How 2 Come to the UK
Ang OFW Ngayon, 17/11/08

James Bond style spy gear used to cheat immigration test
Telegraph.co.uk, 14/11/08

White, British, need a job?
NorthWestNationalists, 16/11/08

'Economic benefits of mass immigration are close to zero',  Lords told
Mail Online, 15/11/08

‘Sneak’ plan for mandatory ID cards
Times Online, 16/11/08

Five suspected illegal immigrants arrested in raid on Exeter
thisisexeter.co.uk, 16/11/08

By resisting the repression of migrants, we defend the freedom of everyone.
No Borders South Wales, 11/11/08

UK rules on immigration fuel concerns for seafarers  
Lloyd's List, 14/11/08

Chinese restaurant owner faces £15k fine
EADT, Suffolk & Essex, 13/11/08

Home Office rules means 200,000 fewer jobs for migrant workers
LONDRA Gazete, 13/11/08

INDUSTRY BODY CLAIMS THAT RULES WILL CAUSE SHORTAGE OF SKILLED WORKERS
Caring Business, 13/11/08

Migrant builders threat to Olympic 'skills legacy'
Evening Standard, 13/11/08

College welcomes fingerprint plan
THE SHIELDS, Gazette, 12/11/08

Migrants and the UK's shortage occupation lists: legal dilemma
personneltoday.com, 13/11/08

How SA expat taxes stack up with the rest of the world
MONEYWEBTAX, 13/11/08

The UK Border Agency has announced that the retired persons of independent means route to enter the UK will be no longer be available as of 27 November 2008.

This route to the UK is seldom used, figures from the UK Border Agency show that less than 20 applications are received in this category each year.

In February 2008, UK immigration regulations began enforcing a new regime of fines on employers found to be employing migrants without official permission to work.  UK Border Agency officials may now issue on-the-spot fines to employers of up to £10,000 per unauthorised worker – a measure which has been accompanied by a series of highly publicised immigration raids on workplaces. The new regime has led to a huge increase in demands on the part of employers for passports and other identity documents from their workers.

PAPERS PLEASE is the first attempt to look at the impact of this new regime on migrant workers themselves.  Based on interviews with migrants affected by the changes, trade union officials, and employer associations, it identifies worrying trends towards discrimination and an increase in tensions in workforces where migrant workers are present.

PAPERS PLEASE relates these developments to wider concerns about increases in the vulnerability of migrant workers to exploitation and the erosion of basic employment rights.  It calls for civil society organisations to better engage with the range of problems emerging in this troubled area, and for determined efforts to counter the effects of discrimination and the abuse of power.

Download a free copy of PAPERS PLEASE from MRN’s website

For a free copy of the published report, within the UK, send an A4-size SAE with a 56p stamp to ‘Papers Please’ report, Migrants’ Rights Network, 253 Upper Street, London N1 1RY.

For delivery outside the UK, or to inquire about receiving multiple copies of the report, email info@migrantsrights.org.uk to inquire about terms of delivery.

Personneltoday.com has reported that a government adviser who helped create the new points-based  system has advised employers they won't be able to bring in non-EU migrant workers unless they also demonstrate their efforts to train UK workers.

The UK’s Border and Immigration Agency recently announced that the next step in their immigration overhaul is due to be implemented on the 27th November 2008. What this will mean is that the long awaited Tier 2 – the points based system’s ‘flag ship’ Tier – and the Tier 5 schemes will come into operation on this date.

The Tier 2 scheme will replace the current Work Permit scheme which is in place to enable employers to utilize foreign workers in positions which they struggle to fill with resident workers. The Tier 2 application will still require a UK based employer and the role and candidate will still need to pass a ‘resident labour’ test, amongst other things, in order to qualify for the scheme. A major difference between the Work Permit and the Tier 2 application is that the employer is expected to play a much more active role in the employment of their foreign nationals and ensuring that they abide by their visa regulations.

A company wishing to employ a foreign national must be in possession of a valid certificate which enables them to employ foreigners in the first place. Employers can obtain this certificate by meeting certain requirements and making an application to the Border and Immigration Agency.

The Tier 5 scheme is a scheme designated to attract low skilled temporary workers to the UK and will replace the current and vastly popular Working Holiday Visa (WHV) to the UK. The Youth Mobility Scheme (YMS) will now be available instead of the WHV, but the question still remains as to whether or not countries like South Africa will be afforded the opportunity to utilise the YMS scheme under the Tier 5 application.

The new Business Visitor visa will also be introduced on the 27th November 2008 to those wishing to travel to the UK for short business trips. Residents from non-visa national countries (of which South Africa is currently one) will not need to obtain this visa prior to entering UK as it will be issued on arrival by the customs official at the port of entry. This Business Visitor visa will enable business persons to enter the UK and undertake tasks such as conferences, securing deals, undertaking fact finding missions, conducting site visits, etc during their time in the UK on this visa.

The National Business Review is reporting a story about extending working holidays in the UK for Kiwis. 

From next month young New Zealanders heading to Britain will be able to work there for two years, Prime Minister Helen Clark announced today.

At present they can go to the United Kingdom for two years under a Working Holiday Visa which allows them to work for one year of their stay.

From November 27 there will be a new visa category under the Youth Mobility Scheme allowing them to work for the whole of the two-year period.