Weekly Immigration Update: June 16–22, 2023

Middle East/Asia Pacific, June 22, 2023
Government Closures During Eid-al-Adha Holiday

• Government offices across the Middle East, North Africa and Asia will close during the upcoming Eid-al-Adha holiday, expected to start on June 28 and end on July 2, 2023, depending on lunar sightings in each country.
• As a result, employers and foreign nationals should expect immigration processing delays in the weeks following the holiday.

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Lithuania, June 21, 2023
National Visa Application Portal Temporarily Closed; National Visa Eligibility Restricted

• Individuals will not be able to apply for National Visas on the government's online application system through July 1, 2023. Then, starting on July 2, applicants will submit applications using a different government website.
• Additionally, the National Visa category will no longer be available to many applicants, including (among others):
• foreign employees who have a work permit issued by the Employment Service;
• citizens of Australia, Belarus, Canada, New Zealand, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States;
• foreign nationals awaiting their temporary residence permits or family member cards to be issued; and
• foreign nationals who submitted an application to issue or change a residence permit or a family member card of an EU citizen, or for whom the decision was made already to issue such a document.
• Instead, these applicants will need to submit a temporary residence permit application, which has a longer processing time than a National Visa.

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United States, June 20, 2023
DHS Announces Re-Registration Process for Salvadoran, Honduran, Nepali, and Nicaraguan TPS Beneficiaries

• The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has extended Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for El Salvador, Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua for 18 months.
• TPS beneficiaries from these four countries must re-register to receive extended benefits.  Salvadoran TPS beneficiaries must re-register between July 12 and September 10, 2023. Honduran and Nicaraguan TPS beneficiaries must re-register between November 6, 2023 and January 5, 2024. Nepali TPS beneficiaries must re-register between October 24 and December 23, 2023.

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Spain, June 20, 2023
Improvements for Stay and Work Options for Foreign Students

Legal changes in Spain will make it easier for foreign students to work during and after their studies. Key changes include:

• An automatic work permit for highly-educated foreign students;
• An increase in the total amount of hours that student permit holders can work per week;
• The removal of the requirement for a foreign student to live in Spain for three continuous years before they can change their student permit to a work permit; and
• The ability for highly-educated foreign students to stay in Spain for up to 24 months to search for a job or start their own business.

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European Union, June 16, 2023
Progress Made to Digitalise Schengen Visa Application Processes

• The European Council and the European Parliament have provisionally agreed on rules to digitalise the Schengen visa application process by allowing visa nationals to apply for visas online and by replacing the current visa sticker with a digital visa.
• These measures are intended to increase the efficiency of the application process, making it easier for travelers to apply for visas, and to improve security in the Schengen Area, by reducing the risk of falsification and theft of visas.
• The agreement with the new digitalisation rules will not go into effect until the European Council and European Parliament finalise the formal adoption process. Major changes to the agreed text are nevertheless not expected.

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