Month: October 2017

October 10, 2017

Effective 2nd October 2017, permanent residents of Hong Kong and Macau, who live in one of 27 designated locations can apply for one-year or three-year multiple-entry permits for Taiwan online, rather than in person at the Taipei Representative Office. Previously, only a single-entry permit to Taiwan was available through the online platform. Obtaining a visa upon […]

October 10, 2017

On 8th October 2017, the United States announced the immediate suspension of all non-immigrant visa services at all US diplomatic facilities in Turkey. Hours later, Turkey retaliated by suspending all visa services for US citizens at its diplomatic and consular missions in the United States, and at Turkey’s borders, and blocked US nationals from using […]

October 9, 2017

Effective October 2017, Thailand’s Board of Investment (BOI), alongside the Immigration Bureau (IMM) and the Department of Employment (DOE), has launched a new online system for streamlined initial and renewal work permit and visa applications. The so-called Single Window System will replace the current hardcopy work permit booklet with a new digital work permit, allow […]

October 6, 2017

The government has announced an expansion to its Registered Traveller Service, which facilitates a faster entry at the UK border. From 5th October, business travellers and frequent visitors from 15 new countries are eligible to apply for membership of the service. Which countries have been added? The new countries covered by the service are Andorra, […]

October 6, 2017

On 3rd October 2017, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it had resumed Premium Processing for all types of H-1B Petitions. Background USCIS suspended Premium Processing for all H-1B petitions starting 3rd April 2017, to reduce overall H-1B processing times. Previously, USCIS resumed Premium Processing for H-1B petitions filed on behalf of physicians […]

October 5, 2017

Effective 1st January 2018, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) will raise the salary threshold for work pass holders to qualify for dependent privileges. What is the change? From 1st January 2018, Employment Pass and S Pass holders need to receive a minimum fixed monthly salary of: SGD 6000 (up from SGD 5000) to obtain a […]

October 5, 2017

As of Wednesday 4th October 2017, the recently enforced requirement to submit police clearance certificates in support of applications for work permits and passes has been suspended until further notice. Effective 2nd October 2017, the Kenyan Department of Immigration Services had begun enforcing a requirement that original police clearance certificates (PCC) must be submitted in […]

October 3, 2017

The Swiss Federal Council has decided to increase the work permit quotas for 2018. Which work permits are affected? The quotas are imposed on a national, rather than per-company, basis, on long-term B permits and short-term L permits. B permits are valid for up to five years and are renewable. Once the B permit quotas […]

October 2, 2017

In this week’s edition, we bring you news of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between Canada and the EU, and announce that the US has imposed various new travel restrictions on nationals of certain countries. Plus, we bring you immigration news from Lithuania, Nigeria and Belgium.