Global Mobility News from VisaHQ

The Swiss government has opened a public consultation on a new Eurodac Ordinance that will allow Swiss authorities to plug into the EU’s overhauled biometric database for asylum seekers and irregular migrants. From June 2026, fingerprints, facial images and travel-document details collected worldwide will be available to Swiss visa and border officials, raising the compliance bar for work-permit and visa filings. Businesses should start auditing employee travel histories now to avoid surprises once the system goes live.

Warsaw has tabled a regulation that extends the 56-km exclusion zone on the Belarusian border until 3 June 2026. The move keeps tourists, journalists and most business travellers out of the area, citing ongoing ‘hybrid’ migration pressure. Companies with staff or assets near the frontier must maintain special-pass procedures and expect continued freight delays.

IRCC has published six new Express Entry priority categories for 2026, placing particular emphasis on candidates who already have at least one year of Canadian work experience in key sectors such as medicine, research, senior management and transport. Employers should expect lower CRS cut-offs in targeted draws and faster transitions from temporary to permanent residence, while the overall cap on new permanent residents remains unchanged.

New figures show Belgium has issued 101,536 temporary-protection permits to people displaced by the war in Ukraine. While the status allows immediate access to jobs and services until March 2027, cuts to Flemish emergency housing threaten to create shortages. Employers can still hire Ukrainians without a work permit but should watch regional funding changes and the 2027 expiry date.