Immigration news update for all regions
Americas
Canada: The season for 2024 of International Experience Canada Program has opened
The International Experience Canada Program has opened for 2024, with 90,000 applications available (same as 2023). The International Experience Canada Program is a youth mobility program for people aged 18 to 35 from 35 eligible countries.
There are three categories participants can apply for with some nationalities being able to apply for more than one category.
The three categories of the program are the following:
- Working Holiday: an open work permit to work anywhere in Canada, while supporting their travel and stay.
- International Co-op (internship): employer-specific work permits for students to increase experience in their field of studies.
- Young Professional: employer-specific work permit to increase skills in their profession or field of studies.
This summary has been prepared using information from the Government of Canada
Disclaimer: The above information is provided for general information purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. If you have any further inquiries regarding the applicability of this information, please contact Roberta Carnaccini (Global Director of Immigration)
Asia-Pacific
Australia: New immigration strategy released
Australia has released a new 10-year migration strategy, that will use a longer term evidence-based approach to planning migration in collaboration with states and territories. The government will undertake a phased approach to delivering on these commitments starting with discussion papers on permanent skilled migration and regional migration.
To help with the skilled workers shortage, there will be a new specialist “skills in demand visa”, that is planned to replace the current “temporary skilled work visa with three targeted pathways to encourage migration worker mobility in the labour market – Specialist Skills pathway, Core Skills pathway, Essential Skills pathway.
This new visa is to give successful applicants a broader range of mobility between employers and will have a quicker processing time planned to be between 7 – 21 days dependent on the category of application. There will also be more Streamlined Labour Market Testing (LMT) requirements with the validity of LMT evidence will increase from four to six months in late 2024.
This vision has also affected international students, by strengthening the temporary graduate visa regulations. In early to mid-2024, the maximum age for Temporary Graduate visas will be reduced to 35 (from 50) A number of integrity measures will be introduced to the lift the standards for international students and education providers and help ensure that foreign student graduates help meet skills shortages in Australia. This will include superior English language requirements for international students and graduates. Restrictions on changes to authorised visas, reduced lengths of stay will be introduced along with more detailed requirements for additional on shore student applications.
More details and changes done by the new migration strategy can be viewed here.
This summary has been prepared using information from the Australian Government
Disclaimer: The above information is provided for general information purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. If you have any further inquiries regarding the applicability of this information, please contact Roberta Carnaccini (Global Director of Immigration) and Debra Jane Beynon (Regional Manager, APAC).
Europe, Middle East and Africa
Hungary: New immigration law effective on January 01, 2024
The Hungarian parliament has approved a new immigration law about third-country nationals entering and staying in the country to come to effect on January 01, 2024.
The new law separates three categories of work permits: skilled workers, guest workers and newly an investors permit, with a 10-year validity.
Currently, new permit applications will not be accepted between January 01, 2024, and February 29, 2024. Those submitted prior to this date will be held for processing after February 29, 2024.
Those residence and settlement permits that are to expire between the given time of January 01, 2024, and February 29, 2024, shall be extended automatically until April 30, 2024.
This summary was prepared using information from our local service partners.
Disclaimer: The above information is provided for general information purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. If you have any further inquiries regarding the applicability of this information, please contact Roberta Carnaccini (Global Director of Immigration) and Veronika Vitkova (Team Leader, EMEA).
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