60% of Western Australian population growth caused by immigration

The population of Western Australia grew by 3.4%, or 82,600, in the year to March 2013. 63% of this rise has been attributed to immigration and in particular to an influx of workers with temporary work visas. The population of the state is now 2.5m.


Western Australia is the largest state in Australia at 2,530,000 square kilometres but is home to only 10% of the population. Most of the population lives in the state capital Perth which has a population of 1.75m.


However, much of the growth in the population has been caused by immigrants working in natural resource projects, which are generally concentrated in the north west of the state. Workers come to the state with Australian Temporary Work (Skilled) visas (subclass 457), better known as '457 visas'.

 

 

457 visas

457 visas are issued to skilled foreign workers and allow them to work in Australia for up to four years. 457 visas can be renewed. To qualify, you must be sponsored by an Australian business which has been approved by the Australian government. The employer must be able to show that they have tried and failed to find an Australian resident who can do the job.
 

457 visa holders are allowed to bring their family with them. Visa holders, and their family can enter and leave Australia as many times as they wish over the duration of their visas.

Over 50,000 people who were either 457 visa holders or their family members came to live and work in Western Australia over the year to March 2013.

 

 

Mining boom is drawing people to Western Australia

Bjorn Jarvis of the Australian Bureau of Statistics told Australian broadcaster ABC 'Western Australia's mining opportunities and all of the related opportunities that the mining boom has created are definitely a very strong magnet pulling people not only from other parts of the country to Western Australia but also people who are moving to Australia to start a new life'.


There had been concerns that the 457 visa program might be scaled back. The previous Australian Labor government of Australia announced in February 2013 that it would be cracking down on abuse of the 457 visa and put 'Aussie workers first'.


However, the Labor government was voted out at an election on 12th September 2013. The country is now run by a right-wing coalition headed by the new Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

 

 

'The best immigrants'

Mr Abbott has been vocal in his support for temporary workers in Australia with 457 visas. He gave a speech in April 2013 in which he said that 457 visa holders were 'the best immigrants'.


He added 'Under a Coalition government, section 457 visas won't be just a component, but a mainstay of our immigration program'


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US immigration reformers push Obama for executive action

Supporters of radical immigration reform in the US are trying to persuade President Obama to use his presidential powers to cut through the 'gridlock' in Washington and introduce immigration reform. They have urged the President to act to allow illegal immigrants to apply for citizenship.


The White House has said that the President has no intention of doing so and has said that any change in the law must be a matter for Congress. US constitutional lawyers say the President's powers would not enable him to make such a change. Nonetheless, some Republicans suspect that this is the President's intention and have warned him not to try.


Supporters of immigration reform suspect that a comprehensive immigration reform bill that has been passed by the Senate is unlikely to be passed by the House of Representatives where they believe it will be opposed by Republicans.

 

 

'The President has a duty to act'

Speaking on 15th September 2013, Ana Avendano of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organisations (AFL-CIO) told Fox News 'If Congress doesn't move, the President has a duty to act' she added 'Just because the Republicans have buried their heads in the sand, doesn't mean that immigrant communities aren't feeling the sting of constant deportations.


However, White House spokesman Bobby Whithorne has definitively ruled this out. He said 'The only way to bring 11 million undocumented individuals out of the shadow economy is for Congress to pass common-sense reform…That's it. Full stop'.


At this point, if you are not an American, you might need a quick tutorial in US Constitutional law. Under the American Constitution, for a bill to become law it must be passed by both Houses of Congress; the upper house, The Senate, and the lower house, The House of Representatives (known as 'the House').

 

 

Presidential veto

The President does not even have a vote in Congress. If both houses pass a law, the President must then sign it for it to become law. If he doesn't sign it, it does not become law. This gives him a veto.


Power in Congress is currently split; the Democrats control the Senate and the Republicans control the House. This means that, in order to get any bill through Congress, the President and his Democratic colleagues require some cooperation from the Republicans.


