Global Mobility News from VisaHQ

Border Czar Tom Homan said ICE would start withdrawing agents from Minneapolis, but President Trump immediately reversed the plan, vowing to keep the 3,000-person immigration surge in place. The mixed messages prolong uncertainty for employers, foreign workers and business travelers in Minnesota, who face continued checkpoints, protests and potential work-stoppages.

China will allow British citizens to enter visa-free for stays of up to 15 days from 1 March 2026, part of a broader package of economic deals announced during Keir Starmer’s visit to Beijing. The step slashes cost and lead-time for UK business travellers but offers no reciprocal easing for Chinese visitors, who will still face UK visa or ETA requirements. Companies should revise travel policies yet stay mindful of China’s strict work-permit and data-compliance rules.

USCIS will accept H-1B cap registrations from 4–19 March 2026 and will apply a wage-weighted lottery plus a new US $100,000 petition fee. Indian employers must reassess salaries and budgets as the cost of sponsoring talent for the United States skyrockets.

Barcelona will open a dedicated one-stop hub next week to implement Spain’s new immigration amnesty, aiming to process at least 24,000 local applicants quickly. The taskforce brings municipal, national-government and NGO staff under one roof, reducing red tape and easing labour shortages in hospitality and services. Global-mobility teams should prepare workers’ documentation early, as demand is expected to be intense.

Official 2025 figures show first-time work-permit applications down 25 percent and student-permit applications down 4 percent, with overall immigration to Finland falling amid a weak economy. Corporates will face tighter talent supply just as higher fees and stricter residence rules arrive in 2026.

IRCC will introduce prescription and supplemental-care co-payments for IFHP beneficiaries from 1 May 2026. Basic doctor and hospital services remain fully covered. The change aims to curb spiralling programme costs but could raise out-of-pocket expenses for refugee and humanitarian migrants—costs that employers may need to absorb for sponsored hires.

Germany’s CDU/CSU-SPD coalition struck a long-awaited compromise on 29 January to transpose the EU asylum reform into national law. The package introduces federal ‘secondary-migration centres’, short-term detention powers and, crucially for employers, cuts the waiting time before asylum applicants can work from six to three months. The deal clarifies hiring rules and allows mobility teams to plan for July 2026, though new centres will add relocation complexity.

New Interior-Ministry statistics show France issued nearly 380,000 first residence permits in 2025, up 11 % on 2024; international students accounted for just over half of the total, while standard work permits fell 13 %. The data signal that France’s immigration mix is tilting toward higher education and humanitarian admissions, with tighter enforcement on economic and undocumented migration. Mobility teams will need to pivot toward Passeport Talent routes and prepare for higher fees and new integration requirements in 2026.

From 27 January 2026, Remote Working Visa applicants must show six—rather than three—months of consecutive bank statements, effectively proving at least half a year of stable overseas employment. The tougher rule is meant to strengthen compliance and screen out short-term or newly self-employed applicants. Companies that deploy digital nomads to the UAE should build in extra lead time and ensure salary deposits are consistent.

Brussels has published a comprehensive five-year roadmap covering asylum management, visa digitalisation and skilled-worker recruitment. Austria, whose Interior Commissioner helped shape the package, stands to benefit from faster work-visa processing and an EU-wide talent pool, but must also meet tougher border-technology deadlines. Businesses should expect shorter lead-times for permits and more biometric checks at airports.

The Commission’s first EU Visa Strategy lays out a digital, security-focused revamp of Schengen visa policy and pairs it with a talent-attraction recommendation. Belgium will have to digitise visa files, tighten oversight of visa-free partners, and speed up long-stay processing—changes that will affect corporates moving staff into and across the country.

Czechia will spend a record €3 billion on rail in 2026, prioritising a €1.65 billion fast rail link between downtown Prague and Václav Havel Airport. The package, funded through a PPP and EU money, also upgrades key freight corridors to Germany, promising faster business-travel times and lower logistics costs.

Shenzhen and Hong Kong have agreed to launch “GBA Talent Connect”, an online platform that will advertise around 2,000 cross-boundary jobs and internships annually, alongside a new HR alliance to harmonise labour rules. The initiative links directly into Hong Kong’s work-visa channels, cutting red tape for foreign professionals shuttling between the two cities. For multinationals, the package promises faster deployments, clearer compliance guidance and subsidised housing—making dual-office staffing models in the GBA more attractive.

Leaked correspondence shows Dublin Airport’s operator considered suspending all business-jet traffic to avoid breaching its 32 million passenger cap. Business aviation groups warned the proposal would hurt foreign direct investment and undermine Ireland’s competitiveness. The incident highlights the tension between environmental/local-planning limits and the country’s need for high-value air connectivity.

A Senate stop-gap spending bill collapsed over Democrats’ demand to cap ICE surge funding, raising the threat of a federal shutdown on 2 February. A lapse would halt visa services, Global Entry enrollments and E-Verify operations, complicating business travel and foreign-worker onboarding.

Downing Street has floated a compromise that would let annual Youth Mobility quotas rise or fall jointly with the EU, removing a key obstacle to a UK–EU work-study exchange deal. If finalised, the scheme would let 18- to 30-year-olds work in each other’s countries without sponsorship for up to two years, easing post-Brexit skills shortages. Business and higher-education leaders say it would cut red tape and widen the talent pool, although a start date before 2027 still looks optimistic.

Polish authorities temporarily closed part of the country’s north-eastern airspace on 29 January after contraband-carrying balloons entered from Belarus. Although no flights were cancelled, rerouting caused minor delays and highlighted the security risks facing Poland’s eastern frontier. The episode strengthens Warsaw’s case for EU funding to expand counter-drone and air-space monitoring systems.

Switzerland will chair the Euro-African Rabat Process in 2026, putting it at the centre of Europe-Africa migration diplomacy. Berne plans to focus on asylum protection and the return-and-reintegration agenda, themes that could influence future visa schemes and skills-mobility pilots relevant to Swiss employers facing labour shortages. The role gives Switzerland additional leverage in Schengen and EU negotiations on migration management.

Parliament has shortened migrants’ appeal deadlines from 30 to 20 days (and in some cases to 10 days) after an asylum refusal. The government says the move will unclog backlogs and boost deportations; NGOs warn of reduced access to justice. Employers must prepare for quicker loss of work authorisation for rejected applicants. The change bolsters Cyprus’ narrative of robust border management ahead of its Schengen accession push.