Global Mobility News from VisaHQ

Law 179/2025 converts Italy’s draft Flow Decree into binding law, approving a record 497,550 work-visa places for 2026-2028. The move gives employers larger, clearer hiring channels and introduces faster processing tools, while supporting Meloni’s strategy of limiting irregular arrivals through expanded legal migration. Companies should prepare for a highly competitive February quota click-day.

California and 19 other states have asked a federal judge to strike down the Trump administration’s plan to impose a $100,000 fee on every new H-1B petition, arguing the charge is unlawful and economically damaging. The lawsuit intensifies industry and state opposition to a rule that could price employers out of the skilled-worker visa program and deepen U.S. talent shortages.

India has scrapped a key security layer and committed to issuing business visas for Chinese professionals within four weeks, ending a de-facto freeze that crippled high-tech manufacturing projects. The reform should save Indian factories billions, reopen stalled investments and signals a broader thaw in India-China commercial ties.

IRCC issued 1,000 Invitations to Apply on 12 December 2025 in a category-based Express Entry draw for health-care and social-services professionals. The CRS cut-off was 476—one of the year’s lowest for the sector—giving hospitals and long-term-care employers rapid access to foreign talent and signalling Ottawa’s intention to keep targeting occupations facing acute shortages.

Poland’s Border Guard says more than 180 migrants crawled through a newly discovered tunnel beneath the Belarus border on 11-12 December 2025; 130 have been detained and a search is under way for the rest. The incident is the fourth tunnel uncovered this year despite a €370 million border wall, underscoring ongoing hybrid-migration pressure from Belarus. Tighter patrols and possible new legislation could disrupt cross-border logistics and raise compliance obligations for companies with staff in eastern Poland.

The UAE’s immigration authority has bundled 11 key visa reforms—from five-year multiple-entry visit permits to wider Golden-Visa criteria—into a single reference list. Corporates must digest new salary bands for family sponsorship and note that several visit visas can now be converted to work status without an exit run, cutting project lead-times.

Spain has formally offered the UK a bilateral deal that would let skilled technicians and executives work for up to 90 days without a visa, easing the post-Brexit burden on multinationals. Details on tax, social security and dependant rights remain under negotiation; implementation would require new UK legislation.

EU interior ministers finalised the quota mechanics for the Migration & Asylum Pact. Because Czechia continues to host more than half-a-million Ukrainians, it will be exempt from the 2026 solidarity pool of relocations or cash contributions. The move eases pressure on Czech reception infrastructure and should keep business-immigration processing stable next year, but the exemption could be reassessed annually.

Spain has completed a soft-launch of the EU’s Entry/Exit System at Madrid and Barcelona airports and confirmed a nation-wide biometric roll-out by April 2026. Non-EU travellers will enrol fingerprints and facial data and, from 2026, must also obtain a €20 ETIAS pre-travel authorisation. The move promises faster queues but requires employers to adapt compliance and traveller-briefing processes.

Austria has confirmed that passport and vehicle checks on its borders with Hungary, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia will stay in place until at least 15 June 2026, replacing rolling six-month extensions with a new three-tier security concept. The move means continued ID checks for business travellers and potential delays for cross-border supply chains, although rail links are unaffected. Mobility teams should factor in longer travel times, ensure employees carry passports and use electronic customs declarations for freight.

Dubai has moved from property-specific mobile check-ins to a single emirate-wide platform that lets travellers register remotely and unlock rooms with facial recognition. The scheme dovetails with DXB’s biometric immigration lanes, cuts lobby wait-times, and gives hotels real-time arrival data—important for corporates moving large teams in and out during project spikes.

Australia has welcomed the first 27 Tuvaluan nationals under its new climate-migration treaty, granting them work rights and a path to citizenship. The pilot positions Australia as a global pioneer in recognising climate displacement while supplying regional employers with new talent. Companies should note the visa’s generous family provisions and freedom of movement, which differ from seasonal-worker rules.

Belgium’s Parliament has adopted a law that relaxes the inbound expatriate tax regime: the minimum salary falls from €75,000 to €70,000, the tax-free ‘expenses proper’ allowance rises to 35 % of gross pay and the €90,000 cap is scrapped. The rules apply retroactively from 1 January 2025 and companies have three months from publication to re-file applications, potentially widening eligibility for foreign executives, specialists and researchers. The changes respond to a sharp fall in beneficiaries and are expected to improve Belgium’s attractiveness for regional HQs and high-skill assignments.

Brazil’s Federal Police has published a detailed list of fines—naming individual foreign nationals—for missing the mandatory 30-day post-arrival registration, with penalties now reaching R$7,200. The unprecedented transparency underscores a tougher enforcement stance and is prompting multinationals to tighten arrival protocols and automate reminder systems. Companies failing to act risk reputational damage, higher costs and potential delays in CPF and work-card issuance.

• India has cut red tape for Chinese business visas, slashing approval times to <4 weeks after a five-year slowdown that cost Indian industries an estimated US $15 billion. • The reform coincides with a high-level diplomatic reset and will let Chinese engineers and technicians resume on-site work, easing production bottlenecks in electronics, telecoms and renewables. • Companies should update travel, tax and registration procedures but remain alert to potential geopolitical reversals.