Thursday, 17 January 2013

PAKISTANI FAKE MARRIAGES

From UK DAILY MAIL

Czech national flew to Pakistan to marry THREE TIMES in FOUR MONTHS in UK immigration scam

Eva Holubova told police Pakistani men offered £250 for photos of herself
Her boyfriend flew to Pakistan with her and was paid £300 for 'marrying' a Pakistani woman, 28
Sham marriage service based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire arranged for more than 20 'brides' to be flown to Pakistan

By Sarah Johnson
PUBLISHED: 20:25 GMT, 17 January 2013 | UPDATED: 21:58 GMT, 17 January

A Czech national flew to Pakistan three times in four months as part of an elaborate immigration scam to allow Pakistani men to live in the UK, a court heard.
Eva Holubova, 19, flew to Pakistan with her boyfriend, also 19, to take part in fake marriage ceremonies and was 'married' three times in the space of four months.
She told police Pakistani men offered her £250 for photos to pretend they were married so they could get visas to go to the UK.

Friday, 11 January 2013

UK SHAM MARRIAGES

FROM UK DAILY MAIL

Solicitors 'ran immigration scam arranging thousands of sham marriages by submitting touching love stories about couples who'd only just met'

Gang arranged for brides or husbands from EU to marry non EU individuals
At one stage several EU citizens a day were flown in from Eastern Europe
They were housed in London before going to various registry offices

By Tom Kelly
PUBLISHED: 16:18 GMT, 11 January 2013 | UPDATED: 18:39 GMT, 11 January 2013

A law firm invented scores of 'touching' love stories about foreign couples to convince immigration authorities that their sham marriages were real, a court heard yesterday.
Solicitor Tevfick Souleiman and three immigration advisers working for him made 'substantial' sums by forging documents to hoodwink the UK Border Agency during the eight year scam, it was alleged.
Brides were flown into Britain from eastern European EU countries to marry non-EU citizens, giving the grooms rights to live and work in the UK, the Old Bailey was told.

Accused: A solicitor and his three advisors organised thousands of sham marriages between illegal immigrants and EU Citizens, a court heard today. Defendants Tevfick Souleiman, right and Cenk Guclu, left, are pictured

In some cases the couples only met each other at the solicitor's office on one occasion before their wedding day and were banned from any other contact, prosecutor Nicholas Mather said.
But the firm organised forged affidavits in which they 'concocted' accounts of their supposedly romantic courtships which were submitted to the authorities in order for the marriages to be approved, he said.
In one, Albanian Alban Spaho, described how he met his Bulgarian bride-to-be Petya Zlatanska while on a day out with friends in Haringey, North London in 2008 and plucked up the courage approach her.

The affidavit said: 'We went to a cafe where our friends left us alone to get on with it... Petya was a bit shy but I eventually persuaded her to let me take her out.
'We didn't go to any of the usual Bulgarian or Albanian places in North London but instead went to a really nice place in the West end.'
He described how the couple's love grew and they moved in together, adding: 'After three months I realised I wanted to be with her all the time and asked her to marry me.'

Sham: The gang arranged for brides or husbands from the UK or the EU to marry non EU individuals, the court heard. Defendant Zafer Altinbas is pictured

In fact the letter was a 'script' written by staff at the north London offices of Souleiman GA Solicitors, the prosecutor said.
In another allegedly forged affidavit a sham marriage groom described how he met his bride a nightclub and after they got together, he eventually proposed after a romantic meal on Valentine's Day.
One Indian student who wanted to stay in the UK told how he was introduced to his Bulgarian bride to be at the firm's offices when he went to ask for immigration advice
He was taken outside to have some photos of them together taken, before being told he couldn't talk to her until the day of their marriage, it was alleged.
The marriages were going ahead despite the regular use of same addresses and a number of errors on applications including names of the applicants being misspelt, the jury heard.
The solicitor's firm also used forged tenancy agreements and employer's references, many from a company called Kebab Town.
Mr Mather said: 'They, together with others, were part of a conspiracy to breach immigration laws in this country by arranging sham marriages, or marriages of convenience.
'In doing so, they made a sizeable amount of money. The arrangement of these marriages was a lucrative business.
'Whatever may be recorded in the books, substantial sums were being paid to individuals to arrange these marriages. This was a cash business.'
Mr Mather said other work of the solicitors, such as conveyancing, was legitimate.
But he added: 'They were running not only a business but also a racket involving sham marriages.
'Substantial amounts would be paid into personal bank accounts. Clients would pay the firm £500 in accounts, but the actual sum was thousands of pounds. That money never went through the books.'
Souleiman, 39, immigration advisers Zafer Altinbas, 38, and Cenk Guclu, 41, and Furrah Kosimov, 29, deny conspiracy to breach immigration law between 2004 and last year.
Souleiman, from Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Altinbas, from Islington, north London, and Guclu, from Enfield, north London, also deny receiving proceeds of crime.
Kosimov, from Wembley, north west London, who is being tried in his absence, denies money laundering.

