What’s new in global
immigration?

25 July 2024

This week, the Global Immigration team at Smith Stone Walters would like to highlight the following recent updates from Belarus, China, Malaysia, New Zealand and Spain.

Belarus: Visa-free overland entry for citizens of 35 European countries

Effective 19 July 2024, citizens of 35 European countries are permitted to enter Belarus visa free via all international road and rail checkpoints and remain in the country for up to 30 days.

This is in addition to the existing visa waiver program permitting entry by air.  The existing visa-free scheme for citizens of Latvia, Lithuania and Poland remains in place.

Citizens of the following countries are eligible: Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Vatican.

China: Shanghai now issues e-visas

Government media sources have reported that the Exit-Entry Administration Bureau of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau has begun issuing e-visas for tourism, business, talent, work and personal affairs.

An e-visa is valid for a single entry, with an entry validity of 15 days and a period of stay not exceeding 30 days. An e-visa holder can enter China via any of Shanghai’s open ports, and can exit via any open port in the country.

China: 144-hour transit visa-free policy expanded in Henan and Yunnan provinces

Effective 15 July 2024, the National Immigration Administration (NIA) has expanded China’s 144-hour visa-free transit policy.

The policy is now implemented at the Zhengzhou Airport in Henan Province.   In Yunnan Province, the policy is now implemented at Lijiang Sanyi International Airport and Mohan Railway Port, as well as Kunming Changshui International Airport, and expanded to eight more cities in addition to Kunming, namely Lijiang, Yuxi, Pu’er, Chuxiong, Dali, Xishuangbanna, Honghe and Wenshan.

NIA has now implemented the policy at 37 ports of entry in China.

Citizens of 54 countries who hold valid international travel documents and a connecting ticket with a confirmed date and seat within 144 hours of arrival, are eligible to transit to a third country via one of these ports and remain in the corresponding stay area for no more than 144 hours. During the period of stay, travellers can engage in short-term activities such as tourism, business, visit, family visit, etc. Work, study, journalism and other purposes of travel still need to be approved in advance with a pre-arrival visa application.

Malaysia: Gradual deployment of new online services

The Expatriate Services Division (ESD) of the Immigration Department has announced that it will gradually roll out in phases its new online application services.

This follows the announcement on 4 July 2024 of the postponement of the rollout due to a temporary disruption of the ESD online system.

The application for Transfer of Endorsement (ToE) / Take-up Balance (TuB) service is now available via ESD Online system through the Sub-Product menu.

Further updates on the re-deployment of the other online Sub-Product services will be informed periodically.

Malaysia: Faster processing for Permission to Work on a Social Visit Pass

The Expatriate Services Division (ESD) of the Immigration Department has announced that, effective 18 July 2024, processing of applications for Permission to Work on a Social Visit Pass (PTW-SVP), also known as the PLS@XPats, has been reduced from three working days to one working day.

Since 3 October 2022, the Immigration Department has permitted foreign professionals holding a Social Visit Pass to apply to perform emergency and critical work for a maximum of 30 days from the date of arrival into Malaysia. The processing and final decision for PLS@XPATS will be at JIMs discretion.

This facility is applicable only in the following sectors:

• Security & Defence
• Manufacturing
• Construction
• Health & Medical
• Oil, Gas & Energy
• Finance & Banking
• Electrical & Electronics
• Wholesale & Retail
• Tourism
• Business Services
• Commodity
• Education
• Agriculture
• Aviation
• Information, Technology & Infrastructure.

The PLS@XPATS will be endorsed at the Immigration Entry Point, subject to issuance of an Approval Letter.

New Zealand: More part-time work rights for migrant high school leavers

The government of New Zealand has announced that dependents of a work visa holder or New Zealand citizen/resident will be able to apply for rights allowing them to work part time, provided they hold an eligible visitor visa and have applied for residence under an eligible category.

To be eligible to apply for part-time work rights, migrants must be an applicant on an already-lodged application for one of the following residence visas:

• Dependent Child Resident Visa
• Skilled Migrant Category Visa (either new or previous visa criteria)
• any of the Skilled Migrant Category sub-categories (Straight to Residence Visa, Work to Residence Visa, Care Workforce Work to Residence Visa, Transport Sector Work to Residence Visa).

Migrants must also:

• hold an eligible visitor visa and be a dependent child of a work visa holder or a New Zealand citizen/resident, and
• be aged 17 and have completed high school, or aged 18 to 24 years old (inclusive).

They will be entitled to work up to 20 hours per week during the school year, and up to 40 hours per week over the summer holiday period. This aligns with work rights available to Year 12 and 13 students on a Dependent Child Student Visa.

This change will be implemented at the end of October, and the government will provide more details about how and when people can apply in late August.

Spain: Government extends deadline for nationality applications under Democratic Memory Law

The Council of Ministers has approved extending, by one year, the deadline for exercising the right to apply for Spanish nationality set out in the Law 20/2022, on Democratic Memory.

The original two-year period, expiring in October 2024, has now been extended to the end of 2025.

The law applies to people born outside Spain to a father, mother, grandfather or grandmother, originally Spanish, and who, as a result of having suffered exile for political, ideological or religious reasons or for sexual orientation and identity reasons, lost or renounced Spanish nationality; and persons who are in the following situations:

• Sons and daughters born abroad to Spanish women who lost their nationality because they married foreigners before the 1978 Constitution came into force.
• Sons and daughters of legal age born to Spaniards whose nationality of origin was recognised through the right of option under the provisions of this law or in the seventh additional provision of Law 52/2007, which  recognises and extends rights and establishes measures on behalf of those who suffered persecution or violence during the civil war and the dictatorship.

Since the entry into force of this Law, up to 31 March 2024, the Consular Civil Registry Offices received 301,121 applications to opt for Spanish nationality of origin.

More than 95 percent of applications have been received at the Spanish Consular Offices in Ibero-America and the Consulate General of Spain in Miami. Specifically, Spain’s five consulates general in Argentina account for 40 percent of applications, and together with the Consulate General of Spain in Havana, they account for over 53 percent of applications.

All appointment requests already submitted and pending the assignment of a date will now be processed, as well as all applications submitted that cannot be processed within the original two-years period.

Expert advice on global immigration

If you need support with any aspect of global immigration, Smith Stone Walters is here to help.

To speak to a member of our global immigration team, please contact us today.

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