Global immigration news
round-up
24 April 2024
This week, the Global Immigration team at Smith Stone Walters would like to highlight the following recent updates from Canada, Mexico, South Africa and the United States.
Canada: Provincial and territorial allocations announced for national cap on study permit applications
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has finalized provincial and territorial allocations for 2024 for the previously announced national cap on study permits.
The Ministry has issued a statement with further information:
The national cap is based on the amount of expiring study permits this year. This means that the number of international students coming to Canada in 2024 should be the same as the number of students whose permits expire this year. For 2024, the target is 485,000 approved study permits.
About 20% of students apply for an extension each year and remain in the country. Therefore, IRCC subtracted that amount (97,000) from the target of 485,000 and set aside a small buffer to allow for other variations, resulting in a revised target of 364,000 approved study permits in 2024.
Accordingly, based on the national approval rate of 60% for study permit applications, the target of 364,000 approved study permits translates into a cap of 606,000 study permit applications received for 2024.
Some international students are exempt from the cap, such as primary and secondary school students and master’s or doctoral degree students. IRCC deducted the estimated volume of these groups (140,000 based on 2023 data) from the 2024 target number of approved study permits. This resulted in a target of 236,000 approved study permits for 2024, which converts to roughly 393,000 study permit applications to be allocated.
IRCC distributed the adjusted number of study permit applications, 393,000, based on the population share of each province and territory. Under this model, some provinces and territories would get more students in 2024 than in 2023, while others would see fewer new students.
For provinces that would receive more international students in 2024 than in 2023 based on population share, we adjusted their allocation to limit growth to 10% compared to 2023.
For provinces that would receive fewer international students in 2024 than in 2023, we adjusted their allocation to lessen the negative impact in the first year and support broader regional immigration goals.
IRCC also topped up allocations for provinces whose approval rate was lower than 60%. The top-ups will help provinces with lower approval rates reach their expected number of approved study permits in 2024.
As a result, a total of about 552,000 study permit applications have been allocated to provinces and territories under the national cap. These allocations are expected to yield approximately 292,000 approved study permits, representing a 28% reduction from 2023 for the groups included under the cap.
Many variables may influence the number of new international students who arrive in Canada in 2024, for example:
- provinces and territories with room to grow may not end up using their full allocations
- approval rates may change
- in-year adjustments may be required.
Mexico: Visa requirement for Peruvians postponed
On 18 April 2024, the Mexican government announced that it had postponed the effective date of its requirement for Peruvian nationals to obtain an entry visa for tourism or business, previously due to enter into force on 20 April 2024.
Exemptions are made for Peruvian nationals who are:
- holders of a valid visa from Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States or any Schengen area country;
- permanent residents of Canada, Chile, Colombia, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States or any Schengen area country.
On 10 April 2024, the Peruvian government issued a Supreme Decree resuming the tourist and business via exemption for Mexican nationals which had been suspended by a previous decree on 7 April 2024. The revocation of the previous decree comes in response to protests from the tourism industry among others.
The initial suspension was a response to the Mexican government announcement that it would introduce a temporary requirement for Peruvian nationals to obtain an entry visa.
South Africa: Amended immigration regulations withdrawn for clarification
Amended immigration regulations were gazetted and came into effect on 28 March 2024, the day before the period of public comment was due to close. Because of this error, the Department of Home Affairs has withdrawn the amended regulations to allow further public comment and to address any confusion about the amendments.
The principal amendments are as follows:
- A points-based general work permit is introduced, assessing applicants on their work experience, job offer, qualifications, age, language skills and ability to adapt within the Republic;
- A new digital nomad visa category is introduced, with a three-year duration, which allows family to accompany the principal applicant and has a minimum income requirement;
- The new Trusted Employer Scheme, which has already been implemented, is incorporated in the immigration regulations;
- The amendments introduce a one-year critical skills visa which requires a job offer and proof that an application for professional registration has been submitted (rather than proof that professional registration has been granted).
United States: Cap Reached for Additional Returning Worker H-2B Visas for the Early Second Half of FY 2024
US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has received enough petitions to reach the cap for the additional 19,000 H-2B visas made available for returning workers for the early second half of fiscal year (FY) 2024 with start dates from 1 April to 14 May 2024, under the H-2B supplemental cap temporary final rule (FY 2024 TFR). 17 April 2024 was the final receipt date for petitions requesting supplemental H-2B visas under the FY 2024 early second half returning worker allocation.
USCIS is still accepting petitions for H-2B nonimmigrant workers for the additional 20,000 visas allotted for nationals of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Haiti, Colombia, Ecuador, and Costa Rica (country-specific allocation) who are exempt from the returning worker requirement, as well as those who are exempt from the congressionally mandated cap.
Starting 22 April 2024, USCIS will begin accepting petitions for workers for the late second half of FY 2024, requesting employment start dates from 15 May to 30 September 2024. The 5000 visas made available under this allocation are limited to returning workers who were issued H-2B visas or held H-2B status in fiscal years 2021, 2022, or 2023, regardless of country of nationality.
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