Immigration Insights

July 27, 2018

What are visa-free and visa-on-arrival? Can you use them for international business trips? A discussion of differences, processes, pros, and cons for business travelers from one of the leading international business travel and corporate immigration providers.

July 27, 2018

ABC reported on 26 July 2018* that a record number of Students are remaining in Australia on Graduate 485 visas (with work rights) once they have completed their studies. This is not surprising to the writer. Why? Because these visas are an easy option when everything else has become so much harder.

July 27, 2018

The deadline for submitting quota applications for employing foreign nationals in Kazakhstan in 2019 is 1 August 2018.

July 26, 2018

There continue to be significant delays in obtaining appointments for Irish Residence Permit (IRP) registration for non-EEA nationals in Dublin. The delays are expected to persist for at least the rest of this year.

July 26, 2018

Effective 18 July 2018, the United Kingdom Home Office has updated its guidance for sponsors of Tier 2 and Tier 5 of the points-based system.

July 23, 2018

Discover the latest immigration news and updates from around the globe with your weekly newsletter from Newland Chase. In this week’s edition, we bring you news from Spain, Vietnam and Slovakia. Plus there are updates from Slovenia, Russia and Ireland.

July 20, 2018

The immigration authorities in some provinces in Vietnam are requiring foreign nationals who are terminating their assignments and leaving the country to surrender and cancel their Temporary Residence Card (TRC) prior to their departure.

July 17, 2018

Effective immediately, the Spanish authorities appear to be requiring a higher minimum salary for residence authorisations for highly-qualified workers under the Entrepreneur’s Act (14/2013).

July 17, 2018

The Slovak authorities have published lists of occupations with labour shortages during the past calendar year, for districts where the average unemployment rate was lower than 5%. These occupations are now exempt from labour market testing.

July 17, 2018

The Slovenian government has lifted work restrictions for Croatian workers, effective 1 July 2018. Croatian nationals now have the same access to the Slovenian labour market as nationals of other EU Member States.

July 17, 2018

The Petroleum Commission has launched a series of inspections of companies in the upstream sector in the Western Regime of Ghana, between 9 and 20 July 2018.

July 16, 2018

New rules for the registration of foreign nationals in Russia, from 8 July 2018, mean that employers will no longer be able to register their foreign national employees at the company address, and that employers or landlords will be responsible for carrying out the registration.

July 16, 2018

Discover the latest immigration news and updates from around the globe with your weekly newsletter from Newland Chase. In this week’s edition, we bring you news from Hong Kong, Indonesia and New Zealand plus there are updates from Switzerland, China and Canada.

July 13, 2018

Further details are now available of the proposed new regulations for hiring foreign workers in Indonesia. Note that there is still no implementation date for the new system.

July 13, 2018

On 10 July 2018, the Hong Kong Immigration Authority confirmed that it has implemented an “interim arrangement” allowing dependent residence status for same-sex spouses with eligible sponsors, pending a review of its dependent immigration policy.

July 12, 2018

Immigration New Zealand (INZ) has implemented changes to immigration procedures. Partners and dependent children can now make their visa applications online; the minimum income has been updated for certain Essential Skills visa holders; and INZ will no longer place physical visa labels in passports.

July 12, 2018

Effective 1 July 2018, employers wishing to hire foreign nationals for occupations with an unemployment rate of 8% or above must test the Swiss labour market by advertising. This threshold will be lowered to 5% from 1 January 2020.

July 12, 2018

Hong Kong's high court handed down a victory for LGBT expats last week, giving them rights to dependent spouse visas. While the APAC region continues to present challenges for LGBT expats, there are signs of positive change benefiting companies and foreign employees. A look at 7 APAC destinations.

July 11, 2018

Effective immediately, the Shanghai State Administration of Foreign Affairs requires a different tax certificate in support of applications for Category A work permits, including applicable new work permits, renewals and cancellations.

July 10, 2018

An amendment to the Criminal Code in Canada has doubled the maximum prospective punishment for drunk driving (‘DUI’ – Driving Under the Influence) from five years to ten years. Now classed as “serious criminality” in Canada, a foreign national with a prior DUI, may now be inadmissible.