Organisers say the Working Abroad Expo will include immigration officials from Australia, New Zealand and Canada giving visa advice, relocation services, employers and recruitment consultants, and financial advisers. Information on volunteering abroad will also be available.

For more information, see the Working Abroad Expo website.

Related article:

IrishExaminer.com: Destination anywhere

There were 7,332 working holiday visas issued between July 1 and October 31 this year, up 33% from the same period last year, when there were 5,535 issued. In the same period in 2006, there were 4,733 issued.

More Irish are choosing to stay in Australia at the end of their one-year working holiday: between July and October, 1,239 applied for an extension, a quadrupling from the 371 who applied last year. Over 10% of those on working holiday visas are now applying for a second year.  Last year, there was a record total of 15,625 working holiday visas, and this number will increase for 2008/2009.

The number of 457 visas, which are employer-sponsored and valid for up to four years has nearly doublied in two years.  For July to October, there were 1,220 visas, up from 670 in 2006. More people are immigating with partners and dependents: 900 of the 467 visas were to primary applications and 320 are secondary, up from 600 and 160 respectively last year.

The number of Irish people offered resident visas from July through October this year has jumped 60%, from 391 in 2007 to 633 in 2008.

Irish visitor numbers, however, are decreasing; the 16,730 who came to Australia on holiday visas between July and October represented a decline of 8%.

See the article on the Irish Echo website.

The company is promoting New Zealand’s cheaper property, falling unemployment and cultural similarities with Ireland as reasons for a move.

Read the article: “A different opportunity down under”

A prospective emigrant was also interviewed, who is planning on moving to Perth with his wife and children, where they will join friends. He has been working but says “with the way the economy is going, I don’t know what the future holds”. He says that his decision to move was initially a lifestyle choice rather than an economic move; they are giving it two years and then will decide whether to move there permanently.

The Migrationabroad.com representative says that she gives clinics every month, and has found that more people are moving to Australia who have never been there before. “People are prepared to take a chance on it…The culture shock isn’t there”. She added that the schools were good, they speak English, and there is a similar system to recognise trades. She said it was the most popular destination.

After the interview, the presenter read a text that had come in. “Now we know we’re in the 1980s, promoting emigration”. The presenter said that promoting emigration had not been his intent.

Hear the programme.

Migration.ie spokesperson Barry Dowling told the Irish Independent, “We deal with about 350 applications a month and we probably deal with about half the market for Australia”. The newspaper reports that the company is dealing with an increasing number of construction workers who are looking for jobs as the industry slows down.

He says that people are leaving for economic and lifestyle reasons. “Most people leaving for Australia are looking for a better standard of living and Australia consistently beats Ireland hands down in terms of both cost and standard of living.”

Australia is actively encouraging immigration to deal with a skills shortage. The recruitment efforts include efforts to attract a wide range of workers, including medical professionals, cooks, hairdressers, accountants and construction workers.

The newspaper also reports that the number of students taking up the J-1 visa has also increased substantially.

Bernadette Cashman of Irish Outreach San Diego says that 2,500 J-1 students arrived this summer; the group contacted  employers in advance to and provided orientation for hundreds of the students.

While many are attracted to the sunny weather and the beaches, the city’s proximity to the Mexican border is another big draw: students who are under 21 can buy drink legally in Mexico. High rents and competition from other European students in many of the traditionally Irish areas are serving as additional disincentives.

In a similar vein, the student-run Daily Californian carries an article on the Irish students spending the summer in Berkeley. Journalist Sonja Sharp quotes an area employer as saying the city has become “In the past three or four years, Berkeley’s just become a Mecca� for Irish students  A 2005 USIT survey showed that 35% of students wound up in California.

The RTÉ report mentions that some students are having trouble with the wait for their social security numbers. The Emerald Isle Immigration Center’s Padraig Nolan says that some students in the New York area have been forced into debt and even gone home.

See the news stories:

• California Dreaming: J-1s go west [RTÉ]
• Irish students head west for summer [Daily Californian]
  

TAKE 5 AND CALL YOUR SENATORS TODAY!
Call 202-224-3121 and ask for your Senator’s office now.Ask them to:
Support family-reunification amendments

• Amendment # 1199 (Dodd): This would increase the number of visas that are available for parents of U.S. citizens, and would extend the number of days each year that non-immigrant parents could visit families in the United States.      
• Amendment # 1317 (Menendez): This would modify the point system to give greater weight to family ties for green-card applicants.  Family members could receive up to fifteen points in their application, rather than the ten points that would currently be given to family members in the base bill.

Support a workable legalization program

• Amendment # 1236 (Baucus-Tester): This amendment would strike provisions that make the bill’s legalization program dependent upon the systematic implementation of REAL ID documents.  Several states have already passed laws rejecting to implement REAL ID; additionally, best estimates are that this program would take many years and billions of dollars to execute.  This amendment would set more realistic goals and expectations for when the legalization program could take effect.

Oppose provisions endangering vulnerable immigrants

• Amendment # 1473 (Coleman):  This is a slightly modified version of an amendment that was narrowly defeated in this year’s Senate immigration debate.  In spite of these changes, the amendment would still prevent local law enforcement officials from choosing to afford certain protections to vulnerable immigrants who are preyed upon by criminals. 

Visit the Justice for Immigrants campaign.

Attempts to resolve the situation have so far failed. The US embassy in Dublin no longer has the authority to process the case, and Mr Murphy has been told he needs to present himself to authorities in the US, although he has been prevented from re-entering the country. Local officials are hoping that Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern may assist in resolving the issue.

Mr Murphy told the Limerick Leader:

“My wife is three months pregnant. We were starting off on a new life, with our first child on the way and had never been happier. I had always had my papers in order. The packet of documents which I had received when applying for adjustment of status did not say that I was to remain in America while the application was being processed. The first I knew was when I was turned back at Shannon.”

See the Limerick Leader for the full report.

“We’re confident that this fee adjustment will enable the type of exceptional immigration service our nation expects and deserves,” said a statement from USCIS Director Emilio Gonzalez on Wednesday.

Immigration advocates, however, say the price hikes will pose a significant obstacle for many immigrants.

The proposals are subject to a public comment period; to comment, visit www.regulations.gov; use the “agency� box to click on “U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services� and hit “submit�. You will then be shown the document, “Adjustment of the Immigration and Naturalization Benefit Application and Petition Fee Schedule�. Click on the “Docket ID� to read the comments submitted, and “Document ID� for instructions on making a comment.

Graham was told he would be deported, and was sent to jail; although he was informed he would be put in the prison’s immigration section, he was instead put in a cell with murder suspects. Graham says he bribed fellow prisoners in order to survive; South Africa’s Home Affairs department took four days to find him because he was in the wrong section of the prison. His own lawyer did not know how to find him.

Graham was finally granted bail in August; his case was dismissed in October. The newspaper reports that a department of home affairs spokesperson said they were investigating the matter.

Read the full story on iol.co.za.