During the 2012 Presidential election campaign, President Obama promised to make comprehensive immigration reform a priority if he was re-elected. He was re-elected and yet, nearly a year later, there has been no reform. This has not been for want of trying.

 

 

Gang of Eight

A comprehensive immigration reform bill was drafted by a bipartisan group of eight senators (the so called 'Gang of Eight'; four Republicans and four Democrats) and it has been debated at length in both houses of Congress. In July it was passed by the Senate. It must now be passed by the House to become law.


Some House Republicans, including former Vice Presidential nominee Paul Ryan, support reform but the majority don't.


Bipartisan support has become increasingly rare in Washington since 2009; the time when the Tea Party, a right-wing faction within the Republican Party, began to exert control over Republican Congressmen and women. Since the birth of the Tea Party, Washington Republicans have opposed every measure supported by the President.

 

 

White House stepped back

It was for this reason that the White House did not draft the immigration reform bill currently before Congress. The President left this to the Gang of Eight in the hope that Republicans might support it.


The Gang of Eight drafted a bill that would

       • Create a 'pathway to citizenship for the majority of the estimated 11.5m people living in the
         US illegally

• Increase the cap on H-1B temporary work visas for graduates from 85,000 per year to over 200,000 per year
• Increase the number of work related green cards (permanent resident visas) for international science, technology, engineering and maths graduates from US universities
• Increase border security spending by $4.5bn per year
• Create a 'w-visa' for low skilled workers in construction and agriculture
• House Republicans look set to oppose the bill, if they vote on it. This is because of the bill's most controversial innovation; the establishment of 'a pathway to citizenship'.

 

 

Illegal residents could apply for legal status

If the bill became law, illegal residents without criminal convictions could apply for probationary legal resident status. They would have to pay a $500 fine for entering the country illegally and a sum to compensate the US for taxes that they should have paid whilst working illegally.


They would have to learn English and then, much later, they could apply for permanent resident status and finally citizenship. The process would take about 15 years.
 

Many Republicans in Congress oppose the creation of this 'pathway' because

• To do so would reward the criminal act of entering the country illegally and encourage more illegal immigration and
• Most illegal immigrants, if given the vote, would vote Democrat

 

 

Republicans will not support pathway

Some House Republicans have said that they will not vote for any bill that contains provision for the 'pathway to citizenship'. They intend to prevent the President passing legislation and now suspect that he will use his executive powers to drive through the change in any event.


Representative Raul Labrador from Idaho said 'I think that's actually what Obama wants to do. I think he wants Congress not to pass something so he can do it on his own and he can take the credit for it'.

 

 

President 'needs to be very careful'

He added 'He needs to be very careful though because if he continues to flout the law…Congress is going to have enough'. By this, Mr Labrador seems to mean that Congress may vote to impeach the President.


Pro-reform campaigners continue to lobby House Republicans in an attempt to get them to vote for reform. In such a highly-charged atmosphere, it seems unlikely that they will have much success.


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New Zealand PM argues for retention of UK visa work rights

The Prime Minister of New Zealand, John Key, is on an official visit to the UK and has held talks with senior UK politicians about the UK's visa regime for New Zealanders. In recent years, it has become harder for most New Zealanders to live in the UK.


Mr Key visited the UK having been invited by Queen Elizabeth II to stay for the weekend at her Scottish retreat Balmoral. While in the UK he held talks with Mr Cameron, with the UK's Foreign Secretary William Hague and with the Mayor of London Boris Johnson. New Zealanders' rights to work in the UK were at the top of the agenda.


Mr Key told The New Zealand Herald that New Zealand's historical and cultural links to the UK would make it 'grossly unfair' to further erode New Zealanders rights to work in the UK.

 

 

New Zealanders able to work in UK until 1973

Until 1973, New Zealanders and Australians were able to work freely in the UK. Then Britain joined the European Economic Community and this freedom was curtailed. More recently, after a period of an 'open door immigration policy' with net immigration reaching about 250,000 a year between 1997 and 2010 under the last Labour government, Mr Cameron's Coalition government came to power promising to cut immigration to below 100,000 a year.


