Global Mobility News from VisaHQ

Effective 1 December 2025 Georgia is no longer eligible for Poland’s fast-track employer-declaration visa scheme. The decision means longer lead times and higher costs for Polish companies that hire Georgian nationals and underscores Warsaw’s willingness to adjust mobility programmes at short notice.

Starting 1 December 2025, employers can hire S-permit refugees—mostly Ukrainians—through a simple online notification instead of a full work-permit application. The change removes months of bureaucracy, helping Swiss firms plug skills gaps while accelerating refugee integration.

Published in the Gazzetta Ufficiale on 2 December, Law 179/2025 converts Decree-Law 146/2025 and immediately lengthens key employer deadlines, introduces a pre-screening portal, and embeds fraud-prevention checks in Italy’s work-visa process. The measure gives companies more time to finalise contracts but also tightens compliance, making early preparation essential for the 2026 quota cycle.

Cyprus’ Ombudswoman says asylum seekers are effectively barred from all e-government platforms because the CY-Login system will not verify their identity documents. The gap blocks access to jobs, benefits and schooling, raising serious human-rights and labour-market concerns for employers that hire asylum applicants.

Evidence to Parliament on 2 December revealed a record 46,590 student-visa appeals awaiting review, with officials admitting the Administrative Review Tribunal lacks staff and triage capacity. The gridlock threatens university revenue, employer onboarding plans and Australia’s reputation as a study destination.

The Federal Council has decided to keep Switzerland’s third-country work-permit ceilings at 8 500 for 2026, rolling over additional quotas for EU/EFTA posted workers and UK nationals. The move gives companies rare, year-long certainty about immigration capacity, but HR teams are urged to plan early as popular categories can still run out.

Madrid has confirmed that all non-resident Spaniards will need a UK ETA for short visits from 25 February 2026. The £18 online permit is usually approved quickly but carriers will deny boarding without it, making advance compliance essential for tourists and business travellers alike.

An orange-level weather alert covering ten Brazilian states caused more than 60 flight cancellations, dozens of road closures and widespread travel disruption on 1-2 December. Airlines issued flexible re-booking options, and authorities warned that severe storms could continue through mid-December. Corporates should prepare back-up travel and remote-work plans because Brazilian law offers little compensation for weather-related delays.

From 1–8 December the Austrian Foreign Ministry is accepting online appointment bookings worldwide for 2026 quota-based non-work residence permits. Only applicants with a previously issued preregistration code can reserve a slot, and the annual quota is limited to a few hundred permits. Missing the one-week window means waiting until December 2026, so global mobility teams should ensure documents are complete and each family member has a separate booking.

A 24-hour strike by major public-sector unions on 2 December slashed rail frequencies, disrupted Paris RER links to CDG and Orly airports and spawned city-centre marches. Employers should expect longer door-to-door journeys, consider hoteling staff near stations and watch for additional stoppages if budget talks stall.

Germany will abolish its free, informal visa-remonstration appeal on 1 July 2025. The Foreign Office says the move, reiterated in a 2 December update, frees staff to issue more visas and has already cut processing times during a pilot. Companies must prepare for higher stakes on the first filing and potentially longer, costlier formal court appeals.

A pilot ‘one-stop’ clearance system went live on 2 December for flights between the UAE and Bahrain. GCC nationals clear immigration, customs and security only once, slashing airport time. If successful, the model will roll out across the Gulf and pave the way for a unified tourist visa, cutting compliance burdens for businesses that shuttle staff around the region.

New USCIS guidance instructs officers to weigh nationality from 19 travel-ban countries as a major negative factor in discretionary immigration cases filed on or after Nov. 27, 2025. Expect longer processing, more evidence requests and higher denial risk for affected applicants and their U.S. employers.

India has opened its e-Tourist and e-Business Visa portal to citizens of 166 more countries, effective 2 December 2025. The upgrade slashes paperwork and is expected to boost leisure and MICE arrivals, giving corporate travellers from newly listed nations rapid, online access to India.