Immigration & Nationality

Visas issued, but exit restrictions are the live issue

Entry requires a visa from an Afghan mission abroad. The more consequential rules concern departure: women require a male guardian for many journeys, and passport issuance has been intermittent.

For foreign nationals the practical constraint is not the visa but security and the absence of consular protection, as most states have suspended embassy operations in Kabul. Afghan nationals seeking to leave face documentation delays and, for women travelling without a mahram, refusal at the airport.

The Foreigners Act with unilateral openness to many nationalities

Albania applies its own Foreigners Act to all non-nationals, issuing residence permits for work, study, family and business. It grants unusually long visa-free stays to citizens of many countries, including a full year for some.

A long visa-free stay does not confer the right to work, so employment still requires the appropriate permit.

Law 08-11 on entry and residence, with criminal penalties for irregular stay

Entry, residence and movement of foreigners are governed by Law 08-11 of 2008, which criminalises irregular entry and stay. There is no domestic asylum determination procedure.

Law 08-11 treats irregular entry and stay as criminal offences carrying imprisonment as well as removal, which is stricter than the Moroccan and Tunisian frameworks and shapes practice for sub-Saharan migrants in particular. Algeria acceded to the Refugee Convention in 1963 but has no implementing statute, so recognition rests with UNHCR and confers no domestic work authorisation; the Sahrawi population in the Tindouf camps is handled under a separate arrangement entirely and is not processed through that route. The 2005 amendment to the Nationality Code allowed transmission of nationality by an Algerian mother, which was retroactive. Employment of foreign nationals requires a permit tied to a specific employer and post, and quota-style restrictions apply in practice through the permit process.

Quota-based active residence and investment-backed passive residence

Andorra is outside the EU and Schengen and controls immigration through its own Immigration Act. Work-based (active) residence is capped by government quotas, while passive residence is granted to those investing in the country.

Naturalisation generally needs about twenty years of residence and requires renouncing the previous nationality, as Andorra does not allow dual citizenship.

Lei dos Estrangeiros visas with work permits tied to expatriate quotas

The Lei dos Estrangeiros (Lei 13/19) governs entry and residence. Work visas require an approved employment contract, and labour law imposes a foreign-worker quota — generally a maximum of 30 per cent of the workforce for companies above a threshold. Angola introduced visa exemption for many nationalities for tourism in 2023.

The expatriate quota is the practical constraint rather than the visa categories themselves: staffing an Angolan project requires the workforce plan to satisfy the local-employment ratio before any individual permit becomes obtainable.

Immigration and Passport Act with CARICOM entry and a CBI programme

The Immigration and Passport Act governs entry, residence and removal. CARICOM nationals with a skills certificate may work without a permit, and other CARICOM nationals receive a six-month stay on arrival. The Citizenship by Investment Programme Act 2013 grants citizenship on an approved investment, and unusually among regional programmes it imposes a short physical presence requirement of five days in the first five years.

The five-day presence requirement is a genuine condition of the citizenship by investment programme rather than a formality, and failure to satisfy it can affect renewal of the passport, so it should be diarised at the point of approval. Work permits are tied to a named employer, and a change of employer requires a fresh permit rather than a variation.

Ley 25.871 treats migration as a human right, with Mercosur residence

Ley 25.871 is unusual in expressly recognising migration as a human right and guaranteeing migrants access to health care and education regardless of status. Dirección Nacional de Migraciones administers temporary and permanent residence. Nationals of Mercosur and associated states can obtain residence on the basis of nationality alone, without needing a job offer or economic criteria.

The Mercosur nationality route is the most-used pathway and reflects a deliberate regional-integration policy: an applicant from Brazil, Chile, Bolivia or another member or associated state qualifies by proving nationality and a clean criminal record. Argentine citizenship is available after only two years of lawful residence, which is short by international standards, and is granted by a federal judge rather than an administrative body.

Visa-free entry for many nationals and three residence categories

The Law on Foreigners governs entry and stay. Armenia operates a notably open visa regime, with visa-free access for citizens of many states, and grants temporary, permanent and special residence status.

Citizens of a large number of countries may enter without a visa for up to 180 days per year, and e-visas are available to others. Temporary residence, valid up to a year and renewable, is granted on grounds including work, study and family. Permanent residence is available after three years of lawful residence and is issued for five years. Special residence status, valid for ten years, is available to persons of Armenian origin and to those making a particular contribution to the country — a provision that reflects the significance of the diaspora. Refugee determination is handled by the Migration and Citizenship Service with appeal to the Administrative Court.

Points-tested skilled migration through SkillSelect invitations

A points-tested skilled migration system under the Migration Act 1958, run almost entirely through the online SkillSelect expression-of-interest process. Nearly every visa class is capped and invitation-based rather than first-come.

Skilled migration runs through SkillSelect: a candidate lodges an expression of interest, is scored against the points test (age, English, skilled employment, qualifications, state nomination) and waits for an invitation. Points are necessary but not sufficient — invitations are issued against occupation ceilings, so a passing score in an oversubscribed occupation may never be invited. Employer-sponsored routes require the employer to be an approved sponsor and to satisfy labour market testing. Decisions are reviewable by the Administrative Review Tribunal, which replaced the Administrative Appeals Tribunal in October 2024, and there is a strict statutory time limit for seeking review.

The points-based Red-White-Red Card for qualified third-country workers

EU, EEA and Swiss citizens enjoy free movement. Qualified third-country nationals are admitted mainly through the Red-White-Red Card, a points-based work-and-residence permit, while other residence titles fall under the Settlement and Residence Act (NAG). Longer stays and settlement require meeting integration conditions.

Austria's citizenship rules are among the strictest in the EU, generally requiring renunciation of the former nationality. Salary thresholds and points criteria for the Red-White-Red Card are updated periodically.

The Migration Code of 2013 with e-visa access

The Migration Code consolidated Azerbaijani immigration law into a single instrument. Entry generally requires a visa, with the ASAN Visa e-visa system providing rapid electronic issuance for short visits, and temporary and permanent residence permits available on defined grounds.

The Migration Code brought entry, stay, work authorisation and removal into one code, which makes research considerably easier than in jurisdictions where these are scattered. The ASAN Visa system issues e-visas for tourism and business within a short processing window. Work permits are quota-controlled and tied to a specific employer and position, and the employer bears the application burden. Temporary residence can lead to permanent residence after a qualifying period. Entry is refused to holders of passports bearing evidence of unauthorised travel to occupied territories, a restriction that has practical consequences for some travellers.

Sponsored residence with a self-sponsored Golden Residency

Residence is normally employer-sponsored through the LMRA. The Golden Residency introduced in 2022 gives indefinite self-sponsored residence to qualifying applicants.

Bahrain's Golden Residency is indefinite rather than fixed-term, which distinguishes it from the UAE's ten-year Golden Visa, and it is open to long-term residents, property owners above a value threshold, retirees with sufficient pension income and highly skilled workers. The Flexi Permit sits below it as a self-sponsored route for lower-paid workers, so Bahrain has decoupled residence from a single employer at both ends of the income scale. Naturalisation is possible in principle after long residence but is discretionary and politically sensitive.

Work permits routed through BIDA, not a labour ministry

Foreign employees need a work permit issued by BIDA (or the relevant zone authority) plus an E-type visa. Permits are tied to a sponsoring entity and a nominal local-to-foreign staffing ratio applies.

The indicative ratio is twenty local employees to one foreign employee in industry, five to one in commerce, applied with discretion. Security clearance from the Ministry of Home Affairs is a real bottleneck and can take months. Overstaying attracts fines assessed on departure and can bar re-entry.

Immigration Act permits plus the 12-month Welcome Stamp

Work by a non-national requires a permit under the Immigration Act, Cap. 190, issued by the Immigration Department, and permits are usually tied to a specific employer. Barbados also operates the Barbados Welcome Stamp, a twelve-month renewable visa for remote workers earning from outside Barbados, introduced in 2020. CARICOM skilled nationals may work without a permit on presentation of a recognised certificate.

The Welcome Stamp is a residence route rather than a tax shelter and a route to local employment: the holder must be working for an employer or clients outside Barbados, and taking up local employment requires a conventional work permit instead. Because income is not earned in Barbados, Welcome Stamp holders are not liable to Barbados income tax on that foreign employment income.

Visa-free entry alongside strict registration duties

Belarus offers visa-free entry of up to 30 days for many nationalities through Minsk airport and extended land arrangements for EU neighbours. Foreigners must nonetheless register their stay, and work requires a special permit obtained by the employer.

Visa-free entry is tied to the specific border crossing and airline routing, so arriving from or departing to Russia voids it because that border has no international control.

A single permit for work and residence, decided jointly by a Region and the federal state

The federal Act of 15 December 1980 still governs entry and residence, but since 1 January 2019 economic migration runs through the single permit (combined permit), which merges work authorisation and residence into one application. Because employment is a regional competence while immigration is federal, the file is decided by both: the Region rules on the work component and the federal Immigration Office on residence.

