Fewer than 8000, out of 27,000 who were told to leave in 2008 were removed, the figures reveal.

Meanwhile the cost of paying benefits to asylum rejects has rocketed by 1,700 percent in five years. The figures will add to fears that Labour has lost its grip on the asylum system.

Home Office figures show 26,832 “removal notices” were served on failed applicants in 2008.

But only 7,850 were removed from the country or agreed to go voluntarily.

About £73million was spent on support for asylum seekers in 2007-08, up from £4million five years earlier.

Shadow immigration minister Damian Green said:

“This is a terrible picture of a system which is still not fit for purpose.

“This is unfair to both the taxpayer and the individuals involved. Britain urgently needs significant change in this area.”

Immigration minister Phil Woolas defended Labour’s record. He said:

“The removal process is sometimes delayed by applicants who frustrate it by further legal challenges.”

He added that “difficulties in deporting people to some countries and the reluctance of some individuals to comply with documentation requirements” further hindered the process.

Many countries, such as China, refuse to take back their citizens without a passport, which can take up to a year to obtain. Migrants in these situations often conveniently lose their passports, as they are aware of the loopholes.

The Home Office are left with a choice of holding an illegal immigrant or overstayer for 12 months, which is not always possible given the resources available to detain people for long periods, or releasing them on report.

Not surprisingly many of the overstayers told to turn up at a UK Border Agency reporting centre until the authorities are ready for deport them will disappear into the system again.

After all, if they’ve managed to remain at large for a number of years, who is to say when they will get caught again?

See also:

Government to increase passenger screening to protect border

Government’s new ‘international strategy’ to protect UK Border

UKBA announce new immigration fees from 6 April 2010

If you need any immigration advice or help with Studying in the UK, Settlement, Citizenship, Sponsorship, extending Work Permits, Visa or an appeal against a refusal please email:

info@immigrationmatters.co.uk or visit www.immigrationmatters.co.uk

The national border targeting centre is the UK Border Agency’s hi-tech hub where watch-list checks on passengers entering and leaving Britain will be carried out.

The unit, based in Manchester, will replace the smaller joint border operations centre at Heathrow as the operational hub for e-Borders, which electronically checks passenger data before they even set foot on a plane.

UK Border officers will work alongside the Serious Organised Crime Agency and the police to share intelligence and issue alerts where a suspect is identified by the electronic border checks.

It is expected that the new centre will create 250 jobs in the North West of England, and enable the UK Border Agency to meet its tough target of screening 100 per cent of passenger movements in and out of the UK by air, sea or rail by 2014.

Home Secretary Alan Johnson said:

‘Thanks to our hi-tech e-Borders system the UK now has one of the strongest borders in the world. It means we can count people in and out of the UK and capture known criminals, terror suspects and illegal migrants while gathering evidence against smugglers and people traffickers.

‘Already e-Borders has had a huge impact, helping us catch more than 5,400 criminals including rapists and murderers.

‘This new centre will up the ante, increasing the amount of data we can screen, so we can track all passenger movements in and out of the UK by 2014.’

More than 100 million passenger movements in and out of the UK were checked against UK Border Agency and police watchlists last year. The checks alerted the police to wanted UK and foreign nationals flying into British airports, allowing arrests to be made as soon as the individual landed or for them to be returned on the next flight.

The national border targeting centre receives information on passengers and crew and, over time, will check an estimated 250 million passenger movements per year. It will also process visa application data for overseas posts by checking the applicant and sponsor details against watchlists. For more information about e-Borders, see the e-Borders section of Home Office website.

See also:

Government’s new ‘international strategy’ to protect UK Border

UKBA announce new immigration fees from 6 April 2010

If you need any immigration advice or help with Studying in the UK, Settlement, Citizenship, Sponsorship, extending Work Permits, Visa or an appeal against a refusal please email:

info@immigrationmatters.co.uk or visit www.immigrationmatters.co.uk

The UK Border Agency has issued the following correction to sponsors in relation to Tier 4 applications.