Saturday, 5 January 2013

600,000 Poles emigrated to UK.

From the UK SUN

The 2011 Census showed Poles are now the second-largest foreign community in Britain.
They form a significant portion of the 13 per cent of people in England and Wales who were born outside of the UK — and more than half the numbers arrived in the past ten years.
Official figures state there are almost 600,000 Poles living in Britain. But our research suggests the figure might be even higher.
Travel agent Magdalena Francuz shows us a list of the flights that can be taken from the (LODZ) city’s airport to the UK.
Tickets from Ryanair and the low-cost Hungarian airline Wizzair cost as little as £20. Magdalena says many of the flights are full but adds: “Most of my customers are not buying one-way tickets. They buy returns so they can come back in two or three months.

CANADA WANTS YOUNG, ANGLO/FRENCH SPEAKING, SKILLED WORKERS

From newsletter Montreal Lawyer Anthony COHEN,

BREAKING NEWS: Federal Skilled Worker Program Will Reopen in May

Wednesday, 19 December 2012 Category Federal Immigration

Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on email Share on print Share on gmail Share on stumbleupon Share on favorites Share on blogger More Sharing Services

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) has announced that the new points system for the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) will take effect on May 4th, 2013. At that time, the program will begin accepting applications to its Skilled Worker category. The Skilled Worker category of the FSWP has been closed since mid-2012 so that necessary changes could be made to selection criteria. It is important to note that the FSWP continues to be open for individuals with a qualifying arranged job offer or who wish to apply under the Ph.D. stream.
The final changes, as described by CIC, are as follows:

Minimum official language thresholds and increased points for official language proficiency, making language the most important factor in the selection process;
Increased emphasis on younger immigrants, who are more likely to acquire valuable Canadian experience, are better positioned to adapt to changing labour market conditions, and who will spend a greater number of years contributing to Canada’s economy;
Introduction of the Educational Credential Assessment (ECA), so that education points awarded reflect the foreign credential’s true value in Canada;
Changes to the arranged employment process, allowing employers to hire applicants quickly, if there is a demonstrated need in the Canadian labour market; and
Additional adaptability points for spousal language ability and Canadian work experience

These changes are part of CIC’s mission to transform Canada’s immigration system to one that is ‘faster and more flexible’. Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has stated that “The government’s number one priority remains jobs, economic growth, and long-term prosperity. The new Federal Skilled Worker Program criteria will ensure Canada is selecting the skilled immigrants out economy needs, who are the most likely to succeed in Canada.”
These changes, along with efforts to streamline processing times, will result in FSWP applications being processed within months, as opposed to years. To assist in a speedy processing time, CIC has announced that the new FSWP will place a cap on the number of applications accepted for review each year. The exact number of applications to be accepted in 2013 has yet to be announced.

Wednesday, 2 January 2013

USA: C.I.S. REPORT

A CIS News, CIS Weekly and CIS Announce press release from the Center for Immigration Studies.

Is this email not displaying correctly?
View it in your browser.


Facebook \| YouTube \| Twitter \| Google+ \| forward to a friend

Immigration Enforcement Agency Lacks Interest in Immigration Enforcement

Report Finds Deficient Regulation of Foreign Student Program

WASHINGTON (January 2, 2013) – A new Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) Backgrounder finds that the agency responsible for overseeing educational institutions hosting foreign students rarely exercises its enforcement authority.

The Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), a subset of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) within the Department of Homeland Security, oversees nearly 1.2 million foreign students and their dependents, plus close to 7,000 educational institutions. The new report finds that despite a substantial budget and wide regulatory responsibility, SEVP rarely rejects an institution’s application for the authority to issue the Form I-20, the document allowing a potential foreign student to secure a visa from an American consulate abroad. Even more worrisome, the agency averages a mere 2.2 indictments a year of "visa mills", groups posing as bona fide educational institutions but which exist mainly to collect "tuition" in exchange for visas.

The report is online at http://cis.org/sevp-migration-enforcement-agency-discourages-funds-for-Its-own-work.

Report author David North, a CIS fellow and respected immigration policy researcher, comments, “It is incredible that after the would-be Wall Street bomber, the Times Square bomber, and the two 9/11 pilots were all found to have student visas, the Department of Homeland Security makes so little effort to pursue corrupt visa mills, flight schools not authorized by the Federal Aviation Administration, and needless language schools. National security requires the enforcement of our immigration laws.”

The Backgrounder describes the assessment process: “There is no direct governmental screening of the I-20s within the United States; it is up to the consular or the USCIS officers to determine if the alien is eligible for the visa or adjustment. Nor is there any routine face-to-face contact between the SEVP and foreign students after their arrival in the United States.”

The SEVP, staffed by 750 workers and armed with $120 million in fee revenue, has ignored Congress’ mandate to recertify all of its institutions every two years. As of March 2012, the agency had only recertified 19 percent. Since one out of eight institutions approved for the issuance of I-20s has no accreditation, recertification is of particular importance. Mr. North notes, “Limited resources, the agency’s excuse for not seeking or challenging fraud, is not credible with a 2012 end of the year cash balance of 135.2 million.”

The Center for Immigration Studies is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit research organization founded in 1985. It is the nation's only think tank devoted exclusively to research and policy analysis of the economic, social, demographic, fiscal, and other impacts of immigration on the United States.

Center for Immigration Studies
1629 K St. NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20006
phone: (202) 466-8185
fax: (202) 466-8076
help@cis.org

Tuesday, 1 January 2013

UK: STATE SUBSIDIZED REPRODUCTION

From UK DAILY MAIL

Families with three or more children cost taxpayers some £2.3billion in housing benefits. The government has vowed to cut this back by imposing a cap on the maximum amount that can be claimed in welfare to £26,000 a year.
Cabinet ministers have also triggered controversy by urging welfare recipients to consider whether they can afford to have more children.
Official figures show that families with nine children receive more than £11,000 a year in housing benefit, or £925 a month.
The average family spends £606 a month on rent or mortgage payments, a third less than is being paid out in housing benefit to these large families. The payments also go to families or individuals in work but on low incomes.

No of children	Families receiving out of work benefits	Jobseekers' allowance	Incapacity Benefit/Severe Disablement Allowance	Income Support	Employment and Support Allowance	Pension Credit
5	25,980	4,610	4,750	18,340	2,020	240
6	8,780	1,620	1,690	6,230	630	100
7	3,200	570	680	2,290	240	40
8	1,080	180	270	770	90	10
9	360	60	90	240	40	10
10	130	30	30	90	10
11	30		10	30
12	10		10	10
13	10

Separate figures released this week showed that 40,000 households with five or more children where at least one parent is on welfare cost taxpayers a massive £150million in child benefit alone.
The overall burden on the state of super-size families where one parent is on a jobless or sickness benefit is at least £350million – not counting housing benefit.
Some 180 families on jobless benefits have ten or more children, and ten families have an astonishing 13 or more.
The figures were released by the Department for Work and Pensions under a Freedom of Information request from the Sun newspaper.
They cover families where at least one person is claiming jobseeker’s allowance, incapacity benefit, severe disablement allowance, income support, employment and support allowance or pension credit.
Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith warned in October that families where no one is working could face benefit cuts if they chose to have more children.
George Osborne has ordered that the welfare bill be cut by a further £10billion, on top of the £18billion reductions already under way. The Chancellor warned that parents claiming unemployment benefit could lose child benefit, income support or tax credits if they had another child.
The move triggered controversy but Mr Osborne insisted that working families had to make choices, so the same should apply to those on out-of-work welfare.
He said: ‘When you are in work and you want another child, you consider the financial cost. When you are on benefits you automatically get extra money.’