Which Region is competent is determined by where the work is actually performed, and the regional conditions differ on salary thresholds and shortage-occupation lists, so the same job can be treated differently in Flanders and Wallonia. Language requirements and integration duties also vary by Region and Community.

Immigration Act permits plus a statutory QRP programme

The Immigration Act governs entry, work permits and residence. Belize also runs the Qualified Retired Persons Incentive Programme, a statutory residence scheme for over-45s with qualifying foreign income, administered by the Belize Tourism Board rather than the immigration department.

The 14-day absence rule for permanent residence is applied strictly and is the most common reason applications fail. QRP holders are tax-exempt on foreign income but cannot work in Belize, so it does not suit those needing local employment.

ECOWAS free movement with a residence permit regime for others

ECOWAS nationals enter without a visa and may stay 90 days under the 1979 Protocol. Others need a visa, obtainable as an e-visa, and a carte de séjour for stays beyond three months. Benin abolished visas for all African nationals in 2020.

Benin's 2020 decision to admit all African nationals visa-free went further than its ECOWAS obligations, which cover only community citizens. The right of residence and establishment under the ECOWAS Protocol is, however, still subject to national permits in practice, so a Nigerien trader in Cotonou has a right of entry but not an automatic right to trade without registration.

Tourism priced by a daily Sustainable Development Fee

Most visitors need a visa arranged in advance and pay a Sustainable Development Fee per night — a deliberate high-value, low-volume policy. Employment requires a work permit tied to an approved project.

The 2022 Act restructured the levy, and rates have since been revised, so current figures should be checked with the Department of Tourism rather than assumed. Indian, Bangladeshi and Maldivian nationals have distinct arrangements. Naturalisation is available but demanding, requiring long residence and language competence, and dual nationality is not permitted.

Ley 370 de Migración with Mercosur residence

Ley 370 of 2013 governs migration, administered by the Dirección General de Migración. It provides temporary and permanent residence and expressly recognises migrants' rights to family unity and access to services. Mercosur nationals may obtain residence on the basis of nationality. Foreign residents hold a carnet de extranjería.

Ley 370 replaced a patchwork of decrees dating to the 1990s and was drafted to align with the 2009 Constitution's rights framework, including a prohibition on expulsion without due process. Registration duties are enforced through fines calculated in UFV index units, and overstaying accrues a daily penalty that must be settled before departure or regularisation.

State-level immigration law with entity-level employment rules

Immigration is one of the clear state competences, governed by the Aliens Act and administered by the Service for Foreigners' Affairs. Work permits, however, are issued under entity employment legislation.

Because residence is a state matter and work an entity matter, applications must be sequenced carefully to avoid a gap in status.

Immigration Act permits and a residence route tied to investment or skills

Entry and residence are governed by the Immigration Act, with employment requiring a work permit issued on proof that the position could not be filled locally. Residence permits are granted on investment, skills or family grounds, and citizenship by naturalisation requires an extended period of lawful residence.

Botswana's immigration policy is explicitly localisation-oriented: work permits are the principal instrument, and the residual discretion of the immigration authorities is wide, with judicial control exercised through administrative-law review rather than a merits appeal.

Lei de Migração 13.445/2017 replaced the old Foreigner Statute

Lei 13.445/2017 replaced the 1980 Estrangeiro statute and reframed migration around rights and non-criminalisation rather than national security. The Polícia Federal registers migrants and issues the CRNM residence card, while visas are issued by consulates. Mercosur nationals have a dedicated residence route, and humanitarian reception has been used at scale for Venezuelan arrivals.

The 2017 statute expressly prohibits deprivation of liberty for migration-status reasons and guarantees access to public services regardless of status, a marked change from the security-oriented 1980 law. The CRNM (Carteira de Registro Nacional Migratório) is the identity document that follows registration and is required to obtain a CPF tax number, open a bank account and sign an employment contract.

Employer-tied passes under the Immigration Act and labour quota

Immigration runs under the Immigration Act (Cap. 17), but the practical gate for work is the labour quota and Employment Pass system, which ties a foreign worker to a named employer and role. Changing employer requires a new approval. Permanent residence is available but discretionary and rarely granted; citizenship additionally requires a Malay language examination.

Employment Passes are employer-specific and require a prior labour licence allocation. Professional Visit Passes cover short-term technical work without a full pass. Permanent residence is discretionary; citizenship requires long residence and a language test. Overstaying and unauthorised work carry fines, imprisonment and caning under the Immigration Act. Penalties for unauthorised work are severe and include corporal punishment — pass compliance is not a formality here. Dependants' passes do not confer work rights; a dependant needs their own Employment Pass to work.

Schengen since 2025 with a single-permit work route

Bulgaria became a full Schengen member on 1 January 2025 after joining for air and sea travel in March 2024. Third-country nationals apply under the Foreigners Act, and employment now runs through a single permit combining work and residence authorisation.

Address registration with the migration directorate within the statutory days of arrival is easy to miss and is separately fineable, independent of the permit itself.

ECOWAS free movement, with a carte de séjour for non-community nationals

ECOWAS citizens enter visa-free for 90 days. Others require a visa and a carte de séjour beyond three months. Security conditions have added movement restrictions and internal checkpoints not reflected in the immigration statutes themselves.

Burkina Faso's formal immigration regime is standard ECOWAS, but the practical position is dominated by displacement: the country hosts Malian refugees while itself producing over a million internally displaced people. Refugee status is governed by the 1951 Convention and the 1969 OAU Convention, which uses a broader refugee definition covering generalised violence.

A national entry regime with EAC membership obligations

Entry and residence are governed by the 2017 immigration law. Burundi is an EAC member and the Common Market Protocol applies in principle, though implementation of free movement has lagged behind Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda.

Burundi is simultaneously a country of origin for large refugee flows to Tanzania and Rwanda and a host for Congolese refugees, so the 2008 asylum statute rather than the general permit regime is the operative instrument in most immigration matters.

Visa classes under the 1994 Immigration Law, with work permits separate

The Law on Immigration 1994 governs entry and stay. Business visas (class E) are the usual base for foreign workers, but a separate work permit and employment book from the Ministry of Labour is legally required and is enforced through periodic inspections. Foreign worker quotas nominally limit foreign staff to a proportion of the workforce.

Ordinary (E-class) visas support business stay and are extendable in-country. A separate work permit from MLVT is required for foreign employees, renewed annually. Foreign employee quotas apply as a percentage of Khmer staff, with exemptions obtainable. Visa on arrival and e-visa are available for tourism for many nationalities. Holding a business visa without a work permit is a common and enforced non-compliance — the two are separate requirements. The Foreign Workers Centralised Management System is the filing route for permits and quota applications.

The 1997 immigration law, with CEMAC free movement in force since 2017

Law 97/012 governs entry, residence and expulsion. CEMAC nationals have been entitled to visa-free entry since the 2017 implementation of the free-movement protocol, which is more consequential in practice than the general visa regime.

Cameroon hosts substantial refugee populations from CAR and Nigeria, so the practical immigration questions are less about the visa regime than about the status of protracted refugee populations under the 2005 refugee law, whose implementing decrees were delayed for years.

IRPA, Express Entry and the provincial nominee programs

The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and its regulations govern all entry. Most economic permanent residence runs through Express Entry, a points-ranked pool covering the Federal Skilled Worker, Federal Skilled Trades and Canadian Experience classes, from which the Minister issues periodic invitations to apply. Provinces run their own nominee programs, and Quebec selects its own economic immigrants under a longstanding accord.

The Immigration and Refugee Board is the largest administrative tribunal in the country and decides refugee claims and most appeals; judicial review of its decisions goes to the Federal Court, and requires leave. A refugee claim made at a land border is generally ineligible under the Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States, subject to the exceptions and the 2023 expansion of that agreement to the entire land border.

Non-ECOWAS mobility with CPLP ties and visa-free access for EU nationals

Cabo Verde is an ECOWAS member but geographically separate, and applies its own entry regime: EU nationals enter visa-free, others use an online pre-registration and airport security fee. CPLP membership provides mobility with lusophone states.

Cabo Verde occupies an unusual position: an ECOWAS member that abolished visas for EU nationals to support tourism, and a CPLP member with mobility rights across the lusophone world including Brazil and Portugal. It also has a special partnership agreement with the European Union covering mobility and readmission, which no other ECOWAS state has.

CEMAC free movement over a limited national framework

Entry and residence are governed by mid-century legislation and decrees, with CEMAC nationals entitled to free movement. Both refugee reception and large-scale outward displacement are governed by the asylum framework and international arrangements.

CAR is primarily a country of origin for refugees rather than a destination, so the operative legal questions concern the status of Central Africans in Cameroon, Chad and the Congos rather than the domestic immigration regime.

CEMAC free movement over a limited national framework

Entry is governed by mid-century ordinances and their decrees, with CEMAC nationals entitled to free movement. Chad hosts very large refugee populations from Sudan and CAR under the 2020 asylum law.