UK Border Agency cleared of systemic abuse by escorts removing individuals from the UK

The UK Border Agency has published an independent report by Baroness Nuala O’Loan into allegations, made in 2007, that UK Border Agency escorts abused individuals being removed from the UK.

Mexican tops Forbes rich list and China has 89 billionaires

The world is changing as wealth shifts from the west. A Mexican tops the Forbes Rich list, China has more billionaires than any other country apart from the US and Pakistan added its first official billionaire.

David Cameron’s immigration shift in election battle

With a UK general election less than two months away immigration is becoming a hot topic and is rated in the top five of voter concerns.

Strike could cause delays at UK borders

The UK Border Agency has advised that travellers could face potential disruption at UK ports following strike action by the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) on Monday 8 March and Tuesday 9 March.

Brazilian gang jailed for running passport factory in Bayswater

The UK Border agency has announced that three Brazilian nationals were sentenced to a total of five years in jail on Thursday 4 March, for producing hundreds of counterfeit identity documents from flats in London’s Bayswater.

If you need any immigration advice or help with Studying in the UK, Settlement, Citizenship, Sponsorship, extending Work Permits, Visa or an appeal against a refusal please email:

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On Wednesday 3 March we issued an email (subject: “Important Changes to Tier 4 from 3rd March 2010″) which defined the overseas date of application as the date that the fee was paid and that biometric details were enrolled. This information was reflected on our website at the time. 

This information is incorrect. For all purposes the date of application is taken to be the date of receipt of payment (out-of-country applications) or the date the application is posted (in-country applications). 

Our website has been amended, and the correct information is given in the Tier 4 Policy guidance. 

We apologise for any confusion this may have caused.

End

See also:

Tier 4 student visa rules change starts today

UK Border Agency cleared of systemic abuse by escorts removing individuals from the UK

UKBA announce new immigration fees from 6 April 2010

Government’s new ‘international strategy’ to protect UK Border

If you need any immigration advice or help with Studying in the UK, Settlement, Citizenship, Sponsorship, extending Work Permits, Visa or an appeal against a refusal please email:

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The report, which was commissioned by the Home Secretary in September 2008, has unequivocally found no evidence of systematic abuse. It says that the force used in the alleged cases of abuse was largely justified and proportionate to manage what was often exceptionally disruptive behaviour, and to ensure that detainees complied with their removal from the UK.

The report also concludes that, although the agency used to have inadequate procedures for handling complaints, we took major steps in February 2008 to address the issue. The improvements made to complaints handling since that date are acknowledged in the report.

David Wood, strategic director of the UK Border Agency’s criminality and detention group, said:

‘We welcome the unequivocal findings of Baroness O’Loan that there is no evidence of systemic abuse by UK Border Agency escorts when removing individuals from the UK.

‘We expect the highest standards of integrity and behaviour from our staff and contractors. We take all allegations of mistreatment seriously, and the significant improvements made to our complaints procedures are recognised in this report.

‘All detainees are treated with dignity and respect, with access to legal advice and healthcare facilities. We only remove those whom both the UK Border Agency and the independent courts deem to have no legal right to be in the UK.’

You can download Baroness O’Loan’s report from the Home Office website.

See also:

UKBA announce new immigration fees from 6 April 2010

Government’s new ‘international strategy’ to protect UK Border

If you need any immigration advice or help with Studying in the UK, Settlement, Citizenship, Sponsorship, extending Work Permits, Visa or an appeal against a refusal please email:

info@immigrationmatters.co.uk or visit www.immigrationmatters.co.uk

A Mexican tops this year’s Forbes Rich list, China has more billionaires than any other country apart from the US and Pakistan added its first official billionaire.

A Mexican billionaire has today been named the world’s richest person – knocking Bill Gates off the top spot for only the second time in 15 years.

