Latest updates in global immigration

This week, the Global Immigration team at Smith Stone Walters would like to highlight the following recent updates from Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Japan, Malaysia and New Zealand.

Canada: New rural and francophone community immigration pilots

On 30 January 2025, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)announced the launch of the Rural Community Immigration Pilot and the Francophone Community Immigration Pilot, and the communities chosen to participate. These pilots will provide 18 communities with a permanent residence pathway to attract and retain newcomers who can fill key jobs and who want to live long-term in these areas.

The Rural Community Immigration Pilot ensures that rural communities have access to programs that address labour shortages and help local businesses find the workers they need. The Francophone Community Immigration Pilot focuses on increasing the number of French-speaking newcomers settling in Francophone minority communities outside of Quebec. This ensures the economic development of Francophone minority communities, while also helping to restore and increase their demographic weight.

Each selected community is represented by a local economic development organization, which will work with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to identify its critical labour gaps, designate trustworthy employers and recommend suitable candidates to IRCC for permanent residence. IRCC has begun training the economic development organizations, and each community will provide details and timelines on when employers and prospective permanent residence candidates can expect to have a chance to apply.

The following communities will participate in the Rural Community Immigration Pilot (RCIP):

• Pictou County, NS
• North Bay, ON
• Sudbury, ON
• Timmins, ON
• Sault Ste. Marie, ON
• Thunder Bay, ON
• Steinbach, MB
• Altona/Rhineland, MB
• Brandon, MB
• Moose Jaw, SK
• Claresholm, AB
• West Kootenay, BC
• North Okanagan Shuswap, BC
• Peace Liard, BC

The following communities will participate in the Francophone Community Immigration Pilot (FCIP):

• Acadian Peninsula, NB
• Sudbury, ON
• Timmins, ON
• Superior East Region, ON
• St. Pierre Jolys, MB
• Kelowna, BC.

Part of the Acadian Peninsula, Sudbury, Timmins, and St. Pierre Jolys are also participants in the Welcoming Francophone Communities initiative, which will help them settle and integrate French-speaking newcomers who arrive in their communities under the FCIP.

As of December 31, 2024, 8,580 newcomers have been granted permanent residence through the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (RNIP), helping address labour shortages in key sectors such as health care and manufacturing.

Canada: Regulatory amendments for Canada–United States information sharing agreement

On 17 January 2025, regulatory changes came into force to implement amendments to the Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of the United States of America for the Sharing of Visa and Immigration Information. These changes enable the automated exchange of biographical and biometric information on permanent residents of both Canada and the United States. Once the required systems are in place, information will only be exchanged in response to a request as part of either country’s immigration screening process, such as when a client is applying for a visa.

The original agreement, which authorized the automated exchange of information on all foreign nationals, was signed in 2012. The recent changes allow Canada and the United States to expand information-sharing capabilities as close and trusted security partners. These enhancements aim to improve screening for security risks and decision making across immigration programs.

The agreement supports immigration and border officials and helps them:

• verify clients’ identities
• strengthen admissibility screening
• facilitate visa issuance for clients with a proven history of immigration compliance in the United States.

This sharing will strengthen visitor screening and help identify non-genuine travellers before they reach Canada’s ports of entry.

The regulatory amendments can be consulted in the Canada Gazette, Part II, and all updates will be reflected on Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s website.

Denmark: New wage statistics for the Positive List for skilled work

The Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI) has published updated wage statistics that apply to the Positive List for skilled work from 20 February 2025.

When SIRI assesses applications on the Positive List for skilled work, it uses special wage statistics compiled by Statistics Denmark to assess whether an offered wage corresponds to Danish standards.

This means that all applications on the Positive List for skilled work submitted on or after 20 February 2025 will be assessed based on the new wage statistics. 

Applications submitted before 20 February 2025 will be assessed according to the previous wage statistics.

Finland: Automated messages sent by mistake to employers from Enter Finland for Employers

Those who use the online service Enter Finland for Employers may have received an automated email message on Tuesday 4 February 2025 with a subject line ‘We have made a decision on application’. The message, which was sent by mistake, states that a decision has been made on the employee’s residence permit application.

