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GLOBAL: Round Up of Immigration News in 2015
January 6, 2016
Immigration has become one of the biggest priorities for Governments around the world in recent times and this year has seen the introduction of some significant updates.
In this feature we provide a summary of the key events which may have an impact on mobility policy for companies with a global presence.
An amendment to Australia”s Migration Bill has introduced a criminal and civil penalty regime to impose strict sanctions on sponsors, and visa holders, who attempt to receive, offer or provide payment or other benefits in return for a range of sponsorship-related events:
Following a review by the Department of Immigration in Australia towards the end of 2014, into the Integrity in the Subclass 457 programme, the Australian Government introduced some changes in 2015:
The Canadian government has followed the lead of the US and Australia in implementing a new Electronic Travel Authorisation requirement for citizens of countries that are visa exempt:
In order to reduce waiting times at US immigration control, plans are now in progress for US immigration officials to undertake a pre-screening of US-bound passengers at Heathrow and Manchester airports:
2015 also saw an update to the US Diversity Immigrant Visa Program:
https://newlandchase.com/immigration-insights/latest-news/usa-diversity-immigrant-visa-program/
In an effort to protect the local labour market, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) have introduced new immigration regulations stipulating that companies in the Philippines must now train two Filipino nationals for every foreign worker they employ:
In October 2015, a new pilot scheme was introduced in Singapore in order to reduce the number of foreign workers and strengthen their home-grown workforce:
In December 2015, it was reported that Qatar were set to enforce new Immigration Laws in order to regulate the entry, exit, and residency of expatriates in the region:
https://newlandchase.com/immigration-insights/latest-news/qatar-new-immigration-law/
In October 2015, a new resident permit ID card, the “Muqeem”, will be issued in order to replace the Iqama in Saudi Arabia:
The Indonesian Ministry of Manpower announced the introduction of a new regulation, which will impact the Work and Residence Authorisation application process:
We hope you’ve found this round up of Global changes in 2015 interesting. Should you have any questions, or you would like information on upcoming changes in 2016, please contact us.
