The OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development) has recently released immigration figures for the 34 countries of the OECD group (including Australia, France, Germany, Spain, USA, Canada and the UK).
According to the figures in the report, over 40m American residents in 2011 were foreign-born, amounting to 13% of the total population. As we reported in a previous article, there is a diversity immigrant visa program, also known as the Green Card Lottery, there are 55,000 of these visas each year that are distributed, at random, to applicants from countries with historically low levels of migration to the US.
One of the most notable points in the report is that only 6% of the total number of immigrants to the US in 2010 and 2011 came in employment-based visa categories (totalling 65,300 in 2011), alongside 762,200 under the family endorsement program.
In terms of temporary migration, the majority of visas were granted to students (447,400 in 2011), a huge number when compared to 70,700 visa granted to expats moving to America and intra company transfers.
If you’re moving to the USA, find out how our international removals team can help to arrange packing, storage and transportation on your behalf.