Australia is modifying its Skilled Migration Programme, to encourage immigration by workers in the medical profession, the IT sector and tradesmen and women, and make it easier for fluent English-speaking professionals between the ages of 30 and 35 to gain work visas.

Points are awarded based on the prospective immigrant's age, ability to speak languages, occupation, skills and experience. Immigrants with 120 points are fast-tracked. But less points are awarded to older applicants. The new rule awards extra points to anyone who passes a standardized English-language test, which acts to give native English speakers an edge.

See Australia relaxes its immigration rules to persuade skilled young Britons to emigrate, The Independent, August 17, 2007, for more information. Although the article's title suggests the program is specifically for immigrants from the UK, us Yanks can benefit as well, at least once we learn how British spelling!