The USA became home to one in every three people who settled in the world’s developed nations in 2006, accepting 1.3 million newcomers. The UK accepted 343,000 newcomers.

Family reunification was the biggest reason given by newcomers to America, accounting for 70 percent of permanent arrivals. Many European countries were more popular as destinations for job-seekers, with work reasons accounting for between 30 per cent and 40 per cent of moves to these countries.

Around four million people immigrated to OECD countries in 2006 on a permanent basis, an increase of 5 per cent on 2005. Asylum requests fell for the fourth consecutive year to 282,000 in 2006, the lowest level since 1987.

Other major destinations for migrants included Germany (216,000), Italy (204,000), Australia (192,000), France (169,000), Japan (96,000) and the Netherlands (59,000) – according to an OECD report out this week.

As a proportion of their current population, Ireland, New Zealand and Switzerland received some of the biggest inflows – representing more than 1 percent of their populations.

As many as 50 percent of newcomers leave their new countries within five years of arriving, with most returning to their home country for family reasons or job opportunities.

“They did this with absolutely no legal basis,” said John Miano, founder of The Programmers Guild in Summit, N.J. The government’s move has been supported by tech companies that have been pressing unsuccessfully to raise the H-1B visa caps so they can hire more foreign workers. Currently only 85,000 H-1B visa applications are allowed each year. Under the H-1B visa, someone can work for six years and then apply as a permanent resident. Opponents say the H-1B program and new new student visa extension hurts U.S. workers.

However major corporations say they need highly skilled professionals and it is the brightest and the most talented that they seek no matter what their nationality. In their opinion the caps on visas hinder their economic development. Last year Google applied for 248 H-1B visas but more than 25% of these were rejected. It is because of situations like this that many are calling for an extension to the visa cap.

Successful applications should receive a receipt notice dated no later than June 2, 2008. USCIS has “wait-listed” some H-1B applications, meaning they may possibly replace applications chosen to receive an FY-2009 cap number, but that subsequently are denied, withdrawn, or otherwise found ineligible.

The American authorities will accept applications from employers for 65,000 temporary work visas, known as H-1Bs, that are available for the year that starts October 1st 2008. Last year, the agency received enough applications to cover the annual quota on the first day. About half of the total applications filed were rejected because the supply of visas had run out.

Technology companies have urged Congress to raise the annual limit, saying they face damaging shortages of the computer engineers and software technicians that these visas attract.

But a number of lawmakers say foreign companies have used the program to import workers who compete against Americans and lower wage rates. They oppose increasing the number of H-1B visas without closing loopholes in the scheme.

Citizenship and Immigration Services has said that it will accept H-1B visa petitions over five business days, ending April 7. Last year the agency closed the application period after one day because the quota had already been surpassed. In mid-April, the agency will run a computerised lottery to choose about 65,000 applications.

“We want to make sure everyone has the opportunity to get their application in to make the process as fair as possible,” said Christopher S. Bentley, a spokesman for the immigration agency.

For the first time, the agency this year has explicitly prohibited companies from filing more than one application for the same worker.

The stricter measures come after Congress failed to pass comprehensive immigration reform.

The US government has already stepped up raids on companies employing illegal workers, and the number of criminal investigations of employers has also risen.

The new plan will also strengthen patrols on the Mexican border.

However, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said such initiatives alone would not stamp out illegal immigration.

The new measures could have major implications for America’s agriculture, construction and hospitality industries which employ the highest numbers of illegal immigrants. Growers’ associations estimate that more than 70 percent of the farm workers in America’s fields are illegal immigrants.

According to Statistics Canada, the differences in skill mixes between Canada and the United States have been caused by differences in immigration policies during the last four decades.

Canadian immigration policies since the 1960s have encouraged high-skilled workers to come to the country. During the same period, American immigration policy has emphasised family reunification, resulting in a disproportionate number of low-skilled immigrants.

Significant illegal immigration to the United States – an estimated 10.3 million between 1965 and 2005 – mostly from Mexico, has also contributed to the tendency for US immigrant workers to be lower-skilled than those who have entered Canada.

Immigration to the United States has also tended to increase the supply of younger workers; the opposite has been seen in Canada.

Between 1980 and 2000, immigration increased the male labor force by 13.2% in Canada and 11.1% in the United States. In each country, a migration-induced increase of 10% in the labour supply was associated with a 3% to 4% drop in weekly earnings.