The Border and Immigration Agency (BIA) has added the profession of Chartered Quantity Surveyors to the National Shortage Occupation List.??
The National Shortage Occupation List is a list of jobs where it is recognised that there is a shortage of workers within the labour market in the UK and that employers may not be able to fill the post with a UK or European Economic Area (EEA) worker. In such cases, employers do not need to undertake a labour market search to demonstrate that there is no-one within the EEA who can fill the job before applying for a work-permit for the worker.
The UK Immigration rules make provision for young people, aged 17 to 30, from certain countries, currently the countries of the Commonwealth, to come to the UK for up to two years as working holiday-makers. One requirement is that a working holiday-make
Certain nationalities require a visa even to transit the UK. These people are known as Direct Airside Transit Visa (DATV) nationals.
The UK High Court has considered the case of the detention of a Jamaican woman, her daughter and her son who were detained under immigration act powers, at a time when D was a baby under one year old and C was about to start school.
The Commission of the European Union (EU) has submitted a proposal for European Union legislation (a directive) providing for common sanctions against employers of third country nationals staying illegally in EU Member States. The UK Home Office has prepared an Explanatory Memorandum on the proposal, signed by the Minister of State for Nationality, Citizenship and Immigration in the UK Home Office, Liam Byrne MP.
The Memorandum says that the UK government:
‘supports the general purpose of the draft Directive, which is that Member States introduce, coordinate and enforce similar measures on the prevention of illegal migrant working.’
The UK is not obliged to sign up to the new European legislation if and when it comes into force but has the option of opting in to the new legislation if it wishes to do so. At this early stage, the Explanatory Memorandum gives no indication of whether it will exercise its power to ‘opt-in’.
Under the Highly-Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP), candidates score points for earnings, academic qualifications, age and having worked previously in the UK. One of the most controversial aspects of the revised scheme introduced in December 2006 is that a person without a degree (including vocational and professional qualifications) which is equivalent to a UK Bachelors degree will not qualify under the scheme, whatever their earnings. The scheme no longer takes account of work experience, save for awarding points for having previously worked in the UK.
Considerable media attention has been given to the United States' offer to give skilled foreign workers the opportunity to settle permanently in the United States of America, an offer that was withdrawn almost as soon as it was made. On 12 June 2007 the US State department published its June Visa Bulletin. This said that almost all the foreign workers previously considered eligible for a visa sponsored by a US employer could apply for the coveted ‘green card’, giving them the right to live and work permanently in the US. The deadline for applications was 2 July 2007. But on 2 July 2007 the US State Department issued an update to the June Visa Bulletin. This said that, with immediate effect, there would be no further authorisations of green cards based on employment.
The House of Lords in the UK parliament is continuing its scrutiny of the proposals for new immigration legislation in the UK, the UK Borders Bill.
Much of the debate in the Grand Committee of the House of Lords has been about proposals that people given leave to enter (a visa) or remain in the UK should carry a biometric identity document. The UK currently does not have a system of identity cards for nationals, although it has passed a law, the Identity Cards Act 2006, that would allow it to introduce such a system in the future.
The UK immigration category of ‘innovator’ was extended indefinitely in 2002 after a successful two-year pilot scheme attracted over a hundred of the world’s most talented entrepreneurs in fields such as e-commerce, electronic share-dealing and music industry technology. The scheme is aimed at individuals who have innovative business ideas that are likely to lead to exceptional economic benefit for the UK. The individual will have to show technical skill and a sound business background. Whilst the scheme is open to all business fields, it is primarily aimed at those in high-tech areas, in science and technology-based sectors.
The UK Borders Bill, a proposal for a new law on immigration, is currently being considered by the UK House of Lords in the UK parliament. But already there are proposals for more legislation on immigration and asylum in the new Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill.