visas in news
RSS visas in newsBiometric fingerprint checks for UK visas
News All applicants for visas to enter the UK will face biometric fingerprint checks from the end of this month. The fingerprint database contains the records of more than one million previous visa applicants.silicon.com's A to Z of Biometrics [14 Jan 2008]
Biometric visas get $4.4m tech boost
News Head of procurement for UKvisas, Andrew Pestell, said the biometric visas are a key part of the Border and Immigration Agency's (BIA) plan to strengthen UK borders. The UK biometrics visa programme has awarded a $4.4m contract to Cross Match... [24 Sep 2007]
UK tech visas increase by a third
News Work Permits UK, the Home Office body responsible for visas, has revealed 33,756 permits were issued to overseas IT workers in the last 12 months - up 32 per cent on the 25,000 the previous year. Most of the visas - 79 per cent - were granted to... [20 Feb 2007]
Fast track visas fail to ease IT skills shortage
News The 300 or so visas also include citizens allowed in as doctors and scientists. Official figures from the Home Office out today show that just 338 foreign citizens have immigrated under the government's high-skilled migrants programme since January. [24 Jun 2002]
The Agenda Setters: Bush's advisor calls for more visas and more tech exports
News More IT visas for foreigners and fewer restrictions on IT exports will feature strongly in George W. Tom Engibous, chief executive of Texas Instruments and technology advisor to the man tipped to win today's Republican Party nomination, told... [03 Aug 2000]
Biometrics cuts days off UK visa processing
News Biometric technology has slashed the time taken to process visas for people coming to the UK, the government has said. The link to UK databases also helps to ensure visas are not granted to people previously removed from the country or travelling... [05 Mar 2008]
EU demands biometrics by 2005
News Facial biometric data is set to be included on visas and residency permits for non-EU foreign nationals as part of two new proposals from the European Commission to the European Council and Parliament. [03 Oct 2003]
Biometrics wing their way into Gatwick
News At present only arrivals from Sierra Leone who have been issued with biometric visas in the capital Freetown will be included in the trial. In addition, citizens of Sierra Leone require visas to enter the UK. [09 Oct 2007]
Asylum-seeker biometric fingerprinting extended
News From March, those applying for visas to come to the UK from Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda will be required to provide a record of their fingerprints when applying for a visa and will have their travel documents photocopied. [21 Jan 2004]
US fires up RFID immigration border trial
News The chips are embedded in Customs and Border Protection Form I-94A, which the government issues at all ports of entry to chart the departure and arrival of certain foreign visitors - typically those with non-immigrant visas, such as students or... [09 Aug 2005]
400,000 jobs gone from IT since 2001
News Officials from the centre and WashTech argued that the job losses resulted from several factors, including the shift of work to lower-cost nations and the use of H-1B visas, which can be used to import computer programmers and other skilled workers. [15 Sep 2004]
Microsoft to open Canadian development centre
News The announcement of Microsoft's Canadian plans follows the failure of an immigration bill that would have expanded the number of foreign high-tech workers that could have come to the country each year under so-called H1-B visas. [06 Jul 2007]
Ex-Sun worker sues for age and race discrimination
News The case is likely to fuel the fire over H-1B visas, which allow skilled workers into the US for up to six years. Some tech workers have long questioned the need for such visas, claiming skilled Americans could fill the jobs and companies are just... [19 Mar 2003]
Biometric passport trial on the cards
News Separately, the government announced plans to extend a biometric scheme for people applying for visas to the UK to tackle immigration and asylum abuse. The US is already introducing a requirement for all visas for the United States to contain a... [27 Aug 2003]
Biometric passports: Sidekicks, sunglasses, smiles and scarves banned
News Biometric passports and visas are intended to improve authentication of the documents themselves and not, at least in the short term, to identify potential terrorists by means of automatic comparison between the individual and a blacklist of... [12 Aug 2004]
