Global Mobility News from VisaHQ

A six-day strike by union GDL has shut down roughly 80 percent of Deutsche Bahn’s long-distance trains and most regional services since 24 January, causing major disruption for business travellers and supply chains. Wage talks remain deadlocked, and calls for compulsory arbitration are mounting.

New Delhi and Brussels have signed a bloc-wide mobility agreement that will fast-track study, research and seasonal-work visas for Indian nationals, create an EU Legal Gateway Office in India, and digitalise Schengen-visa procedures. For Indian companies and universities the pact offers a clearer, quicker route to place talent in Europe, while EU employers gain easier access to India’s skilled workforce.

Spain’s cabinet used a Royal Decree on 27 January 2026 to launch an extraordinary regularisation that could grant residence and work permits to roughly 500,000 undocumented migrants already in the country. Applicants must show at least five months’ presence before 31 December 2025 and have no criminal record. The measure, welcomed by business groups but criticised by the opposition, will give employers access to new legal talent and expand Spain’s formal labour pool.

More than 200 volunteers began full-process trials at Frankfurt Airport’s new Terminal 3 on 27 January. The drills, which will involve 8,000 people by April, are designed to iron out check-in, security and immigration procedures before the facility opens on 22 April 2026 and hosts 19 million passengers a year. Corporate travel teams should prepare for airline relocations from Terminal 2 over the summer.

A software failure at air-traffic-control provider Skyguide closed Geneva airspace for nearly an hour on 27 January 2026, diverting 11 flights and triggering day-long delays. Operations were restored to 80 % capacity by late morning, but airlines warned travellers to expect knock-on disruption. The incident highlights the vulnerability of heavily scheduled Swiss hubs and the importance of robust IT change-management for corporate mobility planning.

Cyprus’ Deputy Migration Minister has announced that implementing the EU Migration and Asylum Pact will be the flagship theme of Nicosia’s EU Council presidency starting in July 2026. Draft national laws are already before parliament, extra border staff are being hired and a ministerial conference is planned for September 2026. Faster asylum processing and stricter pre-entry screening will have direct consequences for global mobility programmes.

The IAA’s quarterly newsletter, published 27 January 2026, explains how the new Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act will widen data-sharing and carrier-liability checks, and highlights a Home Office consultation that would double the qualifying period for Indefinite Leave to Remain to ten years. Businesses need to prepare for earlier enforcement at the border and possible re-design of long-term assignment strategy.

A Business Today update confirms IRCC issued 6,000 ITAs to Canadian Experience Class candidates, lowering the CRS cut-off to 509. The draw strengthens pathways for in-country talent and signals continued emphasis on transitioning temporary workers to permanent residence.

Regular H-1B interview slots at US consulates in India are fully booked until 2027 after months of mass rescheduling linked to new vetting rules. The unprecedented backlog traps Indian workers, disrupts corporate assignments and forces companies to find costly alternatives.

A massive winter storm forced more than 16,000 U.S. flight cancellations and thousands of delays from 25-27 January, crippling business-travel corridors and shutting federal offices. Major hubs in Boston, Dallas, New York and Atlanta were hardest hit, and economic losses are pegged above US$100 billion. Mobility managers face disrupted start-dates, while airlines scramble to restore schedules.