Category Archives: News

SOUTH AFRICA: Major Changes in Immigration Law and Regulations

There have been major changes in South African immigration law and regulations. The 2007 and 2011 Amendments to the Immigration Act, 2002, along with a revised set of regulatory provisions, took effect May 26, 2014, along with the appointment of a new Minister of Home Affairs.  There are significant technical shortcomings in the regulations.  As […]

TURKEY: Visitor Visa-on-Arrival System No Longer Available as of April 10, 2014

Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced that as of April 10, 2014, the visitor visa-on-arrival system will no longer be available. The visa-on-arrival system allowed persons of certain nationalities to purchase their visitor visas in Turkey at the airport upon arrival. As of April 10, all nationals who had used this system must use […]

TURKEY: New Law on Foreigners & International Protection Takes Effect on April 12, 2014

The new “Law on Foreigners and International Protection” (Law No. 6458) takes effect April 12, 2014. This new law will make vast changes to residence permit eligibility and procedure, as well as in visa and immigration processing. Unfortunately, the Turkish Ministries of Interior, Labor, and Foreign Affairs have released little clarification on implementation. As of […]

UNITED KINGDOM: Prime Minister Pulls Back on Proposed Immigration Restrictions

Prime Minister David Cameron has scrapped his proposal to institute an “emergency brake” on immigration from the EU to the United Kingdom (UK). In January, it was reported that German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed her willingness to discuss curbing EU migrant access to benefits with the Prime Minister, but warned that Germany was prepared to […]

NETHERLANDS: Business Immigration Laws and Regulations Amended on a Wide Scale

Laws and regulations relevant to business immigration were amended on a wide scale on January 1, 2014. Most of the new changes improve options to deploy foreign staff in the Netherlands, such as the introduction of short-stay highly skilled migrant (HSM) permits. Some changes, however, are restrictive, such as the increase of the term for […]

ITALY: New Guidelines for Internships for Non-EU Nationals

The Italian government has released new guidelines for the activation of internship programs for foreign nationals. The guidelines provide Immigration Offices and the Italian Regions with instructions clarifying the criteria to be met by non-European Union nationals coming to Italy for internships. This is not expected to have a major impact on immigration in Italy […]

NETHERLANDS: Highly Skilled Migrant Scheme

Additional conditions concerning salary payment will take effect January 1, 2014, for the highly skilled migrant residence permit. The main condition to meet the gross annual salary threshold is changed to a monthly salary threshold. The highly skilled migrant must receive the applicable amount (excluding 8% holiday pay, which can still be paid annually) monthly […]