With a net worth of £35.7billion, Telecoms tycoon Carlos Slim Helu beat the Microsoft boss (£35.4billion) as well as investor Warren Buffett (£31.4billion) on the Forbes’ list of 10-figure titans.

It is the first time the title has been held by a non-American for 16 years.

In the UK, the Duke of Westminster, Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor, was again hailed on the annual list as the wealthiest man, with a fortune of £8billion.

Property tycoons David and Simon Reuben, who are worth £5billion, came second, followed by high street billionaire, Topshop owner Sir Philip Green, who has a net worth of £4.5billion.

All three have increased their wealth despite the recession.

The 24th list of the world’s richest people, published today, reveals the number of billionaires has risen from 793 last year to 1,011. It has yet to reach the 2008 total of 1,125.

According to Forbes, the top 10 wealthiest people are worth a combined £228billion compared to £170billion last year.

‘The global economy is recovering. The financial markets came back, especially emerging markets,’ the magazine’s editor-in-chief Steve Forbes said.

‘There’s a 50 per cent increase in general global wealth compared to last year.’

Gates, 54, was knocked off the top spot – despite increasing his wealth by £8.7billion in the past year as Microsoft shares increased 50 per cent in 12 months – for only the second time since 1995.

In 2008, Buffett – who has seen his fortune jump £6.6billion to £31.4billion in the past year thanks to rising shares of Berkshire Hathaway – was ranked number one.

However, it wasn’t enough to match Slim, 70, who controls a string of companies, including Telmex and America Movil – of which he owns a £15.3billion stake.

The 79-year-old is considered one of the most reliable and successful Wall Street investors.

Despite Gates slipping from the top spot, the U.S. remained by far the dominant home of the super-rich, with 403 billionaires, or 40 per cent of the world’s ten-figure fortunes, down from 45 per cent.

Isaac Perimutter joined the elite club for the first time. T

The Spider-Man mogul netted more than £600million in cash and 20 million shares after flipping Marvel Entertainment to Disney for £2.7billion last year.

The list includes 97 fresh billionaires, 62 of them charging out of Asia, a region that saw booming stock markets and several large public offerings in the past year.

For the first time, China (including Hong Kong) has the most billionaires outside the U.S. with 89.

Russia comes in third with 62 billionaires, many of them commodities kings who fell off the list last year, only to see their vast natural resource holdings regain value this year.

Pakistan added its first billionaire this year – bank chairman Mian Muhammad Mansha – as did Finland with Antti Herlin from engineering company KONE Corporation.

Europe is still the number two super-wealthy region, with 248 billionaires.

The richest European is France’s Bernard Arnault, 61, whose LVMH sells Louis Vuitton, Moet & Chandon, and other luxury goods, with his net worth at £18.3billion.

Just behind Arnault is Spain’s Amancio Ortega, owner of the Zara clothing chain, with £16.6billion.

Sorted by city, billionaires congregate first in New York, where there are 60, then Moscow at 50, and London at 32.

The full list is available at www.forbes.com/billionaires. Source: Daily Mail.

If you need any immigration advice or help with Studying in the UK, Settlement, Citizenship, Sponsorship, extending Work Permits, Visa or an appeal against a refusal please email:

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As Labour gets tougher by the day on immigration, the opposition Conservative leader David Cameron ­has signalled a shift in strategy this week by indicating that election candidates will be allowed to use the word “immigration” on campaign leaflets, the Daily Express reports.

Party leaders have frowned upon the use of the “I” word in election literature for fear of being ­accused of “pandering” to the Right.

Now jitters over a narrowing poll lead and surveys showing immigration is the big issue on the doorstep seem to have led to a change of heart.

Tim Montgomerie, editor of the activists’ website Conservativehome.com, noticed the change last week.

He highlighted an “excellent” advert in a local newspaper covering election news in the Labour marginal seat of South Ribble, Lancashire.

