Immigration News

“So when will this end
It goes on and on
Over and over and over again
Keep spinning around
I know that it won't stop
Till I step down from this"

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The latest vital immigration news and updates from around the globe in your weekly newsletter from Newland Chase.

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Thailand’s Board of Investment (BOI) now requires BOI-promoted companies applying for work permits or long-term visas at the Bangkok One-Stop Service Centre (OSSC), or in Chiang Mai or Phuket, to submit applications via its new Single Window online system for streamlined initial and renewal work permit and visa applications.

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Several laws have taken effect recently which amend the regulations for obtaining visas and visa invitations, as well as the rules of entry to Kazakhstan for foreign nationals who arrive on a visa.

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Effective September 2018, foreign national residents looking to renew their work permits must have a rental contract authenticated and registered with the new Ejar online rental platform, according to an announcement by the Saudi Ministry of Labour and Social Development (MLSD) and the Ministry of Housing.

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“So when will this end
It goes on and on
Over and over and over again
Keep spinning around
I know that it won't stop
Till I step down from this”

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The Chinese government has announced that it plans to abolish the work permit requirement for Chinese residents of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan that are hired to work for companies in mainland China. The move was apparently among a number of items on the agenda at last week’s State Council meeting. Once implemented, this would reverse a decades-old policy of requiring residents from those three regions to obtain work permits in order to work in mainland China.

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The latest vital immigration news and updates from around the globe in your weekly newsletter from Newland Chase.

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Legislation released today announced that the Skilling Australians Fund (SAF) levy will be payable for employer-sponsored nomination applications effective 12 August 2018.

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Between 23 July and 31 August 2018, the Ministry of Interior will be in the process of migrating its business permit and expatriate quota records to a new online portal called eCitBiz.

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Effective 15 July 2018, amendments have been made to the Aliens Act aimed at encouraging highly-skilled foreign specialists and combatting the illegal employment of foreign nationals.

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Effective 1 July 2018, new regulations allow non-EU nationals to apply for work permits for almost two hundred occupations without the requirement to first obtain confirmation from the labour office.

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On 25 July 2018, the National Immigration Council published Normative Resolution 30/2018 regulating procedures for the renewal of residence authorisation for foreign professionals, effective immediately.

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The Minister of Immigration has proposed changes to immigration policy to make it easier for the building and construction industry to employ migrants. A shortage of about 30,000 workers is currently making it difficult to build houses and infrastructure.

The proposed changes are subject to review following a period of consultation, and the Minister expects them to be in place by early 2019.

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On 28 June 2018, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a Policy Memorandum providing guidance on Executive Order 13768 on the enhancement of public safety through immigration policies. The policy, originally intended to take effect by 28 July 2018, will now be implemented once operational guidance has been issued.

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The latest vital immigration news and updates from around the globe in your weekly newsletter from Newland Chase.

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By Kent O’Neil, Global Legal Analyst, Newland Chase

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

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

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There continues 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, and the IRP Office in Dublin has stated that it can no longer offer emergency appointments for any reason. [UPDATE] Furthermore, processing of Employment Permit applications is also taking a lot longer than previously. 

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The latest vital immigration news and updates from around the globe in your weekly newsletter from Newland Chase.

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Effective immediately, 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. In these cases, the foreign national and any dependents will have to apply for an exit visa to be able to leave Vietnam.

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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).

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

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The Slovenian government has lifted work restrictions for Croatian workers, effective 1st July 2018. Croatian nationals now have the same access to the Slovenian labour market as nationals of other EU Member States. Austria is the only EU Member State still restricting Croatians’ access to its labour market.

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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.

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The latest vital immigration news and updates from around the globe in your weekly newsletter from Newland Chase.

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Updated - 16 July 2018

A number of local migration offices are refusing to accept applications for registration of foreign nationals, especially in cases where housing is provided by employers on the basis of lease or sublease contracts rather than by landlords directly.

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On 10 July, 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.

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Further details are now available of the proposed new regulations for hiring foreign workers (see our previous alert here). Note that there is still no implementation date for the new system.

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