Monday, 31 December 2012

NIREN & Assoc. NEWSLETTER

Newsletter | January 2013 Edition | Vol # 1-1-2013

Have a Happy New Year ! From the Niren & Associates Team

Niren & Associates would like to thank you for choosing our firm to assist you with your immigration matters in 2012. We are delighted to have served you and, its been a pleasure helping you achieve your goals. We look forward to serving you again with any future needs. On behalfeveryone at Niren & Associates, we wish you a healthy and prosperous 2013!

Click here for more information
http://www.visaplace.com/blog-immigration-law/skilled-worker-program-2/federal-skilled-worker-program-re-open-4-2013/

Federal Skilled Worker Program to Re-Open May 4, 2013

According to this news release from Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney has announced that the Federal Skilled Worker program will re-open with several changes. The changes made to the program were in an effort to ensure the program attracts the kind of workers Canada needs.

New Official Changes to the Skilled Worker Program
The changes include:

Creating a minimum official language level and making language the most important factor in the points selection process by awarding more points for language abilities.
Offering more points for younger immigrants who will spend more years contributing to the Canadian economy.
Creating a program called the Educational Credential Assessment to better consider the value of foreign credentials compared to Canadian ones.
Creating the ability for employers to hire applicants faster by making changes to the arranged employment process.
Awarding points to the applicants for having work experience in Canada and for having spouses with language proficiency in English or French.
"The government's number one priority remains jobs, economic growth and long-term prosperity," he said. "The new Federal Skilled Worker program criteria will ensure Canada is selecting the skilled immigrants our economy needs, who are most likely to succeed and fully realize their potential in Canada."

The Skilled Worker Program is the largest economic immigration program in Canada, and these changes are expected to make it so that it only takes a few months to process applications instead of a few years. If you would like to immigrate to Canada under the Skilled Worker Program, please contact us to speak with one of our immigration professionals.

As this is a highly competitive program, we can help you determine if you are eligible to begin the application process. Best advice? Plan in advance!

Click here for more information
http://www.visaplace.com/blog-immigration-law/skilled-worker-program-2/federal-skilled-worker-program-re-open-4-2013/

New Federal Skilled Worker Point System

In our September 2012 newsletter we posted the new point system. Here is the new point system and details about how the points will be awarded to the applicants.