The 2020 asylum law is the operative instrument of Chadian immigration practice: the country hosts one of Africa's largest refugee populations relative to its own, and the statute created a domestic status determination procedure where previously UNHCR performed it.

Ley 21.325 of 2021 rebuilt the migration framework

Ley 21.325, in force since 2022, replaced the 1975 decree-law and created the Servicio Nacional de Migraciones. It restructured permit categories, requires most applicants to obtain the appropriate visa before entry rather than changing status from tourist, and establishes a National Migration Policy set by the executive. Permanent residence and then naturalisation follow defined periods of lawful stay.

The most significant practical change in Ley 21.325 is the closing of the in-country change of status from tourist to resident, which had been the normal route under the old law; applicants are now expected to apply from abroad through a consulate. The statute also created a formal appeals structure and set out migrants' rights of access to education and emergency health care.

Work permits tiered A/B/C by a points score

The Exit and Entry Administration Law governs foreign nationals. Work permits are graded into three classes by a points system covering salary, education, age and Chinese-language ability, and the class determines how easily a permit is granted and renewed.

Class A covers high-level talent and enjoys the fewest restrictions; Class B is professional employment subject to quota and local labour-market considerations; Class C is quota-controlled unskilled or seasonal work. A permit is employer-tied, so changing jobs requires a new application rather than a transfer. Permanent residence exists but is granted rarely. Family members receive dependent residence permits that do not carry an automatic right to work.

Migración Colombia visas plus large-scale Venezuelan regularisation

Visas are issued by the Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores in three classes — visitor (V), migrant (M) and resident (R) — and Migración Colombia handles entry control and the cédula de extranjería. Colombia additionally created the Estatuto Temporal de Protección for Venezuelan migrants, granting ten-year temporary protection permits at very large scale.

The Estatuto Temporal de Protección is one of the largest regularisation programmes ever undertaken in the region, providing a ten-year permit with work and service access to millions of Venezuelan nationals and a bridge into the ordinary visa system. The 15-day registration duty after visa issue is strictly enforced and late registration attracts fines.

A national entry regime shaped by the Mayotte question

Entry and residence are governed by national legislation. The dominant practical issue is movement between the three Union islands and French-administered Mayotte, which Comoros claims, and which makes the maritime route a matter of contested sovereignty rather than ordinary immigration law.

Comorian immigration law cannot be described without the Mayotte dispute: the Union regards Mahorais territory as Comorian, so movement that France treats as illegal immigration is treated by Comoros as internal, and this disagreement rather than any domestic statute defines the field.

Rentista, pensionado and inversionista categories

The General Migration Act sets out temporary and permanent categories administered by the Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería. The pensionado, rentista and inversionista routes are the best-known, and after three years of temporary residence a holder may usually apply for permanent status.

Foreign documents need apostille and official Spanish translation. Appointments are booked through the DGME's online system and can take months, so start well before any current permission expires.

EU free movement plus a demand-led permit system for third-country workers

As an EU and Schengen member, Croatia applies free movement to EU nationals. Third-country nationals rely on the Aliens Act, which since 2021 replaced fixed quotas with a labour-market test administered by the employment service.

The abolition of annual quotas made hiring faster, but the employer must still evidence that no suitable domestic candidate was available.

Ley 1312 on migration with visas required for most visitors

Ley 1312 de Migración and its regulations govern entry, exit and residence, administered by the Dirección de Identificación, Inmigración y Extranjería within the Ministerio del Interior. Most visitors need a tourist card or visa, and foreign nationals working in Cuba require authorisation linked to their employer or investment project. The 2013 migration reform removed the exit permit requirement for Cuban citizens and extended the permitted period abroad without loss of residence.

The 24-month rule is the provision that most affects the diaspora, because exceeding it without authorisation results in loss of residence and of associated rights such as property holding, and re-establishing status is difficult. Foreign personnel on investment projects generally cannot be hired directly by the foreign entity, since staffing runs through a Cuban employment agency, which shapes both immigration and payroll planning.

EU free movement alongside a national permit and permanent residence regime

As an EU member state Cyprus applies free movement for EU and EEA nationals. Third-country nationals require permits under the Aliens and Immigration Law, Cap. 105. Cyprus is not yet in the Schengen area, so a national visa rather than a Schengen visa is required.

Cyprus is an EU member but outside Schengen, so a Cypriot visa does not permit Schengen travel and vice versa, which regularly catches travellers. Third-country nationals obtain temporary residence and employment permits, with categories for employment, study, family reunification and self-sufficiency. Permanent residence is available under Regulation 6(2) on the basis of a qualifying property investment and income, and remains widely used. The former citizenship-by-investment scheme was terminated in November 2020 following criticism, and naturalisation now proceeds on ordinary residence grounds. International protection is determined by the Asylum Service with appeal to the International Protection Administrative Court.

EU free movement with quota-based national employee cards

EU citizens move freely. Third-country nationals rely on the Act on the Residence of Foreign Nationals, principally the employee card and the EU Blue Card, with government quotas and appointment capacity at embassies often the binding constraint.

Employee card applications are filed at an embassy abroad and the post must first be advertised in the central vacancies register, which lengthens the timetable considerably.

A 2002 immigration regime with mandatory exit visas historically

Entry and residence are governed by the 2002 immigration law and its decrees, administered by the Direction Générale de Migration. Residence permits are tied to purpose, and refugee status is governed by the 2002 asylum law.

DR Congo both hosts and generates large displaced populations, and the 2002 refugee statute — enacted the same year as the general immigration law — is the instrument that matters most for the millions affected by the conflict in the eastern provinces.

EU free movement plus the Aliens Act pay-limit and positive-list schemes

Immigration is governed by the Aliens Act (Udlændingeloven). EU/EEA citizens move freely; skilled non-EU workers use schemes such as the Pay Limit and Positive List routes administered by SIRI and the Immigration Service.

Denmark opts out of much EU asylum and immigration law, so its rules can differ noticeably from neighbouring EU states.

Visa-controlled entry, a large refugee population, and base-related status agreements

Entry and residence run under the immigration law and its decrees, with work permits tied to employer sponsorship. Djibouti hosts substantial refugee populations under the 2017 refugee law, which permits access to work and education.

The 2017 refugee framework was a significant liberalisation: it gave recognised refugees the right to work, to access national education and health services and to move within the country, replacing a more restrictive encampment approach. The population is drawn principally from Somalia, Ethiopia and Yemen, the last arriving by sea across the Bab el-Mandeb. Separately, Djibouti's hosting of French, American, Chinese, Japanese and other military facilities means a body of status-of-forces arrangements governs the presence and immunities of foreign personnel, which sits outside ordinary immigration law entirely and is a real feature of the jurisdiction rather than a footnote. Ordinary labour migration is dominated by Ethiopian workers in the transit corridor, and irregular status is common in that sector.

Immigration and Passport Act with CARICOM free movement and CBI

Entry and residence are governed by the Immigration and Passport Act, administered by the Chief Immigration Officer. CARICOM nationals with a recognised skills certificate may enter to work under the CARICOM Single Market arrangements, and other CARICOM nationals receive a six-month stay on entry. Dominica also runs one of the region's oldest citizenship by investment programmes, which grants citizenship without a residence requirement.

The citizenship by investment route is entirely separate from naturalisation by residence and confers citizenship on approval of the investment and due diligence, with no requirement to live in Dominica. Because several jurisdictions have tightened visa treatment of CBI passports, applicants should verify current visa-free access rather than rely on marketing material.

Ley 285-04 with residence by investment and a regularisation history

Ley 285-04 and its regulation set out the categories of non-resident and resident status, administered by the Dirección General de Migración with visas issued through the Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores. Temporary residence is normally granted for one year and renewed, leading to permanent residence after several renewals, while investors above a statutory threshold may obtain residence on an accelerated basis. A National Regularisation Plan operated from 2014 for undocumented migrants, principally of Haitian origin.

The sequencing matters: a residence visa obtained at a consulate abroad is only the entry document, and the residence application itself must then be lodged in the country within a short window, which applicants who treat the visa as the endpoint routinely miss. Ley 171-07 offers a distinct and faster route for pensioners and rentiers who can evidence a qualifying monthly income.

Ley Orgánica de Movilidad Humana with universal-citizenship principles

The 2017 Ley Orgánica de Movilidad Humana implements the Constitution's principle of universal citizenship and its prohibition on treating irregular migration as a crime. It provides temporary and permanent residence categories, including a UNASUR/Mercosur regional route, and is administered by the Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Movilidad Humana.

Ecuador's constitutional commitment to universal citizenship and the progressive end of alien status is among the most expansive such declarations anywhere, and the 2017 statute expressly bars criminalising a person for their migration status. The regional residence visa for South American nationals is the most-used route and requires little beyond nationality, identity documents and a clean record.

Entry and residence under Law 89/1960, with a large de facto refugee population

Foreign entry, residence and work permits run under Law 89/1960 and its implementing decrees. Egypt hosts a very large refugee population, but registration and status determination are conducted by UNHCR rather than by a domestic asylum authority.

