Immigration Insights

January 30, 2023

Effective immediately, Chinese consular posts in Japan have resumed issuing Chinese ordinary visas to Japanese citizens.

January 27, 2023

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced its proposal to expand the premium processing service available for some immigrant and non-immigrant benefits in 2023.

January 27, 2023

For travelers who are interested in going to China, CIBT has launched a new webpage. Here, would-be travelers can apply for visas, or sign up to receive information about documentation needed to travel to China, and the current state of travel restrictions.

January 27, 2023

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has confirmed the FY 2024 H-1B cap initial registration period will open on March 1, 2023. Beneficiaries of successful FY 2024 H-1B petitions will be eligible to start working in the U.S. on October 1, 2023.

January 27, 2023

The Slovak authorities have implemented Act No. 5/2004 on 1 January 2023, covering several immigration processes, including Posted Worker Notification.

January 19, 2023

Pakistan has officially submitted documentation to accede to the Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents, more commonly referred to as the Apostille Convention.

January 13, 2023

The HCMC Department of Labor formally announced COVID-related concessions are to be discontinued with immediate effect.

January 13, 2023

The new Immigration Skills Charge (“ISC”) exemption is available from January 2023 for employers sponsoring senior managers or specialist employees under the Global Business Mobility – Senior or Specialist (former Intra-Company Transfer) route.

January 13, 2023

From January 2023, the government of the United Kingdom will be implementing an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) scheme as part of their universal “permission to travel” requirement.

January 13, 2023

The Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) has removed the option for pass endorsements to be filed directly with MDEC for any foreign nationals who renewed their passports and intend to transfer the existing pass onto the new one.

January 12, 2023

Due to concern over rising COVID rates in China, the government of South Korea stopped issuing tourist visas to Chinese citizens. In return, Chinese consular posts in Japan and South Korea have suspended issuing Chinese visas of various kinds to Japanese and South Korean citizens.

January 6, 2023

The government of the United Arab Emirates has implemented a mandatory unemployment insurance scheme for employees working in any private or government sector organization. The scheme is called the Involuntary Loss of Employment (ILOE).

January 6, 2023

A new law to facilitate the entry and residence of foreign talent, investors, entrepreneurs, and digital nomads has gone into effect through a whole legislative package of a type that has not yet seen in Europe.

December 28, 2022

Effective 30 December 2022, an on-arrival COVID-19 test is mandated for travelers from China to Japan.

December 27, 2022

China will scrap inbound quarantine and centralized isolation for international arrivals in an effort to resume the travel normalcy from January 8, 2023.

December 21, 2022

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has recently launched the Manpower for Strategic Economic Priorities Scheme that gives firms some flexibility to temporarily hire S Pass and Work Permit holders above their existing Dependency Ratio Ceiling (DRC) and S Pass sub-DRC.

December 15, 2022

Immigration New Zealand released a new policy on the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) and an updated policy on the Essential Skills Work Visa (ESWV) allowing these visa types to be varied.

December 15, 2022

Strike actions by the UK’s Public and Commercial Service (PCS) union are expected to affect Border Force operations in December. This will likely cause possible significant delays in entry to the United Kingdom.

December 14, 2022

German immigration authorities are currently experiencing extensive delays in processing visa applications. This will be exacerbated by the Berlin local Town Hall closing until February 2023 due to elections.

December 14, 2022

The Immigration Department has announced that long-term pass holders in Malaysia are now able to enter via the automatic gate facility at the airport. They may take advantage of this facility without completing any prior registrations.