The government has introduced numerous changes to the UK's visa regime and has so far cut immigration to about 150,000 a year. The government intends to continue to make efforts to cut the figure to 100,000 by 2015. Mr Key fears that this may mean that it will become even harder for New Zealanders to work in the UK.


The New Zealand Herald reports that recent visa restrictions mean that only 350 New Zealanders move to the UK to work each year with Tier 2 (General) work visas.

 

 

London mayor wants Australians/New Zealanders to be able to work freely in UK

Mr Key has some support within the UK's corridors of power. Last month, Boris Johnson, mayor of London, wrote a newspaper column calling for Australians and New Zealanders to be given the unfettered right to live and work in the UK. Mr Johnson suggested a 'Bilateral Free Labour Mobility Zone' between Australia and the UK.


By extension, he was calling for a similar arrangement with New Zealand. Mr Johnson did admit that this might cause problems with the European Union but said that they should be told to 'stuff it'.
Mr Key has also indicated that he is concerned that the UK might be considering ending the reciprocal Youth Mobility Scheme agreement which allows young people from New Zealand to work in the UK and, conversely, young people from the UK to work in New Zealand.

 

 

To stop New Zealanders working in UK would be 'grossly unfair'

Mr Key said 'We would think it grossly unfair and not representative of the historical ties. Those ties and bonds remain strong but…it's important we continue to make the case for New Zealanders' birth right to spend a couple of years working in the UK.


The government has not recently announced any plans to cut the Youth Mobility Scheme. The scheme allows young people from several countries, including Australia and New Zealand, to apply for a Tier 5 temporary work visa. 22,500 Australians and 10,000 New Zealanders are allowed to apply annually. They can stay in the UK for two years and are allowed to work.


Study Migrate offers a variety of programmes in United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. Please visit our website for more information on UK: http://www.studymigrate.com/uk.html, Australia: http://www.studymigrate.com/australia.html, New Zealand: http://www.studymigrate.com/nz.html

UK immigration criticised for Tier 1 decision-making

John Vine, the UK's chief independent inspector of borders and immigration, has released a report which criticises the UK's Home Office for the quality and promptness of its decision making on Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) visas. The report states that the Home Office did not keep adequate records, made decisions based on flawed evidence and allowed a backlog of nearly 10,000 cases to build up in 2012.


Mr Vine issued his report on 12th September 2013. It was titled An Inspection of applications to enter and remain in the UK under the Tier 1 Investor and Entrepreneur categories of the Points Based System December 2012 – May 2013.


Tier 1 (Investor) visas allow wealthy individuals to acquire UK resident visas which last for a maximum of three years and four months. To qualify, you require at least £1m out of which you will need to invest £750,000 in approved UK investment vehicles, with the remaining £250,000 being spent on assets or put on deposit in the UK. Investor visas can be renewed.

 

 

91% of Tier 1 (Investor) decisions were 'reasonable'

Mr Vine's report found that 91% of Home Office decisions on Tier 1 (Investor) applications were 'reasonable'. By this, he meant that they were decisions which were made according to the rules and were supported by evidence. They were therefore defensible and probably correct. There were around 600 applications made in 2012.


Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) visas allow non-EU nationals with access to at least £50,000 to invest in a business and a viable business plan to apply for a UK visa. These visas also last for three years and four months and can be renewed. In the case of Entrepreneur visas, Mr Vine's team found that no more than 62.5% of these applications were reasonable.


Mr Vine's reports says that the number of Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) applications increased by 1,520% over the course of 2012 after the UK government closed down the Tier 1 (Post Study Work) visa in April 2012. The Post Study Work visa allowed international graduates to work in the UK for two years after graduation.

 

 

Insufficient staff working on Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) applications

There were, therefore, insufficient staff working on Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) applications and it failed to meet its own performance targets for either the Investor visa or the Entrepreneur visa in almost every month of 2012. By March 2013, a backlog of 9,191 entrepreneur applications had accumulated. It has since been reduced but Mr Vine says that this should have happened sooner.


