Global Mobility News from VisaHQ

Interior-ministry data show that in January 2026 not a single asylum application was lodged at Austria’s Burgenland-Hungary border—down from 1,900 three years ago. Officials credit Serbia’s 2022 visa-policy reversal and the cross-border police initiative “Operation Fox.” The milestone eases pressure on border infrastructure and gives Vienna leverage in forthcoming EU asylum-system reforms.

Dense fog on 7 February prompted the UAE’s weather bureau to issue a red alert, cutting airport capacity, slowing highways and delaying sea freight. Business travellers face cascading delays and higher duty-of-care obligations, making flexible itineraries and real-time tracking tools essential.

New high-speed rail services linking Hong Kong to 16 additional mainland cities have sold out for the pre-holiday weekend, demonstrating ballooning demand for cross-border rail travel and creating fresh capacity pressures. Businesses should factor rail availability and late ticket-release patterns into Spring Festival travel plans.

Long lines of up to three hours hit Geneva Airport on 8 February as the EU’s new biometric Entry-Exit System processed large numbers of non-EU skiers for the first time. Swiss travel managers are warning of even longer waits at Easter and in summer unless extra border-staff shifts are authorised. Businesses should build longer connection buffers and alert visiting employees to the new requirements, as full EES compliance becomes mandatory in April.

On 8 February Finland’s government prolonged the complete closure of all road checkpoints on its Russian border until 14 April, citing ongoing “hybrid” migration pressure from Moscow. The move keeps asylum applications and ordinary cross-border traffic suspended, affecting supply chains and business travel. Companies must continue using alternative routes and should prepare for the shutdown to last into spring.

China’s National Immigration Administration expects average daily cross-border passenger traffic to hit 1.85 million during the 2026 Spring Festival holiday and has ordered all checkpoints to cap queues at 30 minutes by adding staff, opening extra e-gates and publishing real-time wait times. The guidance helps companies and travellers plan around clearly identified peak days and signals Beijing’s intent to institutionalise high-volume border-management playbooks.