb the number of people migrating to the UK.
It may be recalled that starting January 2024, foreign postgraduate students enrolled in non-research courses will no longer be able to bring family members to the United Kingdom (UK). Previously, under the umbrella of the dependent visa, international students were allowed to bring their family members, including spouses and children, to the UK. These new restrictions only impact international students at the postgraduate level. Undergraduate students in the UK were already prohibited from bringing dependents with them.
With these measures in place, the UK will see 300,000 less immigrants every year, the Minister said.
Automation to speed up processing of International Experience Canada work permits: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is improving how it processes International Experience Canada (IEC) work permits by expanding the use of automation technology. A new tool will help process IEC work permit applications by triaging applications based on their complexity and approving eligibility for routine applications. This will improve efficiency by making decisions faster for some applicants. It will also support the growth of IEC and facilitate work and travel for international youth in Canada.
The tool’s eligibility function identifies routine applications for streamlined processing, using criteria developed by officers. The file is then sent to an officer to determine whether the applicant is admissible to Canada and make the final decision. Applications whose eligibility is not approved automatically may still be manually approved following review by an officer. Only an IRCC officer can refuse an application; the automated tool does not refuse or recommend refusing applications.
IRCC is deploying data-driven technologies in line with privacy requirements and human rights protection. These measures include a review for potential discriminatory impacts, privacy and security elements built into the design of the tool, and the ability of officers to overturn the decision of the tool.
New Zealand moving Permanent Resident visa online: Immigration New Zealand (INZ) is moving the Permanent Resident Visa, Second or Subsequent Resident Visa and Variation of Travel Conditions of a resident visa application processes into Immigration Online at the end of January 2024.
At the end of January 2024, customers will be able to submit the following applications electronically using Immigration Online (instead of using a paper-based application):
- Permanent Resident Visa
- Second or Subsequent Resident Visa
- Variation of Travel Conditions of a resident visa
Currently, these applications are submitted using paper forms, limiting an applicant's ability to track the progress of their applications online. Moving to Immigration Online means applicants:
- can check their application status online without having to call the INZ contact centre, and
- no longer have to submit physical documents, such as passports, which was a requirement for paper applications.
Eligibility for the Permanent Resident Visa
- People are only eligible for a Permanent Resident Visa once they have held their resident visa for at least 2 years.
- If a customer was outside of New Zealand when their resident visa was issued, the start of the 2-year period is when they arrived in New Zealand on their resident visa.
- Submitting an application within the 2-year period may result in the application being declined, meaning customers will need to reapply and pay an additional application fee.
myProgress provides applicants with access, in their online account, to personalised estimates of their wait time for major milestones and actions on their case, including their final case decision. While estimates are based on case type and historical patterns, they are not a guarantee of timing, and cannot take into consideration all possible unique application processing factors.
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