We are welcoming an exclusive group to our membership services. The Swiss China Association has begun to sign its new members and Global Immigrant Group will be jointly filing their petition for normalizing their immigration status.

The group will share in select exclusive membership services
that we offer. Their Association President and Director, Chen
Feng, has negotiated a group volume enhancement for services. We have enjoyed bringing this distinguished group into our member services and look forward to a successful journey!

Congratulations, you are now on your way to a peaceful residency experience!

Warm Regards,
Mikhael JS Mezrahi
His Excellency & President

The Danish registration authorities have recently started to require marriage and birth certificates originating in non-European Union countries, submitted in support of local registration procedures, to be apostilled (or legalized).

Previously, requirements for apostille or legalization of documents varied from municipality to municipality.

Who is Affected?

An assignee who is married but is not accompanied to Denmark by their spouse must submit a copy of their marriage certificate – this does not need to be legalized. (more…)

Effective 9th June 2017, the Italian government has reintroduced filing fees for applications for a “permesso di sogiorno” residence permit.

The new fees are as follows:

• Residence permit card fixed fee – €76.00 (including €30.46 for the electronic card; €16.00 for application stamp; €30.00 mailing fee)
• Residence permit card valid from three months to one year – €40.00
• Residence permit card valid from one to two years – €50.00
• EC residence permit card for long-term residents, and intra-company residence permit cards for managers and highly-skilled workers – €100.00

Background

In October 2011, a joint Ministerial decree introduced high residence permit application/renewal fees (from €80 to €200, depending on the type and duration of the permit, in addition to the fixed expenses already in place).

In 2015, the European Court of Justice judged the tax to be a violation of EU regulations. Subsequently, The Regional Administrative Court of Lazio declared the residence permit tax illegal and abolished the fee on applications (May 2016).

On 14th September 2016, with Presidential Decree No. 03903/2016 the Council of State decided to suspend the court order of the TAR, Lazio’s Regional Administrative Court, and the fees were temporarily reintroduced, until a final decision was reached.

Again, in November 2016, The Council of State confirmed the abolishment of the residence permit application/renewal fees introduced in 2011.

On 12th June 2017, the Canadian government implemented its Global Skills Strategy (GSS), and provided further details of the two-year pilot program.

Two-week work permit processing is available for certain highly skilled occupations under the Global Talent Stream (GTS) or the International Mobility Program (IMP).

The Global Skills Strategy also encompasses two new work permit exemptions for short-term work.

Effective November 2017, a new Brazilian immigration law (Lei 13445/2017, published 25th May 2017) will replace the Foreigner Statute law (Law No. 6815/1980). The new law has a humanitarian approach and aims to reduce the bureaucracy and fight the criminalisation of immigration non-compliance. Note that implementing regulations will have to be published before the impact of the new law is fully understood.

On 3rd May 2017, the Department of State requested the right to collect additional information from certain visa applicants worldwide from the Office of Budget and Management. The new information collection powers were quietly implemented on 23rd May 2017.

Background

The State Department estimates that 0.5% of visa applicants worldwide – about 65,000 individuals per year – present a threat profile, based on their circumstances and on information they provide in their visa applications. Where individuals fit such a profile, consular officers may now request additional information to perform more rigorous vetting using a new form, the DS-5535.

Because the request by the Department of State was made on an emergency basis, the questionnaire is valid for 180 days from publication which is until 30th November 2017.  If the Department wishes to extend the validity of the form to three years, it will have to initiate a routine approval process to include a 90-day period for comments to be submitted and reviewed by the agency.

Our advice

As these changes are implemented, affected individuals should consult with an immigration attorney for the latest information and guidance.

June 19 2017 The EU has launched a legal case against Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland over their tough stance on taking in asylum seekers.

The Hungarian and Polish governments have long refused to take in migrants under a 2015 relocation plan, which was agreed by qualified majority.

The Czechs have taken in twelve.

“It is binding and mandatory for all member states to comply and implement according to the pledges they gave. The sanctions have somehow being defined by the infringement procedures without getting into details about what kind of sanctions that will be. But we can avoid it,” said EU migration commissioner Dimitris Avramopolous