Global Mobility News from VisaHQ

Ministerial Direction 115 creates three priority lanes for offshore student-visa applications, rewarding institutions that stay within 80 % of their enrolment quota and slowing processing for those above 115 %. The policy, effective 14 November 2025, is designed to manage growth, improve sector integrity and push more students toward regional providers. Businesses that hire student dependants or graduates will need to watch processing times closely.

Euronews reports that Dover, in agreement with French border police, has delayed full EES checks for tourist cars until early 2026. The move averts holiday congestion but means biometric registration for most leisure travellers on the France–UK route will not start for at least another two months. Businesses get extra time to plan, yet should expect significantly longer processing once EES finally launches.

CBSA’s primary inspection kiosks went offline for nearly four hours on November 13, forcing manual processing at major airports. The agency says maintenance caused the outage, which has now been resolved with only minor residual delays. Repeated tech failures highlight the need for redundancy and underscore why employers should advise travellers to use Advance Declaration in ArriveCAN to speed clearance during disruptions.

More than 120 Border Force Maritime officers will strike for 24 hours on 14 November over pay and allowances, potentially slowing ferry and Channel Tunnel traffic and reducing patrol capacity used to deter small-boat crossings. Businesses moving staff or goods via the Channel should expect delays and prepare alternative routes.

Article 30 of France’s 2026 Finance Bill—debated 13 Nov 2025—would raise stamp taxes on naturalisations, visas and residence cards by up to €200, generating an estimated €160 million a year. Migrant advocates warn of exclusion, while companies brace for higher assignment costs and advise foreign staff to renew paperwork before the 1 January 2026 deadline. The proposal illustrates France’s shift toward using fiscal tools to manage immigration flows.

LOT confirmed on 13 November that it will launch four-weekly Dreamliner flights between Warsaw and San Francisco from May 2026. The route gives Polish tech and life-science firms a direct link to Silicon Valley, shortens travel times for regional Schengen passengers, and supports short-cycle U.S. assignments. Travel-managers should review fare-budgets and note planned code-share and cargo opportunities.

Thomas Cook India’s CEO says resurging visa back-logs and tougher border checks in the US and Europe threaten to curb Indians’ long-haul leisure and business travel this winter. Corporates may face deployment delays of up to three months, pushing demand toward short-haul, visa-friendly destinations.

Registrations have opened for the 2025-26 MATES ballot, offering 3,000 Indian STEM graduates two-year work visas in Australia. The low-cost, low-red-tape scheme provides employers with a new pipeline of junior talent and deepens economic ties with India.

GCC interior ministers have approved a single-checkpoint clearance model that debuts next month on UAE–Bahrain flights. The scheme compresses immigration, customs and security into one process, slashing airport time for Gulf nationals and paving the way for a Schengen-style tourist visa. UAE businesses could see faster staff rotations and leaner cargo procedures.

Giorgia Meloni said on 13 November that Italy will revive its plan to transfer asylum seekers to processing centres in Albania once new EU migration rules take effect in 2026. The project has been stalled by Italian and EU court rulings but remains a flagship policy for her government. Businesses should anticipate continued political volatility around migration and possible knock-on delays in immigration processing.

Brussels Airport stopped all movements for 35 minutes on Wednesday night after air-traffic control detected a suspected drone. Two inbound flights were diverted and later returned; no departures were affected. The event highlights the growing drone threat to Belgian critical infrastructure and the potential for sudden travel disruption.

A Rubio-signed cable released 13 Nov instructs U.S. consular officers to treat obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer and some mental-health conditions as potential public-charge grounds for refusing visas. The policy, effective immediately, applies to tourists and employment-based applicants alike and could lengthen processing and raise refusal rates for corporate travelers.

Beijing has prolonged its 30-day visa-free entry scheme for 45 countries to 31 December 2026 and added Sweden to the list. The move provides multinationals and tourism operators with two years of planning certainty, reduces visa-processing costs for short-term business travel and signals China’s intent to keep rebuilding inbound traffic.

Spain’s Economic and Social Council says the Interior Ministry’s online appointment system has become a “digital lottery,” leaving migrants unable to book slots for essential paperwork. The council urges a hybrid online-and-in-person model, warning that the bottleneck fuels irregular work and undermines Spain’s attractiveness for foreign talent.

Interior Minister Vít Rakušan has asked the European Commission to grant Czechia a full waiver from the financial ‘solidarity contribution’ foreseen by the EU Migration Pact, citing the country’s 397,000 Ukrainian refugees. If Brussels agrees, Prague could save tens of millions of euros in 2026 and instead offer operational support at the EU’s external borders—important context for corporate mobility budgets.

A key committee in Brazil’s lower house approved a bill on 12 November to revive visa-free travel for tourists and business visitors from the United States, Canada and Australia. The proposal reverses an unpopular April 2025 decision that had reinstated an e-visa requirement; industry groups say bookings plunged after the change. If the bill clears Congress, mobility managers and travel suppliers can expect faster deployments, lower costs and a potential surge in North American and Australian arrivals.

Hong Kong has added five new professional categories to its Short-Term Visitor scheme, allowing invited foreign experts to work for up to 14 days without an employment visa. Nearly 490 local host organisations can now issue invitation letters. The change cuts red tape for multinationals flying specialists into the city and supports Hong Kong’s post-pandemic push to host major international events.

BAMF’s newest report shows a modest dip in 2024 employment-related residence permits, but attributes the fall to re-categorisation under Germany’s overhauled Skilled Immigration Act rather than weaker demand. New pathways such as the Opportunity Card are already diverting applicants, while Western Balkans quotas reached capacity months early. Employers can expect faster digital processing in 2026, but should plan around current 11- to 17-week visa lead times.

On November 12 IRCC invited 1,000 Canadian Experience Class candidates with a minimum CRS of 533. The rapid follow-up to earlier draws signals Ottawa’s intent to convert in-Canada talent to permanent residence and helps employers retain skilled workers. With more than 245,000 profiles in the pool, maintaining competitive CRS scores or securing a provincial nomination remains essential.