2010 has been a rocky year for immigration around the world. Aftershocks from the global financial crisis of 2008 can still be felt as evidenced by many countries responding to the economic downturn by bringing in more restrictive immigration policies.

However, there is evidence that as the economies of many countries improve and unemployment rates fall, skilled immigration will once again play a key role in filling labour gaps.

United Kingdom

One of the biggest stories this year is the UK Government's interim immigration cap that was put into force in June. The temporary cap, designed to prevent a surge in applications ahead of a planned permanent cap to be introduced in April 2011, was pushed through without any Parliamentary vote. Since this summer, a monthly cap of 600 applications for Tier 1 General has been in place, with the quota being reached very early in each month. There has been much criticism of the cap, mainly from the business sector, immigrant groups, and from within the Government itself.

A legal challenge was lodged with the UK High Court by the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants and the English Community Care Association. The UK High Court found that the interim immigration cap was unlawful because the Home Secretary did not put the measure to a vote before Parliament. However, the UK Government quickly put through a Statement of Changes that apparently means that the interim immigration limit is now lawful. It's possible that a future legal challenge will mean that the interim limit is again considered to be unlawful.

Of more concern is the announcement of the permanent cap to be introduced in April of 2011. This cap will limit the number of highly skilled visas from 13,000 per year to 1,000 per year and introduce a new 'exceptional talent' visa which will replace the Tier 1 (General) visa. It is certain that immigrating to the UK under the highly skilled immigration route will be become much more difficult -- if not impossible -- for most people.

In addition to the changes to Tier 1, Tier 2 visas will also become more difficult to obtain. Starting in April 2011, Tier 2 general visas will require applicants to have a degree-level qualification. In addition, while Intra-company transfers under the Tier 2 regime will not be subject to any caps, applicants must earn more that GBP 40,000 per year if they wish to stay in the UK for longer than 12 months.

Stricter requirements for permanent residence, otherwise known as Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) were also announced in 2010. The Home Secretary said that she wishes to cut the ties between temporary immigration and permanent settlement. As a result, it is possible many people will no longer be eligible to apply for ILR in the future. One bit of good news is that the plan by the previous Government to create a category of "probationary citizenship" instead of indefinite leave to remain has been axed.

The UK has also significantly raised immigration fees.

The United Kingdom is not the only country that is tightening the reigns on immigration. Canada has reduced the number of jobs in its in-demand occupation list; Most skilled worker applicants will more than likely require a job offer. On the bright side, Canada has devoted resources to reducing a large backlog in applications which have historically resulted in multi-year waiting times for applicants.

Australia

Like Canada, Australia also announced a reduction in jobs on their Skilled Occupation List (SOL); as before applicants for permanent residence under the General Skilled Migration (GSM) programme must have relevant experience in the particular skilled occupation. This year Australia also announced changes to the GSM to take effect next summer which will make it more difficult for tradespeople and people in other occupations to score enough points under Australia's GSM points based system.

Australia has also been responding to criticism of changes to its immigration system from the business and education sectors. Australia will make student immigration and temporary business immigration easier. This will further help Australia's economy which is now experiencing an upturn.

In line with Canada and Australia, New Zealand announced a reduction on the LTSSL and ISSL lists while, and this is not entirely new, applicants must have relevant experience to their job position and a relevant educational background. English language skills are still a requirement, at 6.5IELTS.

The Silver Fern policies were rolled out and according to INZ with huge success. These policies have been put in place to attract highly skilled young people to New Zealand, and matching these workers to the needs of the economy by providing a pathway for these workers to remain in New Zealand upon gaining skilled employment.

Also the Parent Retirement Category was rolled out, consisting out of a Temporary Retirement and Parent Retirement stream. It allows Immigration New Zealand to prioritise high net worth individuals who are already seeking to migrate to New Zealand under the Family Category. The Temporary Retirement Category creates a two year visa for people who want to spend some of their retirement in New Zealand, provided they invest here and indemnify the government against possible health and welfare costs. Parent Retirement visa holders will be required to invest a minimum of $1 million in New Zealand over four years, whereas Temporary Retirees will need to invest $750,000 over the two year term of their permit. Temporary Retirees will be able to renew their permits as long as they continue to meet criteria including investment funds, income and health insurance.

According to INZ sources, the Long Term Business Visa, aka LTBV, appears to increase in popularity. This type of application puts the onus on the applicant to prove that his to be established business is a benefit to New Zealand within the three year time frame.

Immigration fees have also changed at the same time with the introduction of the new Immigration Act 2009.

Licencing of advisors based IN New Zealand was already a fact, but this year ALL advisors, locally AND overseas must be licenced unless exempt. Applications lodged through an un-licenced advisor are returned to the applicant.

The new Immigration Act 2009 came into effect on 29 November 2010. This in particular has some ramifications for employers and sponsors. Please refer to the Act

There was a time when H-1B visas were snatched up on the first day that they became available for a particular fiscal year. This year is certainly in keeping with the times; thousands of H-1B visas were still available many months after the gates were open, showing that employers are simply not hiring highly skilled workers in large numbers in the US.

The global financial crisis of 2008 took an enormous toll on economies world-wide which resulted in many Countries bringing in more restrictive immigration policies.

Governments around the world are concentrating more on employment-based immigration to deal with gaps in the labor market. It is increasingly the case that the employer or both the employer and employee need to apply for the visa, or that the employer has an increased responsibility to the immigration service.

In addition, some other countries are providing residency when successful applicants import investment funds.

Over the last few years economies around the world have been recovering. This is particularly true for countries such as Australia. As markets recover and demand for skilled workers increase, this will lead to increases in levels of immigration.