The team asked to inspect a sample of 90 entrepreneur applications. In over 40% of these files, the inspectors found that the Home Office had not kept enough evidence of the work undertaken on the file so the inspectors were unable to determine whether the decision had been reasonable or not. In 39 of these 41 cases, the applicant was granted a Tier 1 entrepreneur visa.


Mr Vine says that, in cases where the files were properly kept and could, therefore, be inspected, staff had made decisions based on inadequate evidence. For example, they had accepted an applicant's word that he had sufficient funds to qualify for the visa without sufficient evidence to support that claim.

 

 

Files left unsecured overnight

The inspectors also found that, at the Home Office's Sheffield office, application files were left unsecured and unattended in open crates overnight. Mr Vine said that this was a breach of the Home Office's Data Protection Act duty to protect potentially sensitive information. He said that this situation should be rectified.
 

Mr Vine recommends that the Home Office should
• Improves the quality of its decision making
• Ensure that files are kept securely

• Ensure that staff are informed of the rationale behind appeal decisions so that they can make decisions that are in accordance with the current rules
• Takes steps to foresee and prevent build-ups in applications of any sort
• Ensure that it keeps files properly so that reasons for decisions are recorded.

Study Migrate offers a variety of programmes in United Kingdom. Please visit our UK page for more information: http://www.studymigrate.com/uk.html

Jaguar Land Rover expansion a triumph for UK immigration

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), the British-based, Indian-owned car manufacturer announced an investment of £1.5bn in its UK car businesses on 9th September 2013. This was a triumph for JLR which has undergone a renaissance since being taken over by India's Tata Group in 2008.


The investment will create 1,700 new jobs in the UK, mostly at the Land Rover plant in Solihull, West Midlands. The unions have welcomed the creation of the jobs. Len McCluskey of the Unite union said 'JLR is a great British success story and this new investment in jobs and skills ought to maintain its global reputation for world-class vehicles'.


The UK's Prime Minister, David Cameron, said that the investment was a 'huge vote of confidence in the UK' and sought to take some of the credit for the investment. He said that the government would 'continue to back the automotive sector'.

 

 

JLR a triumph of the global economy

However, perhaps the investment should be seen as a triumph of the global economy and immigration. For, although JLR is based in Britain, it was rescued by an American company before being sold to new Indian owners. It has a German chief executive.


Many of its engineers come from outside the European Union and work in the UK with Tier 2 skilled worker visas. It is currently thriving because of greatly increased sales around the world but particularly in China. It is a truly global story.


The Tata Group took over Jaguar Land Rover in 2008. Ford had bought Jaguar in 1989 after it had been demerged from the nationalised British car maker British Leyland in 1984. Ford then bought Land Rover, which had also been part of British Leyland, from BMW in 2000.

 

 

Ford sold JLR to Tata

Ford put considerable resources into developing new models for both firms but sold them to Tata despite the fact that they were profitable. Ford was experiencing problems in the US and sold businesses that were not central to its business model. Tata bought JLR for £1bn.


In 2008, when the sale was announced, unions and commentators alike speculated that Tata would take the valuable car marques and move production to India. Tata promised that it would not do so. It committed to Ford's existing 5-year spending plan in the UK. This comes to an end in 2013. The announcement of the latest investment shows that Tata intends to maintain its presence in the UK.


And perhaps this is not surprising. Jaguar Land Rover is making a profit of £1.5bn annually. Much of this comes because of increased sales in China where the financial crisis that has been crippling European markets has hardly been felt.

 

 

Tata takeover has been a success, despite initial fears

Despite the initial fears of the unions and employees about their new Indian owners, The Tata takeover of JLR has been a positive experience for the firm and its workers. The firm has increased sales and profits.


This compares well with the experience of another English car marque, Rover. Rover, which had also once been part of British Leyland, was run by German car firm BMW between 1988 and 2000 before being sold to Phoenix Venture Holdings, a company run by four English businessmen.