Egypt has acceded to the 1951 Refugee Convention but has never enacted a domestic asylum statute, so refugee status determination is carried out by UNHCR under a memorandum of understanding and a recognised refugee holds a UNHCR card rather than a domestic status. That distinction has practical consequences for work authorisation and for access to services. Nationality passes through the father and, since the 2004 amendment to Law 26/1975, through the mother as well, which resolved a long-standing category of statelessness among children of Egyptian mothers. Employment of foreign nationals is subject to quota rules capping the foreign proportion of a workforce, and exemptions are administrative rather than automatic.

The 2019 Special Migration Act and CA-4 movement

The Ley Especial de Migración y Extranjería consolidated a fragmented regime into one statute administered by the Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería. El Salvador is part of the CA-4 area, so movement to Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua is visa-free.

Applications are filed in San Salvador and require a solvencia from the PNC plus an Interpol certificate. Residence card processing has improved but appointment availability is the practical constraint.

Tight entry control despite CEMAC free-movement obligations

Entry and residence are controlled by national legislation administered by the immigration authorities, with work permits tied to authorised employment. Equatorial Guinea implemented CEMAC free movement later and more restrictively than its neighbours.

Equatorial Guinea's restrictive practice on entry — including periodic expulsion campaigns directed at West African migrants — has repeatedly sat uneasily with its CEMAC free-movement obligations, making the gap between treaty commitment and national practice the salient feature.

Exit controls rather than entry controls are the defining feature

Nationality is governed by Proclamation 21/1992. The operative constraint is not immigration but emigration: citizens require exit visas, national service obligations restrict departure, and irregular exit has been prosecuted.

Any conventional description of Eritrean immigration law misses the point. The legally and practically significant regime is exit control: citizens of national-service age generally cannot obtain exit visas, departure without permission has been treated as an offence, and the resulting irregular emigration has made Eritreans one of the largest refugee-producing populations relative to national size. The diaspora tax, a two per cent levy on income of citizens abroad, is a further distinctive feature, tied to the ability to obtain consular services and documents. Inbound immigration is minimal and tightly controlled, with internal travel permits also required for foreigners. Because the operative rules are administrative and largely unpublished, and because the human-rights findings on national service are central to understanding them, this entry records the position as research.

EU free movement with pioneering startup and digital-nomad visas

EU citizens move freely. Estonia pioneered dedicated Startup and Digital Nomad visas alongside ordinary residence permits, all administered by the Police and Border Guard Board.

Estonia's annual immigration quota can be exhausted early in the year, so timing matters for quota-bound applications.

Immigration Act permits with SACU and regional movement arrangements

The Immigration Act 17 of 1982 governs entry, residence and work permits. Eswatini is a SACU and SADC member, and movement with South Africa dominates practice. Work permits require ministerial approval on proof of unavailability of local skills.

Citizenship in Eswatini has a customary dimension: khonta, the traditional allegiance-pledging process, is a recognised route to belonging and to land allocation, so status questions can turn on traditional as well as statutory criteria.

A restrictive entry regime alongside one of Africa's most generous refugee statutes

Immigration Proclamation 354/2003 governs entry, residence and work permits. Separately, the Refugees Proclamation 1110/2019 grants recognised refugees rights to work, to move and to obtain vital events registration, which is unusually broad in the region.

The two regimes should not be read together, because they point in different directions. Ordinary immigration is tightly controlled and work permits are tied to demonstrating that the role cannot be filled locally. The 2019 Refugees Proclamation, by contrast, replaced the 2004 Act and moved Ethiopia away from strict encampment: recognised refugees may work, may obtain business licences in some circumstances, may access education, and may have births and marriages officially registered. Ethiopia hosts one of the largest refugee populations on the continent, drawn principally from South Sudan, Somalia and Eritrea, so the proclamation is operationally significant rather than symbolic. Dual nationality remains prohibited under the 2003 Nationality Proclamation; the diaspora instead uses the separate Ethiopian-origin identity card, which confers residence and some economic rights without citizenship.

Immigration Act 2003 permits tied to Investment Fiji approval

Entry is governed by the Immigration Act 2003 and administered by the Department of Immigration. Work permits are employer- and project-tied, and for investors they are normally granted off the back of an investment registration rather than independently.

There are three practical routes: a work permit sponsored by a Fijian employer, an investor permit linked to a registered investment meeting the minimum capital threshold, and a retirement permit requiring proof of settled income remitted into Fiji. Because the investor and work permits are tied to the underlying business or job, losing that link ends the permit. Dual citizenship has been permitted since 2009, which reversed the earlier rule and matters to the large Fijian diaspora in Australia and New Zealand.

EU free movement plus Migri residence permits, including a startup route

Immigration runs under the Aliens Act, administered by the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri). EU citizens move freely; others need a residence permit, with specialist, EU Blue Card and startup routes for talent.

Many permit types now allow the whole family to move together, and permanent residence is generally possible after four years.

The CESEDA code, the talent passport and prefecture residence permits

Immigration is governed by the CESEDA. EU citizens move freely; others need a long-stay visa and a titre de séjour, with a multi-year passeport talent for skilled workers, investors and researchers.

Prefecture appointment scarcity is the practical bottleneck; the ANEF portal has moved many procedures online but backlogs persist.

Residence permits tied to employment, with CEMAC free movement

Entry and residence are governed by the 1998 law and its decrees, with residence generally tied to an authorised employment contract. CEMAC nationals enjoy visa-free entry under the free-movement protocol.

Gabon's high proportion of foreign workers in oil, timber and construction makes the coupling of residence to an authorised contract the central feature of its immigration law: losing the job ends the right to remain.

Immigration Act with ECOWAS free movement and residence permit classes

The Immigration Act (Cap 16:02) governs entry and residence, administered by the Gambia Immigration Department. Non-ECOWAS nationals require visas, and foreign workers require residence permits in classes tied to employment or business. ECOWAS nationals enter visa-free for 90 days.

The Gambia applies the ECOWAS free movement protocol, and because Senegal surrounds the country the practical movement of community nationals is continuous. Non-ECOWAS nationals require visas, with exemptions for a list of Commonwealth and other states. Residence permits are issued in classes — broadly employment, business and dependant — and are renewed annually; employers of foreign nationals must show the position could not be filled locally. The Refugee Act 2008 established a domestic asylum framework with the Gambia Commission for Refugees conducting status determination, which distinguishes The Gambia from states relying on UNHCR mandate determination, and the country hosted significant numbers of Senegalese from the Casamance conflict. Citizenship is governed by the Nationality and Citizenship Act, with the 1997 Constitution permitting dual citizenship, and the 2001 amendment allowing citizenship by descent through either parent.

One year visa-free for many nationals, with residence under the 2014 law

The Law on the Legal Status of Aliens and Stateless Persons of 2014 governs entry and residence. Georgia grants citizens of roughly 95 countries visa-free entry for up to one year, which is exceptionally generous, and offers temporary and permanent residence permits.

The one-year visa-free entitlement for nationals of around 95 states is the most distinctive feature of Georgian migration law and underpins the country's popularity with remote workers. Temporary residence permits are available on work, study, family and investment grounds, typically for six months to six years. Permanent residence is available after six years of continuous temporary residence, and an investment residence permit is available at a defined property or investment threshold. There is no general work permit requirement separate from residence status, which simplifies hiring. Asylum is determined by the Ministry of Internal Affairs with appeal to the courts.

The Residence Act, EU free movement and the Skilled Immigration Act

Immigration is governed by the Aufenthaltsgesetz. EU citizens enjoy free movement; others need a residence title, with the reformed Skilled Immigration Act and the EU Blue Card easing entry for qualified workers.

Recognition of foreign qualifications is often the rate-limiting step for regulated professions and should be started early.

Immigration Act 2000 with quota-based work permits and ECOWAS free movement

The Immigration Act 2000 (Act 573) governs entry, residence and work. Employers obtain immigrant quotas through the GIPC or the Free Zones Board depending on the investment, and permits are then issued by the Ghana Immigration Service. ECOWAS nationals enter visa-free for 90 days.

Ghana links work permit entitlement to investment: under the GIPC Act a registered enterprise obtains an automatic expatriate quota graduated by paid-up capital, so the number of foreign staff a company may employ is a function of how much capital it has brought in, and additional positions require separate justification. Free zone enterprises have their own regime through the Free Zones Board. The individual then obtains a work permit from the Immigration Service or the sector ministry, followed by a residence permit. The Act provides for indefinite residence and for the right of abode, the latter available to persons of African descent in the diaspora — a distinctive Ghanaian provision reflecting the state's diaspora policy, extended in practice through the Year of Return programme. Ghana is a party to the ECOWAS protocol and applies the 90-day visa-free entry, and it has enacted a Refugee Law 1992 with a domestic Refugee Board, unlike several states in the region that rely on UNHCR.