Tory candidate Lorraine Fullbrook, who needs to overturn a 2,200-vote majority, said: “We would cut net immigration from the current hundreds of thousands to tens of thousands.”

Mr Montgomerie wrote yesterday: “Lorraine knows what she is doing. I’ve had a dozen candidates get in touch to say they are determined to ignore Central Office and use ­references to immigration. One told me: ‘This is the issue on the doorstep and it’s ridiculous if we can’t mention it’.”

Tellingly, Tory headquarters last night refused to condemn the advert. A spokesman said: “Campaign ­literature will focus on all of the areas in which Labour has failed. The choice at the election will be five more years of Gordon Brown or change with the Conservatives.”

The “blind eye” strategy came after the party obtained a leaked Government report which revealed 70 per cent of Britons believe there are “too many immigrants” and 64 per cent think Labour policies are to blame.

The Ipos Mori survey was commissioned by Communities Secretary John Denham’s department to help target £12million of new spending in 160 neighbourhoods where residents feel blighted by immigration.

The Tories say ministers are using taxpayers’ money to shore up Labour’s vote in key marginal seats like Basildon, Birmingham Edgbaston, Burnley, Crawley and Pendle.

The Sunday Express has discovered that in Labour-controlled Barking and Dagenham, in east London, the scheme is being run by ­management consultants The Campaign Company, whose chief ­executive is former national general secretary Peter Watt.

Last night Shadow Communities Minister Baroness Sayeeda Warsi said: “This is yet more evidence of ­Labour ministers abusing public cash to fund a general election campaign.

“It is a sign of the disillusionment and dissatisfaction in Labour’s ­heartlands with this Government’s ­appalling record on immigration.”

Mr Denham’s department said ­yesterday: “The political make-up of the areas had no bearing on funding.”

Mr Cameron vowed yesterday to reverse Labour’s “spendaholic culture”. He told Welsh Tories in Llandudno that the Government was behind costly bungles, like paying out £10million in tax credits to dead people.

He said the new offices of Children’s Secretary Ed Balls’s department ­included a massage room and contemplation suite, joking: “I know things can be bad in meetings with Gordon Brown, but is it really that bad?” Source: Sunday Express.

See also:

UKBA announce new immigration fees from 6 April 2010

Government’s new ‘international strategy’ to protect UK Border

Weekly Immigration News Round up 7 March 2010

If you need any immigration advice or help with Studying in the UK, Settlement, Citizenship, Sponsorship, extending Work Permits, Visa or an appeal against a refusal please email:

info@immigrationmatters.co.uk or visit www.immigrationmatters.co.uk

Around 12% of staff are joining the strike and so far there has been no disruption at any ports or airports, which are operating as normal a spokes person said.

The UK Border Agency’s Chief Executive, Lin Homer, has confirmed that contingency plans are in place to minimise delays, and that UK border security will not be compromised by the industrial action.

Lin Homer said:

‘We are disappointed that PCS members have voted in favour of industrial action.

‘Around 3,100 UK Border Agency staff (12 per cent) across the country are participating in the strike today. I am pleased that initial indications show that disruption at ports and airports has been kept to a minimum, with the vast majority of our facilities and services open for business.

‘We expect that people travelling into the country may experience some delays at border control, but we will work hard to continue to keep these to a minimum. We hope that passengers will welcome the commitment of those staff who will be working despite the strike action to ensure that we check passengers through the controls as quickly as possible.

‘The public will find it difficult to understand the PCS continuing to protest on their own against a package which brings the Civil Service into line with the rest of the public sector and still offers more generous terms than much of the private sector.’

There is localised service disruption today, and expected on Tuesday, at some of our contact centres, public enquiry offices and immigration reporting centres:

• The immigration enquiry bureau is offering a restricted service, but you can still book appointments at public enquiry offices using the online booking service.
• The nationality contact centre and asylum support contact centre are closed.
• The public enquiry office in Wales and South West region is open and operating normally.
• The Midlands and East region is operating a very limited service and has rescheduled all planned appointments.
• There may be delays in processing claims at Croydon public enquiry office.
• All other public enquiry offices are offering a restricted service, and have contacted customers and rescheduled appointments were possible.