Old Points System Grid		New Point System with Changes
First Official Language: Maximum 16 points *No official language ability required*		First Official Language: Maximum 24 points *New Mandatory Minimum*
Basic Approx. CLB/NCLC 4 or 5 1 Point per ability to max. of 2		Minimum threshold in all abilities Initially set at CLB/NCLC 7 4 Points per ability Understands the main points and important details of a conversation and can write routine business correspondence; able to participate in small group discussions and express opinions and reservations about a topic.
Moderate Approx. CLB/NCLC 6 or 7 2 Points per ability		Threshold + 1 CLB/NCLC level 5 Points per ability CLB/NCLC 8 Participates in business meetings and debates; understands a broad range of general and abstract topics; writes formal and informal notes and summary documents.
Second Official Language: 8 Points		Second Official Language: 4 Points
Maximum 8 Points		Maximum 4 Points CLB/NCLC 5 in all abilities
Age: Maximum 10 Points		Age: Maximum 12 Points
21 to 49 yrs	10 Points	18 to 35 yrs	12 Points
20 or 50 yrs	8 Points	36 yrs	11 Points
19 or 51 yrs	6 Points	37 yrs	10 Points
18 or 52 yrs	4 Points	Less one point per year	--
17 or 53 yrs	2 Points	46 yrs	1 Point
<17 or >53 yrs	0 Point	47 and over	0 Point
Work Experience: Maximum 21 Points		Work Experience: Maximum 15 Points
1 yr	15 Points	1 yr	9 Points
2 yrs	17 Points	2 to 3 yrs	11 Points
3 yrs	19 Points	4 to 5 yrs	13 Points
4+ yrs	21 Points	6+ yrs	15 Points
Education: Maximum 25 Points		Education: Maximum 25 Points Points will be awarded based on an assessment of educational credentials by a designated organization, indicating the foreign educational credential's equivalent in Canada.
Master's or Doctoral level (+17 yrs)	17 Points	Doctoral level	25 Points
Two or more credentials at the bachelor's level OR 3-year post-secondary credential (+15 yrs)	22 Points	Master's level or professional degree	23 Points
Bachelor's (2 years or more) OR 2-year post-secondary credential (+14 yrs)	20 Points	Two or more post-secondary credentials, one of which is a three-year or longer post-secondary credential	22 Points
Bachelor's (1 year) OR 1-year post-secondary credential (+13 yrs)	15 Points	Three-year or longer post-secondary credential	21 Points
One-year post-secondary credential (+12 yrs)	12 Points	Two-year post-secondary credential	19 Points
Secondary school	5 Points	One-year post-secondary credential	15 Points
Secondary school not completed	0 Points	Secondary school	5 Points
Arranged Employment: 10 points		Arranged Employment: 10 points In order to receive points for arranged employment, applicants will need to have a LMO from HRSDC, plus an indeterminate job offer. In some cases, applicants will be LMO exempt and will only require the indeterminate job offer. New measures, including introducing a labour market assessment and genuineness elements in the regulations, are expected to increase program integrity, improve labour market responsiveness, and streamline processing for employers.
Adaptability: Maximum 10 Points
Spousal/partner education	5 Points	PA Previous Work in Canada (min. 1 yr at NOC 0, A, B)	10 Points
Previous Study in Canada PA or spouse/partner	5 Points	*Or a combination of...* Previous study in Canada -- PA	5 Points
Previous Work in Canada PA or spouse/partner	5 Points	Previous study in Canada -- accompanying spouse/partner	5 Points
Relative in Canada	5 Points	Previous work in Canada -- accompanying spouse/partner	5 Points
Arranged Employment	5 Points	Arranged employment	5 Points
		**Revised: Rel.** in Canada (18 years or over)	5 Points
		*Added:* Accompanying spouse/partner's official language (CLB/NCLC 4)	5 Points
		*Eliminated:* Accompanying spouse/ Partner education	3 to 5 Points
Pass mark = 67		Pass mark = 67

Immigration Videos this Month

USCIS to Start Accepting H-1B Petitions for FY 2014 on April 1, 2013

Now is the time for employers to consider whether an H-1B is appropriate for an existing or new foreign worker for their company. U.S. businesses use the H-1B program to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. Such workers include scientists, engineers, and computer programmers, amongst others.

The cap (the numerical limit on H-1B petitions) for FY 2014 is 65,000. The first 20,000 H-1B petitions filed on behalf of individuals with U.S. master's degrees or higher are exempt.

USCIS will monitor the number of H-1B petitions received and will notify the public of the date when the numerical limit of the H-1B cap has been met. This date is known as the final receipt date. If USCIS receives more petitions than it can accept, it may on the final receipt date randomly select the number of petitions that will be considered for final inclusion within the cap. USCIS will reject petitions that are subject to the cap and are not selected, as well as petitions received after it has the necessary number of petitions needed to meet the cap.

In addition to petitions filed on behalf of people with U.S. master's degrees or higher, certain other petitions are exempt from the congressionally mandated cap. Petitions for new H-1B employment are exempt from the annual cap if the beneficiaries will work at:

Institutions of higher education or related or affiliated non-profit entities;
Non-profit research organizations; or
Governmental research organizations.

Petitions filed on behalf of current H-1B workers who have been counted previously against the cap do not count towards the H-1B cap.

To find out whether your employee may qualify for an H-1B, please contact our offices and book an appointment to speak with an immigration professional.

Follow:

Michael H. Niren
B.A., LL.B. Managing Partner and Founder of Niren and Associates

Michael is a graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto. He is a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada, the Canadian Bar Association's Citizenship and Immigration Section and the Associate Member of the American Bar Association. Read more about Michael Niren