EU free movement plus the Immigration Code and a property-based residence permit

EU nationals move freely. Non-EU nationals fall under the Immigration and Social Integration Code, which provides residence permits for work, study and family, and a well-used residence permit for property investors.

Investment thresholds now differ between high-demand areas and the rest of the country, so confirm the threshold for the specific location.

Immigration Act with CARICOM entry and a CBI programme

The Immigration Act controls entry, residence and deportation, administered by the Immigration Department of the Royal Grenada Police Force. CARICOM nationals with a skills certificate may work without a permit and other CARICOM nationals receive a six-month stay. The Grenada Citizenship by Investment Act 2013 grants citizenship on an approved investment, and Grenada's programme is notable for giving access to the United States E-2 treaty investor visa.

Grenada is the only Eastern Caribbean CBI state whose citizens can apply for the United States E-2 treaty investor visa, which is the main commercial reason applicants choose it over neighbouring programmes and should be verified against current treaty practice. Citizenship by investment is entirely separate from naturalisation and imposes no residence requirement.

The 2016 Migration Code and a rights-based reframing

The Código de Migración (Decreto 44-2016) replaced the 1998 statute, created the Instituto Guatemalteco de Migración and recast irregular entry as an administrative matter. Guatemala also participates in the CA-4 free-movement area with El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua.

Applications are filed with the Instituto Guatemalteco de Migración in Guatemala City. A criminal record certificate and an apostilled birth certificate are the usual documentary bottlenecks. Overstays attract fines that must be cleared before departure.

ECOWAS free movement with a carte de séjour for others

ECOWAS nationals enter visa-free for 90 days. Others require a visa and a carte de séjour for longer stays. Guinea hosts refugees from neighbouring conflicts and applies the 1969 OAU Convention's broader refugee definition.

Guinea's significance in regional migration law comes from its history as a refuge during the Liberian and Sierra Leonean wars, when it hosted several hundred thousand refugees under the OAU Convention's group-based recognition rather than individual determination. That practice still shapes how status is administered for arrivals from neighbouring states.

ECOWAS free movement with limited administrative capacity

As an ECOWAS member Guinea-Bissau admits community nationals visa-free for 90 days. Others require a visa. Border control capacity is limited, and the country is both an origin and transit state for regional migration.

Guinea-Bissau's membership of both ECOWAS and the lusophone CPLP gives it two overlapping mobility frameworks: the ECOWAS Protocol for West African nationals, and the CPLP mobility agreement covering Portuguese-speaking states including Brazil, Portugal and Angola. The CPLP route is significant for professional and student migration in a way the ECOWAS Protocol is not.

Immigration Act with CARICOM free movement for skilled nationals

The Immigration Act governs entry and residence, administered by the Central Immigration and Passport Office. As a CARICOM member Guyana participates in the CARICOM Single Market and Economy, under which qualifying skilled nationals holding a CARICOM Skills Certificate may live and work without a work permit. Others require permits from the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The CARICOM Skills Certificate route is the practically important one for regional nationals: categories include university graduates, media workers, artists, musicians, sportspersons, nurses, teachers and, following later decisions, artisans and household workers with qualifications. The oil boom has driven a large increase in work-permit applications from outside CARICOM, and processing capacity has been a recurring constraint.

Immigration and emigration decree of 1978 with residence permits

Entry and residence are governed by the Décret sur l'immigration et l'émigration of 1978 and administered by the Direction de l'Immigration et de l'Émigration under the Ministère de l'Intérieur. Most nationalities may enter for a short stay on payment of a tourist fee, with longer stays requiring a residence permit, and foreign workers need authorisation linked to their employer. The 2012 constitutional amendments permit dual nationality, reversing the previous rule that acquiring another nationality forfeited Haitian citizenship.

Recognition of dual nationality after 2011 was a substantial change for the diaspora, restoring the ability to hold Haitian nationality alongside another and to own property and invest on that basis, though full political rights remain restricted for those who have naturalised elsewhere. Administrative capacity is limited and processing is slow, so timelines quoted in law rarely match practice.

Citizenship by office, not by birth or residence

Vatican citizenship is functional and temporary: it attaches to cardinals resident in Rome, diplomats of the Holy See and those living in the State for their office, and it lapses when the office ends. There is no immigration route for settlement.

Anyone losing Vatican citizenship reverts to Italian nationality under the Lateran Treaty if they hold no other, so statelessness cannot arise.

2003 Migration Act with CA-4 movement and investor routes

The Ley de Migración y Extranjería of 2003 and its regulation govern entry and residence, administered by the Instituto Nacional de Migración. Honduras is a CA-4 member, so movement within the four northern states is visa-free.

Applications are filed with the INM in Tegucigalpa and require a police record plus an apostilled birth certificate. Renewal timelines slip frequently, so start well before expiry and keep the receipt as proof of lawful stay.

A 2023 recodification with tight quotas for third-country workers

EEA nationals move freely, while third-country nationals fall under Act XC of 2023, which replaced the 2007 regime from 2024. Work-based residence is channelled into named permit types with annual government quotas, and the guest worker permit is expressly non-settling.

Since 2020 asylum claims must in principle start with a declaration of intent at a Hungarian embassy in Belgrade or Kyiv, a procedure the Court of Justice held unlawful in 2023.

EEA free movement and the Act on Foreigners via the Directorate of Immigration

As an EEA and Schengen member, Iceland grants free movement to EEA/EFTA nationals. Other foreigners need a residence permit under the Act on Foreigners, administered by the Directorate of Immigration.

Iceland's small labour market means many work permits are tied to a specific job offer where local or EEA labour is unavailable.

e-Visa for most visitors, employment visa needs a salary floor

India runs a broad e-Visa system for tourism and business. An employment visa requires a sponsoring Indian entity and, for most roles, an annual salary above a prescribed threshold, and OCI status offers near-permanent residence.

Employment visas are refused for roles considered fillable locally, and the salary floor (around USD 25,000 per year) excludes some categories such as language teachers and ethnic cooks. Business visas do not permit employment. OCI cardholders get lifelong visa-free entry and most residency rights but cannot buy agricultural land or vote. Registration through e-FRRO is a real compliance trap because the fourteen-day clock runs from arrival, not from the decision to stay.

The 2011 Immigration Law, now with second-home and golden visas

Law No. 6 of 2011 governs immigration. Work requires a KITAS residence permit supported by an RPTKA manpower plan approved by the Ministry of Manpower — the immigration and manpower approvals are separate and sequential. Indonesia has recently added Second Home and Golden Visa categories aimed at investors and retirees.

Foreign workers need an approved RPTKA before a work KITAS can be issued. A DKP-TKA skills-development levy of USD 100 per worker per month is payable. Second Home Visas offer five or ten year stay against a proof-of-funds requirement. Visa on arrival and e-VOA are available to many nationalities for tourism and limited business. Certain positions are closed to foreign workers entirely by ministerial decree, including HR roles — check the negative list before recruiting. Working on a tourist or business visit visa is unlawful and subject to detention and deportation.

Visa control, and one of the world's largest long-standing refugee populations

Entry and residence are governed by the 1931 Act on Entry and Residence of Foreign Nationals. Iran hosts a very large Afghan population under a mix of refugee registration, Amayesh cards and irregular status.

Iran is a party to the Refugee Convention with reservations, including to the provisions on employment and freedom of movement. Its Afghan population, present in successive waves since 1979, is managed through the Amayesh registration card system rather than individual refugee determination, and card status governs access to work, schooling and health insurance. Large numbers hold no card and are exposed to deportation. For ordinary migration, work permits are tied to employer sponsorship and are restricted in occupations where Iranian nationals are available. UNHCR operational reporting is the most reliable source on the refugee side.

Federal residence law, a separate Kurdistan entry practice, and mass internal displacement

Entry and residence are governed by the Residence of Foreigners Law No. 118 of 1978 as amended. The Kurdistan Region operates its own entry permissions in practice. Internal displacement, not immigration, is the dominant movement issue.

Iraq is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention, and its 1971 political refugee law is narrow, so protection is largely administered by UNHCR under its mandate rather than by domestic determination. The larger legal problem is internal: successive displacements have left over a million people displaced within Iraq, whose civil documentation is often lost, and documentation is the precondition for schooling, employment and property claims. For ordinary business travel, the practical point is the federal-regional split — the Kurdistan Region's separate entry stamp regime catches people who assume a single national system.

EU free movement, employment permits and a Critical Skills route

EU/EEA citizens move freely. Ireland is outside Schengen and runs its own visa system, with the Critical Skills Employment Permit fast-tracking in-demand roles toward residence.

Because Ireland is outside Schengen, a Schengen visa does not admit the holder to Ireland, which frequently surprises travellers.

The Law of Return alongside a restrictive general immigration regime

Israeli immigration divides sharply. The Law of Return 1950 gives every Jew, and defined family members, the right to immigrate and acquire citizenship almost automatically. All other immigration is governed by the Entry into Israel Law 1952 and is comparatively restrictive.

