What’s new in global immigration?

16.01.2025

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

Canada: Agri-Food Pilot application cap

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has announced that it is now capping the intake for permanent residence applications under the Agri-Food Pilot at 1010 spaces. Applications can be submitted until the pilot expires on 14 May 2025, or until 1010 applications have been received—whichever comes first. This is because, due to high demand, interest in this pilot exceeds the spaces available under the 2025–2027 Immigration Levels Plan.

The Agri-Food Pilot is an economic pilot established under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. According to the pilot regulations, it can only run for a maximum of 5 years, and this time period will be reached on 14 May 2025. The pilot cannot be extended beyond this date. Since the launch of the pilot, Canada has welcomed over 4500 agri-food workers and family members. That includes close to 1775 workers and family members last year alone, as of the end of November 2024.

Other programs available to agri-food workers include federal high-skilled programs managed by Express Entry and regional economic immigration programs, such as the Provincial Nominee Program, the Atlantic Immigration Program, and the recently announced Rural and Francophone Community Immigration Pilots.

In the coming years, IRCC will continue processing applications received on or before the pilot’s end date and under the cap, in line with the targets established in the Immigration Levels Plan.

Canada: No new Parents and Grandparents sponsorships in 2025

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has announced that, as of 1 January 2025, no new permanent resident visa applications made by parents or grandparents of a sponsor and no sponsorship applications made in relation to those applications will be received for processing, until further Instructions are issued.

Unless a new intake for the 2025 calendar year is implemented, for the 2025 calendar year, the Department of Citizenship and Immigration will only be accepting for processing permanent resident visa applications made by parents or grandparents of a sponsor and sponsorship applications made in relation to those applications that were received in 2024 pursuant to the established conditions.

A maximum of 15,000 sponsorship applications received in 2024 and made in relation to applications for a permanent resident visa, which are made by sponsors’ parents or grandparents under the family class, will be accepted for processing in the 2025 calendar year. They will be processed in the order in which they were received.

China: New mutual visa exemption agreement with Solomon Islands

An agreement between the China and the Solomon Islands on the mutual exemption of visas took effect on 28 December 2024.

According to the agreement, citizens holding a valid Chinese ordinary passport or a valid Solomon Islands ordinary passport, entering, leaving or transiting the other country, staying for no more than 30 days per single stay, and staying for no more than 90 days for a cumulative stay of no more than 90 days every 180 days, is exempt from any visa requirement.

Those who need to stay in the other country for more than 30 days, or stay for more than 90 days for a cumulative time every 180 days, or engage in activities such as work, study, settlement, news reporting, etc. in the territory of the other country subject to prior approval by the competent authorities, must apply for a corresponding visa before entering the other country.

Those who cannot leave the country within the visa-free period of stay due to force majeure must apply to the local competent authority for an extension of the period of stay with relevant supporting materials.

Denmark: New rates for au pairs

New rates for monthly allowance and for the amount to help finance Danish language classes, came into effect on 1 January 2025

The new rate for the monthly allowance (pocket money) is DKK 5000, and the new rate for the amount that helps finance Danish language classes is DKK 20,000.

The new rates apply to au pair applications that are submitted 1 January 2025 and onwards. The application’s submission date determines what rate applies to your application. The submission date is the date when the application has been:

received at a diplomatic mission or at a visa application centre
received at one of SIRI’s branch offices
received by SIRI as physical mail or via SIRI’s contact form
submitted by using the online application form AU1.

This means that the submission date is not dependent on when the applicant begins to fill out the application form or when the application is signed by the applicant. For instance, if the application process begins in December 2024, but the application itself is not submitted until January 2025, it is the rates for 2025 that apply to the application.

The rates will be updated on the application page on 1 January 2025.

Malaysia: Enhancements to the implementation of initial approval for hiring foreign workers

The Expatriate Services Division (ESD) has announced that the Department of Labour Peninsular Malaysia (JTKSM) has enhanced the implementation of the initial approval for hiring foreign workers under section 60K of the Employment Act 1955 by improving the modules and adding new functions to upgrade the ePPAx system – the multi-tiered levy (MTL).

The upgraded modules and functions went live on 2 December 2024. Key updates in relation to the application for Employment Pass (EP) and Professional Visit Pass (PVP) are as below:

Section 60K of the Employment Act 1955 [Act 265]:

Effective 1 January 2023, this section mandates that employers obtain prior approval before hiring foreign workers. This applies to all non-citizen employees, as defined in Section 2 of Act 265.

Scope of Section 60K:

Applicable only to the recruitment of new foreign workers.
Not applicable to the renewal of Employment Passes (EP), Temporary Employment Visit Pass (PLKS), or other passes.
Mandatory for all employers, including those with positions exempted from job vacancy advertisements by PERKESO.
Approval is granted to the employer only.

Application Process:

All applications for prior approval must be submitted through the Integrated Foreign Workers Management System (ePPAx) at ePPAx Login.
For expatriates, the company may refer to the [Sub Module: Expatriate].
For Foreign Fishermen / Foreign Security Guards / Ship Crew / Residence Pass Holders / Residence Pass-Talent (RP-T) Holders / Student Pass Holders / Professional Visit Pass (PVP) / Professional Pass / Construction Employers G1, G2, and G3, please refer to [Sub Module: Other Passes 1].

Special Requirement for Construction Sector Employers:

Employers in the construction sector (contractors G4 to G7) must declare their construction project in the CIMS CIDB system before submitting their application in ePPAx. Project data will be integrated with the ePPAx system.

Approval Documents:

For applications submitted through the ePPAx system, approval documents can be directly generated via the system on the application status check screen.

Validity Period:

The validity period for Section 60K approval is 12 months for all categories of foreign workers or non-citizen employees managed by JTKSM, effective from 1 October 2024. This excludes approvals issued under the Special Employer Change Process (PTM Khas).

Spain: Details announced of cancellation of golden visa program

The Spanish government has published a law which includes provisions cancelling the investor visa programme (“golden visa”) effective 3 April 2025.

The law, once effective, repeals articles 63-67 of the Entrepreneurs Law (Law 14/2013) which include details of the golden visa programme.

Applications submitted before 3 April 2025 will be processed under the existing rules. Even after 3 April 2025, golden visas issued before that date can be renewed according to the current rules.

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