Phoenix, bought Rover from BMW for £10. BMW agreed to make a 'dowry payment' of £500m into Rover on sale. Nonetheless, the Phoenix Four (as they became known) drove Rover into insolvency within five years. The Phoenix Four were later criticised by MPs for a failure to invest in new models and for personally taking £42m out of the business in dividends as it spiralled towards collapse.

 

 

No plans for a new Rover

In 2006, Tata bought the now-defunct Rover marque from BMW for £6m. There are no plans at present for new Rover cars to be built.


In 2012, Ian Callum, Jaguar's director of design, told Marketing Week magazine that Tata has given Jaguar and Land Rover the freedom to run themselves. He said 'Tata has been decisive in choosing the management, but once they're in place they leave people to get on with it, unlike Ford. They're long-term, committed, patient owners. All the things you want'.


Study Migrate offers a variety of programmes in United Kingdom. Please visit our UK page for more information: http://www.studymigrate.com/uk.html

New Zealand immigration grants stay of execution for fat chef

The New Zealand immigration minister has announced that Albert Buitenuis, a South African chef, will be allowed to stay in the country. This reversed an earlier decision that he should be deported because he was too fat and was therefore likely to be a drain on the public health service. He has been granted a 2-year temporary resident visa.


Mr Buitenhuis left South Africa for New Zealand in 2007 and was given an Essential Skills work visa which allowed him to work as a chef. He settled in the city of Christchurch. At this point he weighed 160kg (25 stone). By 2013, he had lost 30 kg (about 5 stone) and now weighs about 20 stone (130kg). Mr Buitenhuis is 5 foot ten (1.78m)


But when he applied for a residence visa in 2013, he was refused on health grounds. It was left that his state of health meant that he was likely to require treatment from New Zealand's public health service.

 

 

Important to minimise demands on New Zealand health services

A spokesman for Immigration New Zealand, Michael Carley, said 'It is important that all migrants have an acceptable standard of health to minimize the costs and demands on New Zealand's health services'.


Mr Carley also explained that the reason why Mr Buitenhuis had been able to qualify for an Essential Skills visa in 2007 but had been refused a resident visa in 2013 was that the minimum acceptable level of health required for Essential Skills visas and resident visas are different.


He added that Mr Buitenhuis had an enlarged, fatty liver and a bad knee and said that this might have affected the decision of immigration officials to refuse his application..

 

 

Chef had nowhere else to go

Mr Buitenhuis decided to appeal the decision. At the time, he told Australian broadcaster ABC that he wanted to stay in New Zealand because he had nowhere to go having sold his property in South Africa. His only relative, a sister, also lived in New Zealand. He added that he was now penniless having been barred from working since his visa application was refused.


On 9th September 2013, the BBC reported that Mr Buitenhuis's appeal had been successful. Associate immigration minister Nikki Kaye told the BBC that the main reason for the original refusal of Mr Buitenhuis's application was that he had osteoarthritis in his knee which was likely to require treatment which would have imposed costs on the New Zealand taxpayer.

 

 

Couple awarded two year extensions

But Ms Kaye said that Mr Buitenhuis and his wife Marthie would be granted two year extensions on their New Zealand visas with the proviso that Mr Buitenhuis would be barred from accessing the public health system during that time.


Mr and Mrs Buitenhuis say that they are pleased with the result but upset that they are now penniless and fear for their futures. Mr Buitenhuis hopes to lose another 25 kilograms (4 stone) over the coming months.


Study Migrate offers a variety of programmes in New Zealand. Please visit our New Zealand page for more information: http://www.studymigrate.com/nz.html

US immigration reform advocates step up the pressure

FWD.us, the online pro-immigration pressure group founded by Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook and other titans of the IT industry, has held a 'Day of Action' to put pressure on members of the US House of Representatives to back immigration reform legislation this autumn.


FWD.us was founded by Zuckerberg along with others including Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn and Drew Houston, founder of Dropbox. It supports reform of the US immigration system so that IT firms can employ more talented workers from around the world.


At present, they say, the US immigration system is so slow and restrictive that talented workers are unable to get visas. This, they say, is damaging the US economy.