The Law of Return, as amended in 1970, extends to the child and grandchild of a Jew and to spouses, and confers an entitlement to aliyah subject to narrow public-order exceptions. Everyone else requires a visa under the Entry into Israel Law: B/1 for work, A/1 for those eligible under the Law of Return pending immigration, A/2 for students, and B/2 for visitors. Labour migration operates through bilateral arrangements and employer-specific permits in agriculture, construction and caregiving. The Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law restricts family unification for spouses from specified territories and has been repeatedly litigated before the Supreme Court; it lapsed in 2021 and was re-enacted in 2022.

EU free movement with a quota-based decree for non-EU workers

EU nationals move freely, while non-EU immigration runs through the Consolidated Immigration Act. Economic migration is largely controlled by an annual flows decree setting quotas, alongside routes for study, family reunion and self-employment.

Quota applications open on a fixed date and are often exhausted within hours, so preparation before the click day is decisive.

ECOWAS free movement with a residence card and a long-standing large foreign population

ECOWAS nationals enter visa-free for 90 days; others need an e-visa. A carte de séjour is required beyond three months. Roughly a quarter of the population is of foreign origin, and statelessness among long-resident West African families is a recognised problem.

Côte d'Ivoire has the region's largest resident foreign-origin population, a legacy of colonial-era labour migration into cocoa production. The 2013 special naturalisation procedure was designed to resolve statelessness among people born in Côte d'Ivoire to foreign parents, but the window closed with many cases unresolved, leaving a durable population without documented nationality.

Work permits under the Foreign Nationals Act, plus CARICOM free movement

Employment of a non-national normally requires a work permit from the Ministry of Labour and Social Security under the Foreign Nationals and Commonwealth Citizens (Employment) Act. The main exception is the CARICOM Skilled National regime: a national of another CARICOM member state holding a recognised certificate may work without a permit. Entry and residence are administered by the Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency.

The distinction that matters is between the permit route, where the employer must show the post could not reasonably be filled locally, and the CARICOM route, where the right to work follows the individual's skills certificate rather than any particular job. Because the certificate travels with the worker, a CARICOM skilled national can change employer without a fresh application, which a permit holder cannot.

A points-based highly skilled route and the 2023 J-Skip fast track

The Immigration Control Act sets out status-of-residence categories. The Highly Skilled Professional points system offers accelerated permanent residence, and the 2023 J-Skip and J-Find routes shortened it further.

Points are awarded for academic background, professional experience, income and age, with 70 points giving preferential treatment and 80 points allowing permanent residence after one year rather than the usual ten. The 2023 J-Skip route grants highly skilled status on income and education alone, bypassing the points table. The Specified Skilled Worker categories, created in 2019, opened mid-skilled sectors, and the government has moved to replace the criticised Technical Intern Training Programme, which had been widely reported for restricting job mobility.

Employer-sponsored permits, and a refugee population among the largest per capita anywhere

Residence and work permits are governed by the 1973 Residence and Foreigners Affairs Law and tied to an employer. Jordan hosts very large Syrian and Palestinian refugee populations without being a party to the Refugee Convention.

Jordan has not acceded to the 1951 Refugee Convention; protection operates through a 1998 memorandum with UNHCR under which UNHCR conducts status determination and Jordan permits temporary stay. Palestinian refugees fall under UNRWA's separate mandate, and many hold Jordanian nationality, which distinguishes Jordan from neighbouring hosts. The Jordan Compact of 2016 traded trade concessions for work permits for Syrians, opening defined sectors — a notable experiment in linking refugee employment to trade policy. Ordinary work permits remain employer-tied, so changing jobs requires the current employer's release.

Category-based work permits with an employer quota

The Law on Population Migration governs entry and residence. Work permits are quota-limited and graded by category, with intra-corporate transferees and AIFC employees on lighter regimes.

Permits run in four categories from executive to skilled worker, each with education and experience requirements and a local-hire ratio the employer must satisfy. AIFC participants and their staff are exempt from the quota and from work-permit requirements, which is a major practical draw. Permanent residence is available after a qualifying period or on investment grounds, and citizens of Eurasian Economic Union states work without permits. Dual nationality is prohibited and acquiring another citizenship costs Kazakh citizenship.

The 2011 Citizenship and Immigration Act, with EAC free movement

The Kenya Citizenship and Immigration Act 2011 governs entry, permits and citizenship, implementing the 2010 constitution's provisions on dual citizenship. East African Community nationals enjoy free movement rights under the Common Market Protocol.

The Refugees Act 2021 is the more significant recent development: it replaced the 2006 Act, gave refugees the right to work and move more freely, and provided for the integration of long-term Somali and South Sudanese populations — a substantial shift from the encampment policy that preceded it.

Immigration Ordinance, and the Teitiota climate displacement ruling

Entry under the Immigration Ordinance with permits from the Immigration Division. Kiribati is best known internationally as the origin of Teitiota, the leading decision on whether climate harm can ground protection.

Inward immigration is modest and permit-based, and non-citizens cannot acquire customary land regardless of status. The internationally significant question runs outward. In Teitiota v New Zealand the UN Human Rights Committee held in 2020 that removing a Kiribati national did not on those facts breach the right to life, but accepted in principle that climate-change effects may expose individuals to a risk engaging non-refoulement obligations before a country becomes wholly uninhabitable. That reasoning is now the reference point for climate-displacement claims worldwide. Kiribati's own policy response is migration with dignity: building skills and labour-mobility pathways so that movement, if it comes, is voluntary and lawful rather than forced.

Sponsorship-based residence with no permanent route

Residence requires a Kuwaiti sponsor, normally an employer. There is no permanent residency or long-term investor visa scheme.

Kuwait retains the most traditional sponsorship system in the Gulf and has not followed the UAE's Golden Visa or Qatar's permanent residency, so residence remains dependent on a sponsor throughout and ends with the sponsoring relationship. Transfer between employers requires consent and a qualifying period. The Bidoon, long-term stateless residents numbering in the low hundreds of thousands, are the central unresolved status question and are frequently omitted from descriptions of Kuwaiti immigration law entirely. Naturalisation is tightly capped and discretionary.

Quota-based work permits, with EAEU nationals exempt

The Law on External Migration governs foreign nationals. Work permits are subject to an annual quota, but citizens of Eurasian Economic Union states work without permits.

Because Kyrgyzstan is an EAEU member, Russian, Kazakh, Belarusian and Armenian nationals enjoy near-free access to the labour market, which is the single most important practical distinction. For other nationalities the employer must obtain a quota allocation and permit. Visa-free entry applies to a long list of countries for stays up to 60 days. Permanent residence is available after a qualifying period, and naturalisation requires five years' residence and language knowledge, with dual nationality permitted, unusually for the region.

Entry under the 2014 Immigration Law, work permits via labour quota

The Law on Immigration and Foreigner Management 2014 governs entry and stay. Foreign employees need a work permit from the Ministry of Labour within the applicable quota, plus a stay permit. Laos participates in visa exemption arrangements with ASEAN neighbours and offers visa on arrival and e-visa to many nationalities.

Work permits are issued by MoLSW within the sectoral foreign worker quota. Stay permits and multiple-entry visas follow from the work permit, not the reverse. Visa on arrival and e-visa are available for tourism for many nationalities. Overstay attracts a daily fine and can lead to deportation and re-entry bar. The work permit is the controlling document; arranging a long-stay visa without it does not authorise employment. Border-run visa renewal is not a substitute for a proper stay permit for anyone working in the country.

EU free movement and permits via OCMA

EU citizens move freely. Non-EU nationals need a residence permit under the Immigration Law, administered by the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (OCMA), including a startup route.

Latvia tightened its investor-residence rules after concerns about the earlier real-estate 'golden visa', so property-based routes are now limited.

The 1962 entry law, kafala sponsorship, and the largest refugee share of any population

Entry and residence are governed by the 1962 law on entry and exit. Lebanon is not a party to the Refugee Convention and hosts the world's largest number of refugees per capita.

Lebanon's position is that it is a country of transit, not asylum, and it has not acceded to the 1951 Convention; UNHCR registers and assists Syrian refugees under a 2003 memorandum, and the government suspended registration in 2015. Palestinian refugees fall under UNRWA and face restrictions on employment and property ownership that are among the most severe for any long-resident population in the region. Migrant workers, particularly domestic workers, enter under kafala sponsorship in which residence depends on a named employer, so leaving that employer means losing legal status. This structure, rather than the entry statute, determines most people's actual position.

Immigration permits with a special relationship to South Africa

Entry and residence are governed by the Aliens Control Act, with work permits required for foreign employment. The dominant practical feature is Lesotho's enclave position: movement to and from South Africa is governed by bilateral arrangements including the Lesotho Exemption Permit dispensation on the South African side.

Because Lesotho is entirely surrounded by South Africa and a large part of its workforce is employed there, the operative migration law for most Basotho is South African rather than Lesotho law — a dependency with no parallel elsewhere on the continent.