The UKBA will publish updated information about the strike.

See also:

UKBA announce new immigration fees from 6 April 2010

Government’s new ‘international strategy’ to protect UK Border

Weekly Immigration News Round up 7 March 2010

Brazilian gang jailed for running passport factory in Bayswater

If you need any immigration advice or help with Studying in the UK, Settlement, Citizenship, Sponsorship, extending Work Permits, Visa or an appeal against a refusal please email:

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It follows an investigation by our officers from the London immigration crime team, a specialist unit of seconded Metropolitan Police Service officers working with UK Border Agency staff.

Cybelle Mota aged 31, Renato Cardoso aged 25 and Edson Cavilha aged 40 were arrested in September 2009 following raids on two flats that Mota and Cardosa were renting in Leinster Gardens and Hereford Road, Bayswater.

At the properties officers discovered stencils, stamps, templates and documents, as well as scanners and computers that were used to produce fake passports, identity cards, National Insurance cards, driving licenses and other forms of identity.

They had used some of these themselves, but others were sold on to ‘customers’ who wanted to pose as an EU citizen to gain work or housing in the UK.

All three pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to produce identity documents for fraud, and during a hearing at Southwark Crown Court, Cardoso was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison, Mota was jailed for 16 months, and Cavilha was told he’ll have to spend 12 months behind bars.

They will all face deportation at the end of their sentences.

Detective inspector Mike Duncan from London immigration crime team said:

‘Mota, Cardoso and Cavilha ran a sophisticated criminal operation with one aim – to help themselves and others flout the UK’s immigration laws.

‘We hope that their sentences will send out the message that both we and the courts take these kind of offences very seriously.’

Detective superintendent Chris Foster, head of London and South East regional immigration crime team, said:

‘The Metropolitan Police and UK Border Agency will continue to work in partnership to target the small minority of foreign nationals causing harm to our communities.

‘Those involved in or benefiting from organised immigration crime face arrest, prosecution and a prison sentence.’ Source: UK Border Agency.

See also:

UKBA announce new immigration fees from 6 April 2010

Government’s new ‘international strategy’ to protect UK Border

Weekly Immigration News Round up 7 March 2010

If you need any immigration advice or help with Studying in the UK, Settlement, Citizenship, Sponsorship, extending Work Permits, Visa or an appeal against a refusal please email:

info@immigrationmatters.co.uk or visit www.immigrationmatters.co.uk

The UK Border Agency announce revised immigration fees.

Snoop Dogg wins UK immigration appeal

US rap star Snoop Dogg has won the latest round in a long-running fight with UK border authorities over his right to enter the country, the BBC reports.

Government’s new international strategy to protect UK Border

The UK Government this week launched a new ‘international strategy’ aimed at preventing illegal immigration.

Tier 4 student visa rules change starts today

The following changes to Tier 4 student visa applications will apply from 3 March 2010 to adult students coming to the UK to study below degree level in the further education and English Language sectors.

Student body say UK immigration laws discriminatory

OneIndia reports that participants attending an Oxford University seminar, ‘New British Immigration’ have termed Britain’s immigration laws discriminatory and unjust for Pakistani students.

Bogus college student visa system fraud exposed by BBC

An undercover investigation by BBC Newsnight programme has exposed fraud at the heart of the student visa system.

Philippine Embassy Announcement on changes to UK Student Visa Regulations

PHILIPPINE EMBASSY ADVISORY: UK Government Announces Changes to Student Visa Regulations

If you need any immigration advice or help with Studying in the UK, Settlement, Citizenship, Sponsorship, extending Work Permits, Visa or an appeal against a refusal please email:

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