UK IMMIGRATION NEWS

European Integration Fund to help UK migrants

Wednesday, 4 February 2009

The UK Border Agency has announced a call for tender for the European Integration Fund 2007-2008. The European Integration Fund is aimed at legally newly arrived migrants within the last five years who are not asylum seekers or refugees.

It also excludes European Union (EU) or European Economic Area (EEA) nationals and those who are in the United Kingdom under visa categories such as students.

The Home Office is looking to fund local authority, adult, further education and community colleges wishing to offer, or expand capacity for courses in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) courses to help legal migrants to become fully integrated into UK society.

The fund is also interested in innovative projects that support the efforts made by the United Kingdom in enabling nationals of different social, cultural, religious, linguistic and ethnic backgrounds to meet the requirements for permanent residence in the UK. Bids that seek to evaluate the effectiveness of existing and future integration programmes and how to improve these programmes are also welcome.

Applications to the fund which has a value of approximately five million have to be submitted by 6 March 2009.

Funding may be provided for up to three years and successful bids will also have to demonstrate that there is already funding in place from other sources for half of the project costs. In some exceptional circumstances funding may be provided that cover three quarters of the project costs. The expected start date for selected projects is 11 May 2009.

The announcement for Calls for tender for the European Integration Fund 2009 will be announced on or about June 2009.

If you are interested in UK Visas, contact Migration Expert for information and advice on which visa is best suited to you. You can also try our visa eligibility assessment to see if you are eligible to apply for a visa to the UK.