 

 

Pro-immigration 'Twitter storm'

On Tuesday 10th September 2013, FWD.us encouraged its supporters to email their Representative in Congress, urging them to back reform. The group also urged supporters to use their Twitter accounts to tweet at their Congressional representatives asking them to retweet the message. FWD.us hoped to create a 'Twitter storm' in favour of reform.


The US Congress has just returned to Washington after its summer break. In June, the upper House of Congress, The Senate, passed The Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act 2013 by 68 votes to 32. This bill would, if it became law, introduce many of the changes that FWD.us wish to see. However, for that to happen, it must also be passed by the lower house; The House of Representatives.


Unfortunately for advocates of reform, many Republican Representatives say they will vote against the bill. In addition, the speaker of the House, John Boehner, A Republican, has said he will not even allow a vote on the bill unless a majority of Republican Representatives say they support it.

 

 

Bar set unreasonably high

This, reformers say, sets the bar unreasonably high; The House has 435 seats. 234 of these are held by Republicans and 201 by Democrats. To become law, the bill must get 261 votes (60% support). Given that most Democrats support reform, numerically, the bill should only require the support of about 60 Republicans.


Pro-reformers believe that they have this level of support but Boehner says he will not allow a vote unless the bill has the support of 117 Republicans.


This is unlikely. Washington is, more than ever, split along party lines and cross-party cooperation is rare. President Obama's Presidency has been accompanied by a rise in the number of 'Tea Party' backed Republican congressmen and women. These extreme right-wing Republicans believe that President Obama is 'a socialist' and are against big government, taxes and immigration.

 

 

Republicans oppose Obama's policies

The Republicans have fought all the President's policies. They have forced wholesale alterations to his healthcare reforms and have even refused to agree a new federal budget. This has seen the Federal government hamstrung. Federal agencies have been sending staff on 'furloughs' (unpaid leave) and waiting lists are rising in the courts and other government services.


Most recently, Republican members of the House of Representatives looked set to vote against the President over proposed military intervention in Syria. The President had called for retaliation against the Syrian government for a chemical weapons attack on a suburb of Damascus and asked Congress to support it.


Despite the fact that the Republicans have traditionally been the more likely party to back military action - George W Bush who decided to invade Iraq and Afghanistan was a Republican - many Republicans indicated they would vote against President Obama's proposal to take military action. The vote was not held in the end because of a Russian proposal for the Syrians to put their chemical weapons beyond use. Politicians from the US, Russia, Syria and Europe are examining the possibility of a peaceful solution.

 

 

Reform bill provisions

If the bill became law it would

• Create a 'pathway to citizenship' allowing the estimated 11.5 illegal immigrants in the US to progress towards citizenship. They would have to register with the government, pay a fine for entering the country illegally and a sum to compensate the government for taxes they should have paid when working illegally. They could then become legally resident and ultimately, acquire citizenship. The 'pathway' could take up to fifteen years to complete.
• Greatly increase the number of work-related green cards (permanent resident visas) going to skilled workers, particularly in IT.
• Massively increase the number of H-1B temporary work visas that can be issued annually. At present, there is a cap of 65,000 on the number of H-1Bs that can be granted to international workers. They must be graduates (or have knowledge and skills to a graduate level) and work in the US in a 'specialty occupation'. There is also a cap of 20,000 on the number of H-1Bs that can be granted to those with higher degrees such as doctorates and PhDs. The Act would increase the basic cap to 130,000 immediately, with a possibility that it could rise to 180,000 in times of high demand. The cap on those higher degrees would be scrapped altogether.
• Create a 'w-visa' for low skilled workers in agriculture and construction. About 30,000 w-visas would be issued annually.

 

 

Republicans oppose pathway to citizenship

Republicans object in particular to the 'pathway to citizenship'. This provision, they say, would reward those who entered the country illegally for their illegal behaviour and would attract yet more illegal immigrants to the country.


Immigration looks set to stay in the Washington headlines for the rest of this year at least.


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