Aliens and Nationality Law with a Negro-descent citizenship restriction and ECOWAS free movement

The Aliens and Nationality Law (title 4) governs entry, residence and naturalisation. Its defining feature is article 27(b) of the Constitution, carried into the statute, restricting citizenship to persons of Negro descent — which also blocks land ownership. ECOWAS nationals enter visa-free for 90 days.

Liberian immigration and nationality law is inseparable from the constitutional descent rule. Article 27(b) limits citizenship by birth or naturalisation to persons of Negro descent, and article 22 limits land ownership to citizens, so a non-Negro investor cannot naturalise or own land regardless of residence, and must operate through leasehold. A 2020 referendum proposal to modify related citizenship provisions did not carry. Dual citizenship was prohibited until the 2022 amendment to the Aliens and Nationality Law permitted it, resolving a long-standing diaspora grievance, though restrictions on dual citizens holding certain offices remain. Foreign nationals employed in Liberia require work permits from the Ministry of Labour, and the Decent Work Act and the Liberianisation policy reserve certain occupations and small-scale business categories to Liberians. Liberia applies the ECOWAS free movement protocol for entry.

A 1987 entry law, criminalised irregular migration and documented detention abuses

Law 6/1987 governs entry and residence and Law 19/2010 criminalises irregular migration. Libya has not ratified the Refugee Convention, and conditions in migrant detention have been extensively documented by UN bodies.

Libya is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention and has no asylum procedure, so there is no legal status a refugee can hold; UNHCR operates under a narrow arrangement covering only certain nationalities. Law 19/2010 makes irregular entry, stay and exit criminal offences punishable by imprisonment with no statutory time limit on detention pending removal, which is the legal basis for indefinite detention. UN investigative bodies have documented arbitrary detention, forced labour, sexual violence and extortion in both official and unofficial facilities, and have described some conduct as potentially amounting to crimes against humanity. Describing Libyan immigration law without that record would be a material omission rather than a neutral simplification.

Tight quotas and a residence lottery, even for EEA citizens

Despite being in the EEA, Liechtenstein applies a special arrangement allowing it to cap immigration, so residence is quota-limited and famously allocated in part by lottery. Third-country nationals face still stricter conditions, and the small size of the country makes residence permits scarce and highly sought.

Many people work in Liechtenstein but live in neighbouring Switzerland or Austria as cross-border commuters, precisely because residence permits are so limited. The lottery for EEA residence permits is a genuinely unusual feature.

EU free movement and permits via the Migration Department

EU citizens move freely. Non-EU nationals need a residence permit under the Law on the Legal Status of Aliens, administered by the Migration Department, with startup and highly qualified routes.

Lithuania processes many permits through its MIGRIS electronic system, which applicants must use to book and track applications.

A cross-border labour market, with the EU Blue Card for the highly qualified

EU, EEA and Swiss nationals move freely, and a large share of the workforce commutes daily from France, Belgium and Germany. Third-country nationals are admitted under the Immigration Law, most prominently through the EU Blue Card for highly qualified employment above a set salary threshold.

The sequence matters: the authorisation to stay must be obtained before arriving, and the residence permit applied for within three months. Cross-border workers use a separate route and are usually exempt from the labour-market test when highly qualified.

Visa on arrival for tourism with work and long-stay visas requiring approval

Madagascar grants visa on arrival for short tourist stays for most nationalities. Employment requires a long-stay visa and a work authorisation, with the employer demonstrating the need for foreign skills. Land ownership by foreign nationals is separately restricted.

The nationality code historically transmitted citizenship through the father only, and a 2017 reform allowed transmission by Malagasy mothers — a significant change for children of mixed marriages who had previously been left stateless in practice.

Immigration Act permits with business residence and temporary employment categories

The Immigration Act (Cap 15:03) governs entry and residence. Temporary Employment Permits are the standard route for foreign workers and Business Residence Permits for investors, both administered by the Department of Immigration.

Permit processing is centralised in Blantyre and Lilongwe, and the practical constraint on foreign employment is administrative rather than legal — the categories are straightforward but issuance is slow.

Employment Passes by category, with Sabah and Sarawak controlling their own entry

Immigration is federal under the Immigration Act 1959/63, but Sabah and Sarawak retain autonomous immigration control under the Malaysia Agreement, so a federal pass does not automatically permit work there. Employment Passes are graded by salary into categories with different durations and dependant rights, and the MM2H long-stay programme was substantially tightened.

Employment Pass categories are set by monthly salary, with Category I permitting longer terms and dependants. Sabah and Sarawak require separate state approval for work and residence. The Professional Visit Pass covers short-term assignments for a foreign employer. Malaysia My Second Home requirements were raised significantly in the 2021 and 2024 revisions. Assuming a Peninsular Employment Pass covers Sabah or Sarawak is a common and serious error. Employment Passes are employer-specific; a change of employer requires cancellation and a fresh application.

Free 30-day tourist visa on arrival, quota-based work permits

Visitors receive a free thirty-day visa on arrival. Employment requires a work permit and quota allocated to the employer under the Immigration Act, with a monthly fee per foreign worker.

The employer must first hold an approved quota, then obtain an employment approval, then convert it to a work permit after the worker arrives and passes a medical. Undocumented expatriate labour in construction has been a persistent enforcement problem and periodic regularisation programmes have run. Permanent residence is not generally available and citizenship is confined to Muslims.

ECOWAS free movement, complicated by Mali's announced withdrawal from ECOWAS

Mali has historically applied the ECOWAS free movement Protocol, admitting community nationals for 90 days visa-free. Mali announced withdrawal from ECOWAS in 2024 alongside Burkina Faso and Niger, forming the Alliance of Sahel States, which puts the future of that regime in doubt.

The 2024 announcement by Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger of withdrawal from ECOWAS is the most consequential development in West African mobility law in decades, because the free movement Protocol is an ECOWAS instrument. The three states have said they will maintain mutual free movement within the Alliance, but the position of their nationals in remaining ECOWAS states, and vice versa, is unsettled.

EU free movement, single work permits and residence-by-investment

EU nationals move freely. Third-country nationals need a single permit covering work and residence, issued by Identità, and Malta operates well-known residence and citizenship-by-investment programmes under statutory regulations.

Employers must show the post was advertised through Jobsplus before a single permit for a third-country national will be approved.

Compact right of US residence, and controlled entry for others

Marshallese citizens may live and work in the United States without a visa under the Compact of Free Association. Inbound immigration runs through the Immigration Act with permits tied to employment or investment.

The defining feature is outbound rather than inbound: section 141 of the Compact allows Marshallese citizens to enter, reside and work in the United States indefinitely as habitual residents without a visa, which has produced large communities in Arkansas, Hawaii and Washington. This status is not US permanent residence and does not itself lead to citizenship, and eligibility for federal benefits has fluctuated with US legislation, so advice on the US side must be taken under US law. Inbound, non-citizens need entry permits and work authorisation, and foreign-owned businesses need a foreign investment business licence before employing staff. Because land cannot be bought, there is no residence-by-property route.

No ECOWAS membership, with a national visa regime and EU migration cooperation

Mauritania left ECOWAS in 2000, so there is no community free movement right; nationals of most states require visas. Mauritania is a Maghreb Arab Union member and cooperates with the EU on Atlantic route migration control.

Mauritania's 2000 withdrawal from ECOWAS means West African nationals have no free movement right here, in contrast to every other state in this file — a point routinely missed because Mauritania is geographically and historically part of the same region. Bilateral arrangements with Senegal and Mali partially fill the gap, and the Atlantic route to the Canary Islands has made Mauritania a focus of EU border cooperation.

Occupation and Premium Visa routes with residence tied to investment thresholds

The Immigration Act governs entry and residence, with the Occupation Permit serving as combined work and residence authorisation for investors, professionals and self-employed applicants. The Premium Visa allows extended remote-work stays, and property purchase above a threshold confers residence.

Mauritius uses immigration policy explicitly as economic policy: residence is packaged with investment thresholds and property acquisition, and the Occupation Permit's ten-year term is designed to attract relocation of business substance to support the global-business sector's treaty position.

Three status tracks under the 2011 Migration Act

The Migration Act replaced a criminal-law approach with an administrative one and decriminalised irregular entry. Status is either visitor, temporary resident or permanent resident, and most applications begin at a Mexican consulate abroad rather than inside the country.

Changing from visitor to resident inside Mexico is generally not permitted, so the consular step matters. Family-unity applications and asylum claims through COMAR are the main exceptions. Card renewals should be started 30 days before expiry.

Compact right of US residence, entry permits inbound

FSM citizens may live and work in the United States visa-free under the Compact. Non-citizens entering the FSM need entry permits, and employment requires authorisation.

Section 141 of the Compact allows FSM citizens to enter, reside and work in the United States without a visa as habitual residents, and migration to Guam, Hawaii and the mainland is demographically significant. That status is not US permanent residence, and access to federal benefits has changed with US legislation, so US advice is needed on the US side. Inbound, entry permits are issued nationally and employment of non-citizens requires authorisation together with any foreign investment permit. Dual citizenship is restricted: the Constitution requires a citizen who acquires another nationality to register or renounce, and this trips up children born abroad to migrant parents. There is no investor or property route to residence, since land cannot be acquired by non-citizens.

