Latest updates in global immigration

06.03.2025

This week, the Global Immigration team at Smith Stone Walters would like to highlight the following recent updates from Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, New Zealand, the Philippines and the United States.

Denmark: New Working Holiday quota period for citizens of Chile and Argentina

On 1 March 2025, a new quota period for Working Holiday residence permits for citizens of Chile and Argentina begins. Working Holiday for citizens of Chile and Argentina is covered by a quota of 150 residence permits annually.

A quota year runs from March of a given year to February of the following year.

From March to August (the first quota period) SIRI can grant residence permits corresponding to half of the annual quota (up to 75), and from September to February (the second quota period) SIRI can grant a maximum of the remaining part of the quota (up to 150). Permits will be granted on a first-come, first-served basis.

Once the quota of 75 Working Holiday residence permits for both Chilean and Argentinian citizens has been used up, no more residence permits can be granted until 1 September 2025, when the next quota period begins.

Once 75 Working Holiday residence permits have been issued to both Chilean and Argentinian citizens, any remaining applications will be rejected and the processing fee to SIRI will be refunded. Applicants should be aware that any fee paid to VFS or the representation in Chile will not be refunded if the application is rejected.

As the quota period this year opens on Saturday 1 March 2025, applicants should be aware that VFS Santiago, Chile opens for appointments via their online booking system Monday 3 March 20259 AM (UTC -4). VFS Buenos Aires, Argentina opens for appointments via their online booking system on Wednesday 5 March 202 at 9 AM (UTC -3), as 3 and 4 March 2025 are public holidays.

Finland: Backlog in processing of family applications

The Finnish Immigration Service (“Migri”) has announced that there is a backlog in the processing of applications on the basis of family ties. Currently, more than 15,000 applications are awaiting a decision.

Those who have not yet received a decision on their application will be contacted if Migri needs more information for their application.

Background:

Nearly 50,000 applications on the basis of family ties were submitted in 2024, which is almost 10,000 more than in 2023.

More than 46,000 decisions were made in 2024, which is more than 6,000 more than in 2023.

65% of applications on the basis of family ties submitted in 2024 were resolved in less than three months.

In 2024, some 91% of first permits and 97% of extended permits received positive decisions.

Most applications are processed in less than three months. The average processing time for the applications of minor children is shorter than for adults.

According to the law, the applications of students’ family members must be processed within a maximum of 90 days from the date the applicant has submitted a fully completed application. Other applications on the basis of family ties must be processed within a maximum of nine months.

Currently, around 2000 applications on the basis of family ties have been pending for more than nine months and around 1200 applications of students’ family members have been pending for more than 90 days. Migri will prioritise applications whose statutory processing time has expired.

Migri states that the absence of a passport is currently the main reason for the delay in processing.

Applicants must have a valid passport issued by the country of nationality in order to be granted a residence permit. Applicants are advised to renew their passport if it is about to expire. The expiry of a passport is not a valid reason for faster processing of a residence permit application.
Those who do not have a valid passport issued by the country of nationality usually need to obtain one. The lack of a passport significantly slows down the processing of the application.

There is also a backlog in applications for which further clarification is requested.

Applicants should check that they have completed all the necessary information in the application form and submitted all the requested attachments, such as a report on sufficient financial resources if a condition for issuing the permit is having sufficient resources.
Applicants must also legalise the documents, before submitting the application.
The processing of the application is often also delayed in situations where a family member already residing in Finland does not have a valid residence permit. In this case, the application cannot be resolved until the family member has been granted a residence permit.

Hong Kong: New application fee and raised visa fee for talent and capital investment admission schemes introduced

The 2025-26 Budget announced that a new application fee will be introduced under various admission schemes to attract talent and capital investors, and the visa/entry permit issuance fees for approved applications will be raised based on the length of the limit of stay to peg to their costs and reflect the “user pays” principle.

The government has announced that, to implement these fees, the Immigration (Amendment) Regulation 2025 has been published in the Gazette and came into effect from 11am on 26 February 2025.

With effect from that time, principal applicants under specified admission schemes and their dependants are required to pay an application fee of HKD 600 for each application under a specified admission scheme for entry, change of conditions of stay or extension of limit of stay.

In addition, the visa/entry permit fee for an approved application is increased, based on the length of the limit of stay, from the original flat rate of HKD 230 to HKD 600 (with a limit of stay of 180 days or below) or HKD 1300 (with a limit of stay of 181 days or more).