These messages were sent unintentionally between 00.00 and 10.05. There have been problems with the sending function for automated messages that have now been fixed.

There is currently a high demand for employer guidance services. If the employee’s residence permit process is completed and the employee is not waiting for a decision on his or her application or has appealed against a decision, the message received has most likely been sent by mistake. In this case, no action is required from the employer or their employee.

Those who suspect that the message was sent deliberately should check with their employee whether he or she has received a decision on his or her application. Unintentional messages have been sent only to employers.

Iceland: Longer processing time for expedited processing of residence permit applications based on work

The Directorate of Immigration has noted that the processing time for work permit applications in the expedited procedure at the Directorate of Labour is now seven weeks. Information on the processing time is published on the website of the Directorate of Labour.

As a result, the Directorate of Immigration cannot process applications in an expedited procedure in less than 8 to 10 weeks.

It takes a considerably longer time to process applications for residence permits based on work, for which no service fee for expedited processing is paid. The applications currently being processed in the general procedure were received last October.

The service fee for expedited processing of residence permit applications based on work only covers the part of the application process that relates to processing of a residence permit with the Directorate of Immigration.

This fee does not cover the issuance of a work permit by the Directorate of Labour; however such a permit is a condition for the issuance of a residence permit on the basis of work.

Japan: New immigration fees published

The Immigration Services Agency has announced that, effective 1 April 2025, the fees for various immigration procedures, such as change of residence status and extension of stay period, will be revised.  New fees will also apply to online applications, where available. The updated fees will apply to applications accepted from 1 April 2025.

The fee for change of status or for extension of stay will increase from JPY 4000 to JPY 6000 (or JPY 5500 for an online application.

The fee for permanent residence will increase from JPY 8000 to JPY 10,000.

Malaysia: ESD Online companies must update their information

As part of the overall initiative to enhance the efficiency of Malaysia’s tax administration management, the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia (IRBM) commenced the implementation of e-invoicing in phases starting in August 2024. To ensure compliance with this directive, the Malaysia Expatriate Services Centre (MYXpats Centre) will implement e-invoicing effective 1 January 2025.

To support this transition, MYXpats Centre has requested all ESD Online Account users registered as a company, a firm or a society to update the required information in the ESD Online effective 5 February 2025:

To update their information, these users should:

• Log in to the ESD Online.
• Click on the pop-up announcement regarding the implementation of e-Invoicing that appears on the homepage.
• Fill in the required information: 
  • Tax Identification Number (TIN)
  • Malaysia Tourism Tax (TTX) Number (if applicable)
  • Malaysia Standard Industrial Classification (MSIC) Code
  • Sales and Service Tax (SST) Number (if applicable)
• Tick the disclaimer box and click on “Save”.

MYXpats Centre notes that the pop-up announcement will continue to appear each time the user logs in to the ESD Online until all required information is completed.

New Zealand: Allocation priorities for international student visa applications

Immigration New Zealand (INZ) is changing the way it allocates international student visa applications from students in New Zealand, so it has more flexibility and can process these more efficiently during this summer processing peak.

For applications submitted in New Zealand, INZ will prioritise visa applications from students who are in New Zealand and applying for a second or subsequent international student visa, with a new provider or for a different course. This is because students changing course and/or provider must be granted a visa with their new study conditions before they are permitted to start.

Even if an application is allocated first, it does not mean it will be decided in that order.

INZ will continue to process other international student visa applications in date order.

The quality and completeness of any application has a direct impact on how long it takes for the application to be decided.

Students must submit all the information needed when they apply. Due to the high volume of visa applications received during the peak summer months, INZ is not able to contact students before allocation if documents are missing from their visa application. If information required to assess an application is missing, the application may be declined.

Students who are applying for a student visa from within New Zealand, must include their tuition fee receipt upfront, or their application may be declined.

A better way to manage global immigration

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If you would like to find out more about the enhanced level of global immigration services now available to your business, please contact us today.