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Yesterday, Wednesday December 31, 2025
France Introduces Mandatory Civic-Knowledge Test for Residence Cards and Naturalisation
A decree published on 29 December makes a civic-knowledge exam compulsory for most third-country nationals applying for long-term residence or citizenship from 1 January 2026. Applicants must answer 40 questions and reach an 80 percent pass mark, adding cost and lead-time to corporate relocation cases.
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Today in Business Travel & Immigration
Dec 31, 2025
Canada Suspends Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot Amid Backlog Concerns
IRCC has stopped accepting new applications to the Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot (EMPP) because the inventory far exceeds the spaces in the 2026-2028 immigration plan. The pause leaves Canadian employers and skilled refugees with job offers in limbo while IRCC redesigns the pilot. Businesses should anticipate no new EMPP intakes until at least 2026 and explore alternative immigration pathways in the meantime.
Dec 31, 2025
Spain issues 2026 GECCO Order, expanding circular-migration hiring
Spain published its 2026 GECCO Order on 30 December, cementing collective, multi-year hiring from abroad and adding new worker-protection clauses. A record 25,767 foreigners entered under the scheme in 2025, up 25 % year-on-year. The order gives employers more flexibility, aligns with May’s immigration-rule overhaul and prepares the ground for EU-supported circular-migration pilots such as WAFIRA II.
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