Pursuant to the amended Immigration Regulations (Cap. 115 sub. leg. A), the Director of Immigration has specified that the above fees apply to the following admission schemes:

Top Talent Pass Scheme;
General Employment Policy;
Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals;
Quality Migrant Admission Scheme;
Immigration Arrangements for Non-local Graduates;
Admission Scheme for the Second Generation of Chinese Hong Kong Permanent Residents;
New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme;
Capital Investment Entrant Scheme;
Technology Talent Admission Scheme; and
Vocational Professionals Admission Scheme.

The existing fees applicable to other types of visas/entry permits other than those applied under the specified schemes remain unchanged.

New Zealand: Primary teachers to be added to the straight to residence pathway

On 25 February 2025, the government announced that primary teachers will be added to the straight to residence pathway on the Green List from 26 March 2025.

This change is intended to address primary teacher shortages across the country, particularly in Auckland and Northland.

Primary teachers were previously on the Work to Residence pathway, so this change allows them to apply for residency from offshore, without first working for two years, provided they have an employment offer from an accredited employer. Relevant roles include primary and intermediate teachers as well as Māori-medium equivalents.

New Zealand: Parent Resident Visa category update

Immigration New Zealand has announced that a one-off increase in the Parent Category quota is being implemented, to enable applications that have been approved in principle to be issued this financial year.

Each financial year, 2500 visas can be issued under the Parent Resident Visa category. 2000 can be issued to people who made a ‘queue’ expression of interest (EOI) and 500 can be issued to people who made a ballot EOI.

Immigration New Zealand has approved in principle more Parent Category Resident Visas than we are normally allowed to grant this financial year (until 30 June 2025).

The Minister of Immigration has agreed that Immigration New Zealand can grant up to 2331 visas to people who made ‘queue’ EOIs this financial year, an increase of 331, as a one off. The ballot cap of 500 visas remains unchanged. Immigration New Zealand will contact applicants whose queue EOI is selected this financial year.

The limit of visas that can be granted under the Parent Category in the 2025/2026 financial year remains at 2500.

Philippines: Updated rules on work permit issuance

Effective 10 February 2025, the Department of Labour and Employment (DOLE) has published revised rules for the issuance of Alien Employment Permits (AEPs) to foreign national workers.

Among the new regulations issued under Department Order No. 248 are the following:

The employer must now post the vacant position, and the name of the foreign national it intends to hire, at PhilJobnet (the Philippine government’s official job matching portal) and with the Public Employment Service Office (PESO) or Job Placement Office (JPO), as well as in a newspaper of general circulation as previously.
The AEP application must be submitted at least 15 days and no more than 45 days after publication of the position.
The application must be submitted within 15 calendar days (previously 10 working days) from the execution of the contract or issuance of appointment.
A foreign national intended to be hired a corporate officer position is exempted from the requirement of publication.
All foreign nationals exempted from securing an AEP may request a Certificate of Exemption, and those exempted under Section 1, Rule V of the New Rules must request a Certificate of Exemption.
An AEP application may now be submitted and processed while the foreign national intended to be hired is still outside the country. However, the AEP cannot be released until the foreign national has entered the country with the appropriate pre-arranged employment visa, 9(G) visa or working visa.
DOLE will now apply an Economic Needs Test (ENT) to evaluate whether the employment of a foreign national is necessary to fill a gap, shortage or need in the local labour market, particularly in relation to the nature of functions, level of specialization and technological knowledge, and industry requirements of employers which are granted fiscal incentives, are engaged in priority or strategic areas of investments or operate public utilities under the Public Service Act.
Foreign nationals must now submit proof of qualifications, including educational credentials, relevant work experience, professional licenses, skills certifications, or evidence of specialized training to establish qualifications for the intended position.

United States: Amendments to Temporary Protected Status for Haiti

On 20 February 2025, the Secretary of Homeland Security partially vacated the 1 July 2024, notice that extended and redesignated Haiti for Temporary Protected Status (TPS).

The announcement amends the period of extension and redesignation of Haiti for TPS from 18 months to 12 months, with a new end date of 3 August 2025 (previously 3 February 2026), and makes a corresponding change to the initial registration period for new applicants under the redesignation, which will now remain in effect until 3 August 2025 (instead of 3 February 2026).

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