President Barack Obama has reassured American immigration advocates that he will go ahead with his commitment to overhaul the system.

Obama has said that he would like to see an immigration reform bill to be introduced in the Senate shortly. The president has met with Senator Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who gave the president an outline of a bill they are drafting. Schumer said he and Graham asked Obama for help building support in the Senate for an American immigration bill.

Commenting on the meetings, the president said that he 'looked forward to reviewing their promising framework'.

Obama's pledge to reform the immigration system is important to the administration. Hispanic voters supported Obama in the 2008 presidential election, and they helped swing the result in key states like Florida; if the Hispanic lobby does not feel that enough progress has been made, then there may be a condiderable backlash at the November midterm elections.

Immigration advocates now want Schumer and Graham to release their draft and for a bill to introduced in the Senate as soon as possible.

Changes to the General Skilled Migration (GSM) Subclass 487, 885, and 886 visas have been annonuced and are effective from 12th March 2010.

The changes affect all ONSHORE applicants for General Skilled Migration who are nominating a trade occupation in the following subclasses:

Subclass 487 (Skilled - Regional Sponsored)

Subclass 885 (Skilled - Independent)

Subclass 886 (Skilled - Sponsored)

Read more about

Changes to GSM subclasses announced

Local authorities have contacted large numbers of Australian immigrants in an effort to fill vacancies that have been created as a result of Western Australia's mining boom.

Local councils have had problems maintaining workers due to the State Government 'stealing' workers, according to Western Australia Local Government Association president Bill Mitchell.

Read more about

WA desperate to fill vacancies in mining boom

A number of New Zealand visa changes are due to come into effect from 29th of March.

Immigration New Zealand's Silver Fern Visa will go live. As covered here, the visa program involves two stages, the Job Search Visa and the Practical Experience Visa. The stage 1 visa will be available from 29th of March, and the stage 2 practical experience visa will come into effect on 27th April, with 300 places to be be made available annually.

Immigration New Zealand has also annonuced other changes, including the introduction of a new working holiday scheme, and an increase in the age limit for Canadians coming to New Zealand on a working holiday - the age limit will rise from 18-30 to 18-35 years.

Another change involves Japanese working holidaymakers - they are no longer restricted to a maximum of three months working for the same employer.

The new Working Holiday Visa Scheme provides the opportunity for young people aged from 18 to 30 the chance to travel to New Zealand and undertake employment during their stay.

The scheme will go live from 29th March.

This scheme will give visa holders casual working rights in order to supplement their travels; however, any work undertaken must be incidental and to the conditions stipulated on the visa.

Read more about

New Kiwi working holiday visa scheme announced

Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has announced streamlining procedures to enable applicants to have their French and English language tests processed more quickly - the language requirements themselves, however, will not be changed.

'But beginning April 10th, 2010, prospective immigrants will be required to prove their English and French language abilities at the time they apply. This requirement supports our commitment to fast, fair and efficient application processing', said Mr Kenney.

Read more about

Federal Skilled Worker and Canadian Experience language tests to be streamlined

According a new survey by employment services company Manpower Inc, Canadian employers are reporting that staffing levels are remaining stable, with some planning to increase their staffing in the second quarter.

The Canadian mining industry in particular is reporting increasing confidence.

The survey anticipates the forthcoming employment report for February, which is expected to show that 20,000 jobs were added in the month.

Read more about

Employment outlook steady in Canada

A new report by Statistics Canada predicts that between 25% and 28% of Canada’s population will be foreign-born by 2031.

Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal will see the biggest changes. Apparantly, 71% of all visible minorities in Canada will live in these areas by 2031.

The estimates suggest that first or second generation migrants will form 63% of Toronto's population by 2031 - increasing from 43% recorded in 2006. Vancouver’s population will be 59% - an increase from 42% recorded in 2006.

Montreal's migrant population is expected to rise to 31%, up from 16% in 2006.

The figures show that Canada is becoming ever more diverse as time goes by, and this diversity will greatly benefit the cities. However, experts also caution that greater steps will be required to assist new migrants with integrating into their communities.

The Minister of Immigration has announced that two new retirement visa policies will come into effect on 29th March 2010.

These are the Temporary Retirement Category and the Parent Retirement Category (residence).

Read more about

New Zealand announces new retirement visa

According to new figures, New Zealand's immigration levels are now at a five year high, leading to increases in consumer spending and demand for housing - both key means of boosting the economy.

The number of new migrants exceeded the number of those leaving by 22,588 in the 12 months to the end of January, according to figures compiled by Statistics New Zealand. This is the biggest increase since 2004.

According to analysts, maintaining high immigration levels is a key means of boosting the economy. Philip Borkin, an economist at Goldman Sachs JBWere Ltd, agrees with this strategy and says that 'Net migration remains a critical leg of support for the economic cycle'.

Although the New Zealand economy appears to be shaking off the recession, Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard has said that he is unlikely to raise the official cash rate from a record-low 2.5 percent until mid-2010 when he is sure that the economic recovery is sufficiently advanced.

A rise in mineral exports is set to boost Australia's commodities profits by 15% in 2011.

According the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE) - March quarter, commodities exports will make $187 billion in 2010/11.

Read more about

Rise in mineral exports to benefit Australian economy

The Canadian Government has announced a new online service to help migrants settle in the country.

The internet resource helps migrants to find information on a wide range of government services, as well as practical information on how to start up a new business and open a bank account.

The Services for Newcomers resource can be found at www.servicesfornewcomers.cic.gc.ca

Read more about

New internet resource to help Canadian migrants settle

BIS Shrapnel Ltd, a leading industry research and forecaster company, has stated that the Australian economy is set to continue growing over the next two years and that this growth is likely to extend into the close of the new decade.

According to their predictions, business investment will encourage Gross Domestic Product to rise 2.7% in the 12 months to June 2010, 3% in 2011 and 3.8% in the following two years.

Read more about

10 year growth predicted for Australian economy

As covered here, the new Silver Fern Visa will go live in April 2010. The idea behind the policy is to make it easier for young skilled people to emigrate to New Zealand without a huge amount of experience; instead they can gain that experience upon their arrival in the country.

If you want to live in New Zealand, are aged 20 to 35 and hold a national diploma, bachelor degree or trade qualification with at least two years experience, then Silver Fern is for you.

Read more about

Silver Fern visa update

Australian visa applications from ten countries will be subject to new biometric testing as part of a move to increase Australia's border security.

The new system is expected to cost around $69m over the next four years. The ten countries have not been named as yet, except for references to Yemen, Somalia and the surrounding regions as a growing security concern.

Biometric information provides biological data which is used to firmly establish identity.

Under the new system, all visa applicants from the affected countries will be required to submit fingerprints and facial images at a visa application centre.

Read more about

Australian Government to introduce biometric data checks for Australian visa applications