Immigration Visa OnlineA Blog of Mr. Ajay Sharma, Immigration and visas Specialist

It all started when recently some people were charged over a conspiracy to storm an army base in Sydney and plotting a suicide attack on a military base. Keeping these issues in mind, Australian lawmaker Kelvin Thomson has suggested marking a reduction in the number of immigrants coming to Australia and has called for more precise and stringent checks for people wishing to migrate to Australia.

Labor MP Kelvin Thomson said that the reduction would not only reduce the number of migrants but also the activities related with terrorism in a major way. He further said that reducing the rate by half would give authorities ample time to assess applicants.

Facts say that almost 213,000 migrants arrived in Australia last year. 12,000 of which were UN refugees. Also, out of the five arrested for the plotting of the Sydney attack, three of them were of Somali descent. Speculation are being made that these terrorists arrived via the UN refugee program. This clearly depicts the increased number of applicants coming to Australia via UN program at a gradual pace.

According to Mr. Thomson, Islamists enter the country through official channels. This aspect is even more critical than an attack by another country.

But will cutting down the Immigration Quota really solve the issue? Knowing the fact Australia requires Skilled Migrants in the long run, cutting the quotas won’t solve the problem at the core. Therefore, instead of curbing migration quotas under the Skilled Migrant Program, the Australian Government would do well by keeping a careful background check on the applicants under the UN refugee program.

Australian Economy has always remained one of the strongest aspects of the country. Various reports from International sources are affirming on this fact. The best part is that the country managed to rise faster as compared to other countries, especially after the Great Economic Catastrophe that occurred recently!

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in one of his statements stated that: “We currently, among the major advanced economies, have the fastest growth. We have also the second-lowest unemployment levels and the lowest debt,”

Here is what the other facts have to say:

• Australia’s unemployment rate remained at 5.8 per cent for July, despite various speculations that the seasonally adjusted rate would reach at least 6 per cent.
• Part-time employment increased 48,200 to 3.203 million. On the other hand, full-time jobs are dropped by 16,000 to 7.590 million. These facts are giving an indication that the employers are cutting hours rather than positions.

According to the Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard, “The figures indicate that Australian companies have taken sensible steps to retain skilled workers where possible and in some cases offering for workers the option of converting to part-time employment,” she said. “It’s far better for a working person to be kept in a job than to be unemployed.”

Here are some other facts on the Australian Economy:

• The Housing aspect is expanding (http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/ProductsbyReleaseDate/05DBCE56402EC566CA25723D000F2999?OpenDocument) in a major way.
• Business investments are increasing (http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/5625.0?OpenDocument) at a decent pace.
• Real retail sales are increasing (http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/ProductsbyReleaseDate/4A7B3A600C3DE89FCA2574F300154B48?OpenDocument).

On a promising note, Australia is improving in terms of Trade, Employment factor, Real Retails Sales, and so on. All in all, its economy is on a roll – Thanks to the mentioned aspects!

Dear Readers,

My journey in Immigration and visa consulting industry started in the year 1994. I started accepting the mandate(s) for Immigration Visa consulting services to general skilled and professionals and for advisory areas related to global relocation and job search, post landing settlement in destined countries. I continue to be an immigration and visa specialist even today. I run my company in the name of ABHINAV (www.abhinav.com).

It has indeed been an interesting journey and the most important learning is that bureaucrats are same across the world – go by book and use the book to hide their failings, have no accountability for their actions and in most cases non-actions.

Bureaucrats and officers dealing with Immigration and visas matters are unique since they have extreme discretionary powers. And in majority of the time they are misused. They take refusal decisions that are unfair and mostly unexplained and then leave it to the applicant to fight it out with the department – with senior officers and ministers or with the court. The department is not much helping either as they have standard responses for appeals. And the court procedure is so expensive for ordinary applicant to follow that – in most cases- is ruled out.

So if the situation so dismal all around! Not really, as many countries seem to have learned from failings of systems of countries that started early. In my opinion and going by experience, leading the pack of countries with most mismanaged immigration system will be - without doubt – Canada followed by USA, Hong Kong, Thailand. Talking of Canada, Quebec Immigrant investor program is an exception but then that accounts for a small number of the actual number of large immigrants and how many applicants have a net worth of close to CAD 800,000/-?

Among the most applicant, efficient, accountable and user friendly system I have experienced is Singapore, followed by Australia and New Zealand. Denmark has recently started the green card process and the initial feel factor is comfortable.

In this blog I will share

• My experiences from past and how they affected applicants?
• How past can be used to as a learning tool by future applicants, governmental bodies and agencies?
• Latest happenings and changes and what these changes will mean to candidates whose applications are pending or who intend to apply?
• Proposed changes in future and if introduced what these changes will mean to candidates whose applications are pending or who intend to apply?

Visitors to the blog can

• Share their experiences and ask the queries related to Immigration issues and visa matters
• Can comment on the articles in the blog
• Can respond to queries
• Can submit articles

Welcome to my Blog… To know more about my self you can check About Me or you can also visit my website: www.abhinav.com. If you like the blog then please subscribe to our feed at http://www.immigrationvisaonline.com/feed/