New Zealand is introducing a new investor immigration policy to replace what they had been implementing over the past few years. In November 2007, the country replaced the previous investor immigration scheme with the “Active Investor Migrant Policy.”

The Active Investor Migrant policy will be categorized into three groups. Each category will have varying requirements depending on the description of each. The three groups are as follows: General (Active) investors, Professional investors, and the Global investors. Below are the requirements for each of the category.

For the General or Active Investors category, the main applicant must have a score of 5 in two out of four bands in the IELTS. This must also apply for the family members of the applicant. If their English ability does not pass the standards of this policy, then they will have to pre-purchase English course tuition. Age also matters for this category and the applicant must be 54 years of age or younger. The investor must have NZD $2.5 million. They must be able to pay settlement funds of NZD $1 million.

For the Professional Investor category, one must score at least 4 in two out of four bands of the IELTS. Same goes for the family members of the applicant. The age must be 64 years of age or younger. Investment funds must total NZD$10 million. There is an active investment of NZD $2 million needed but no settlement funds is required.

As for the global investor category, only the investment funds of NZD$20 million is required as well as a NZD$5 million active investment. All categories are required to have a minimum of 4 years business experience. At the same time, all must present medical and security clearance.

The new UK immigration system requires that all sponsors of non-EU workers must be licensed if they want to bring a worker to the UK. The Border and Immigration Agency (BIA) regulates and issues PBS sponsorship licences, and conducts regular visits and audits on the companies to ensure that the immigration regulations are being followed.

All migrants, excluding those who are seeking family based immigration need to have a UK sponsor to be able to apply to live and work in the UK. A UK sponsor can be a company, a university or college or another establishment, but in all cases gaining sponsorship is the first step in applying for a PBS UK Visa.

The BIA rates sponsors in two grades, A or B and is based on its risk assessment of the company or establishment. Most of the sponsors will be rated A, but they can be demote to a B rating if the BIA feels that regulations aren’t being followed or that there is a risk to UK immigration. Sponsors that are downgraded to a B rating will be given the opportunity to appeal and be given a limited time plan to regain the A rating.

In previous years, foreign students who graduate and study in Taiwan are not allowed to work in the country unless they apply for the respective work permit or work visa. However, Taiwan’s labour officials are now looking into changing that. Taiwan is planning to allow foreign graduate students to work in the country while they are studying. They will be allowed to work from the moment they begin their studies.

This is the action being reviewed by the Taiwan government after receiving a lot of complaints for their local schools and universities that their existing rules prevented their foreign students to work on necessary research projects. According to the existing rules, foreign students may not be allowed to work in the country in the first year of their studies. As a result, the Taiwan government will be implementing new rules to allow these foreign graduate students to work right away the moment they start their studies in the country. However, the work must be related to their studies and must be backed up by the university.

It was the Council of Labour Affairs’ Senior Executive Officer, Chen Jui-chia, who announced that the new rule is in lieu of the many complaints that they have received. Foreign students were shut out on projects that would help them with their academic advancement. It is common practice in graduate studies that professors ask graduate students to work for research during the first year. It would be unfair to exclude these foreign graduates experience in these academically inclined projects. Note however that according to Chen, the old rules will remain for the non-graduate foreign students.

Swedish Immigration hit a record in the year 2007 when the number of immigrants reached about 73,953. The immigration number continues to rise over the following months and it is expected to grow in the succeeding years. The Northern European Union country of Sweden will continue to increase its immigrants in the future.

The nationals who express their interest in migrating to Sweden includes returning Swedish citizens, Iraq nationals, and nationals from the new European Union members joining between 2004 and 2007. This record high was recorded in September of 2007. It has matched the total amount of immigrants in 2006. However, the 2007 number has still not included the number for the months of October to December.

The largest group that makes up the list of immigrants belongs to the returning Swedish citizens. In 2007 of September, there were about 12,281 returning Swedish citizens. On the other hand, there were about 9,203 Iraqi citizens moving to the country. Immigration has risen by 30 percent in just one year, with the conflict in Iraq given as the reason for this increasing number. Aside from those two, there are also the nationals from the newer European Union member states. Sweden has been a favourable choice for nationals of Bulgaria, Poland, and Romania. Bulgaria and Romania only joined on January 1st of 2007.

What is great about being part of the EU Union is the arrangement that enables you to go through the immigration process in a much easier way.

Canada Immigration authorities are glad to announce that citizens of the countries Poland, Slovakia, Lithuania, and Hungary do not need a visit or tourist visa to enter the country. Starting March 1, 2008, citizens from the said countries can freely go in and out of Canada. These countries have strong ties with Canada. By lifting the visa requirement for such countries, Canada contributes in building great relationships with the countries mentioned above.

Effective immediately, citizens of Poland, Slovakia, Lithuania and Hungary can enjoy a visa-free status into Canada. At the same time, Canada continues to review its visa requirements for the new member states joining the European Union. This was their reaction from the EU’s criticism about not providing visa-free travel to the nations included in the union. Back in 2006, Canada lifted visa requirements for citizens of Estonia. In 2007, the Latvia and Czech Republic citizens were provided a visa-free entry to Canada.

Canada is a committed EU nation and is dedicated to the European Union’s objective of providing visa-exempt status to the other EU members. Only the two latest newest countries that have joined the EU have not yet been provided with visa free travel to Canada.

Other citizens who may travel to Canada without a visa include citizens of Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Botswana, Brunei, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Poland, Portugal, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Solomon Islands, Spain, Swaziland, Sweden, Slovenia, Switzerland, United States, and Western Samoa.

An electronic Australian visa is just like any other visa that you can get from an Australian embassy in your country. The difference is that it is paperless, and you do not have to go through the hassle of applying for it at the embassy! You can enter Australia for pleasure or short term business with it. It replaces the usual visa label posted in passports.

Electronic Australian visas come in two types. There is the tourist electronic visa that allows you to visit and stay in Australia for up to 90 days. This kind of visa expires a year after approval but it allows multiple entries to the country. You can only use this for recreational purposes only. The second type of electronic Australia visa is the business electronic visa. Similar to the tourist electronic visa, you are allowed to stay up to 90 days in Australia. It is also valid for one year and for multiple entries. This visa is used for conferences, meetings, seminars, and other business-related activities or events. This should not be used like a work visa.

To get your electronic Australian visa, all you need to do is apply through Australia’s online filing. You will need to pay an application fee of $18. Upon application, you will get the results within 24 hours. Only travellers holding a passport from the following countries may apply for an electronic visa: Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong SAR, Iceland, Ireland (Republic Of), Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK – British Citizen, and USA.