A 2010 foreigners regime with a visa-free EU association

Moldovan citizens travel visa-free to the Schengen area, and foreigners in Moldova fall under Law 200/2010. Work requires a right-to-work confirmation obtained through the employment agency, and residence permits are issued by the migration bureau.

Residence applications are filed at the Bureau of Migration and Asylum in Chişinău and require an apostilled criminal record certificate, which is the usual cause of delay for first-time applicants.

A residence card requiring means, accommodation and a clean record

Living in Monaco requires a residence card (carte de séjour). Applicants must show sufficient financial resources — through salary, business income or verified savings held with a Monaco bank — secure suitable accommodation in the Principality, and provide a clean criminal record. There is no single fixed savings threshold; banks set their own.

Because Monaco is surrounded by France, non-EU applicants must generally obtain a French long-stay visa before applying locally. Securing accommodation in a very expensive market is often the practical bottleneck.

Employer-quota work permits with a per-sector foreign-worker ceiling

The Law on the Legal Status of Foreign Citizens governs entry and residence. Work permits are quota-based, with the proportion of foreign employees capped by sector each year.

An employer must hold a quota allocation before a work permit is issued, and a workplace fee is payable per foreign employee. Permits are tied to the employer. Longer-term residence is available on investment or family grounds, and an investor route exists for those meeting the statutory investment level. Naturalisation is possible but discretionary and rare, and dual nationality is not generally permitted.

A single residence and work permit with seasonal quotas

As a non-EU state, Montenegro applies the Foreigners Act to all non-nationals, issuing a combined temporary residence and work permit. Annual quotas govern seasonal work, which matters for the large tourism sector.

Montenegro generally does not permit dual citizenship, which is a decisive consideration for naturalisation applicants.

Law 02-03, with two regularisation campaigns and a pending asylum statute

Entry, residence and removal are governed by Law 02-03 of 2003. Morocco ran regularisation campaigns in 2014 and 2016 for irregular migrants, but a domestic asylum law has been drafted rather than enacted.

Morocco's position shifted from transit country to destination country, and the 2013 National Strategy on Immigration and Asylum acknowledged that, which is why the 2014 and 2016 regularisations happened. The legal gap is that Law 02-03 predates that shift and still frames irregular entry principally as an offence, while the asylum bill intended to complete the framework has not been adopted, so recognition operates through UNHCR referral and a domestic bureau rather than a statutory procedure with appeal rights. The 2007 nationality reform allowed transmission of nationality by Moroccan mothers, which was retroactive in effect and resolved a substantial category of cases. Employment of foreigners requires proof that no national candidate is available, and the ANAPEC certificate that establishes this is the usual bottleneck.

Work permits under a quota system with DIRE residence documentation

Foreign nationals working in Mozambique require either a work permit or, within the statutory quota, a simplified communication procedure. Quotas are set by employer size — broadly 5 to 10 per cent of the workforce depending on the number of employees. Residents hold a DIRE card.

The within-quota communication route is the key practical distinction: it converts what would be a permit application into a notification, and getting the quota calculation wrong exposes the employer to fines and the worker to irregular status.

Business visas and stay permits, with conscription law affecting departures since 2024

Foreign nationals enter on business or employment visas, with stay permits and multiple-journey re-entry visas for longer assignments. The activation of the People's Military Service Law in February 2024 introduced exit restrictions affecting Myanmar nationals of conscription age.

Business visas are typically issued for seventy days and extendable; employment requires a company-sponsored visa plus a stay permit, with foreign-worker documentation handled through DICA-registered employers. Registration with immigration authorities is required for long-stay foreigners. Travel to conflict-affected townships is restricted and requires permission, and permission is frequently refused. Since the 2024 activation of conscription, young Myanmar nationals have faced departure controls and overseas-worker processing has been altered, which affects employers relying on Myanmar labour migration. Anyone planning travel should verify current restrictions rather than rely on the statutory text.

Immigration Control Act permits with employment subject to labour-market testing

The Immigration Control Act 7 of 1993 governs entry, work and residence. Employment permits require evidence that no suitably qualified Namibian is available, and permanent residence is decided by the Immigration Selection Board.

The Immigration Selection Board's discretion is broad and its reasons are often terse, so challenges proceed as administrative-law reviews for failure to apply the mind rather than as appeals on the merits.

Regional processing arrangements and a climate citizenship programme

Immigration is dominated by two unusual features: hosting Australia's offshore asylum processing, and a citizenship-by-investment programme launched to fund relocation from the mined interior.

Nauru enacted its own refugee determination framework to host Australian regional processing from 2012, and litigation about conditions, medical transfers and the legality of detention has proceeded in both Nauruan and Australian courts — making a state of about twelve thousand people a significant site of international refugee law. Separately, Nauru launched an economic and climate resilience citizenship programme granting citizenship for a substantial contribution, explicitly to fund relocating the population from the coastal strip to the rehabilitated interior. Given the EU's revocation of visa-free access for Vanuatu passports over due-diligence concerns, the durability of any benefit attached to such a passport should be treated as uncertain rather than assumed.

Visa on arrival for most tourists, employer-sponsored work visas

Most nationalities obtain a tourist visa on arrival. Working requires a work permit from the Department of Labour and a non-tourist visa, and Indian nationals have a distinct position under the 1950 treaty.

Indian citizens may enter and work without a visa or permit under the Nepal-India Treaty of Peace and Friendship, which is why Nepali immigration practice differs sharply depending on nationality. Foreign nationals employed by an approved industry get permits more readily than those in unregistered sectors. Overstay penalties are charged per day and enforced on departure. Naturalisation is possible but rarely granted, and dual citizenship is not allowed.

IND-run residence, with a fast highly-skilled-migrant route for recognised sponsors

The Aliens Act 2000 governs entry and residence, administered by the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND). Most long-stay migrants first need an MVV (provisional residence permit) obtained abroad, and the highly skilled migrant scheme lets recognised sponsor employers hire on a salary threshold rather than a labour-market test.

The highly skilled migrant salary thresholds are indexed annually; using a recognised sponsor is what makes the route fast, as it removes the separate work-permit requirement. Integration and Dutch-language obligations apply to many permit categories.

Six-points Skilled Migrant Category and Accredited Employer Work Visa

A points-based Skilled Migrant Category alongside the employer-led Accredited Employer Work Visa. Since 2023 the skilled points system awards points for skill level rather than ranking candidates against each other.

The Skilled Migrant Category was rebuilt in 2023 into a simplified six-points model, where points come from qualifications, income or occupational registration, and anyone meeting the threshold can apply rather than waiting to be selected from a ranked pool. Most temporary work now runs through the Accredited Employer Work Visa, which requires the employer to be accredited, the job to be checked against the market, and only then for the migrant to apply. Deportation liability and visa refusals are appealable to the Immigration and Protection Tribunal, and there is a residual ministerial discretion under s. 61 for people unlawfully in New Zealand.

Law 761 residence categories and CA-4 movement

The Ley General de Migración y Extranjería (Ley 761) governs entry and residence through the Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería. Nicaragua is a CA-4 member, though it has repeatedly restricted exit and entry for specific nationals and critics.

Residence files are processed in Managua and require apostilled civil documents plus a local police certificate. Given documented arbitrary denials of entry and of passport renewal, advise clients not to rely on being able to re-enter after departure.

ECOWAS free movement, and the 2015 migrant smuggling law now repealed

ECOWAS nationals enter visa-free for 90 days. Niger's Loi 2015-36 criminalising migrant smuggling, adopted under European pressure, was repealed in 2023, restoring the previous position on transit through Agadez.

Niger was the principal transit state on the central Mediterranean route, and the 2015 smuggling law was a central instrument of EU externalised migration control, prosecuting transport that was lawful movement between ECOWAS states for much of its journey. Its repeal in 2023 by the transitional authorities reversed that policy and illustrates how ECOWAS free movement and European border objectives pull in opposite directions.

Immigration Act 2015 with expatriate quota control and ECOWAS free movement

The Immigration Act 2015 replaced the 1963 Act. Employing a foreign national requires an expatriate quota granted to the employer, then a Subject to Regularisation visa converted to a CERPAC residence card. ECOWAS nationals enter visa-free for 90 days under the 1979 Protocol.

The controlling feature of Nigerian business immigration is the expatriate quota: a company must first obtain approval for a defined number of foreign positions, each tied to a job title and justified by the absence of local skills, before any individual can be sponsored. The individual then obtains a Subject to Regularisation visa abroad and, within 90 days of entry, applies for the Combined Expatriate Residence Permit and Aliens Card. Business visas permit meetings but not employment, and working on one is a common compliance failure. Temporary Work Permits cover short technical assignments. The Act criminalises illegal entry and employment of irregular migrants, with penalties on employers. Nigeria is party to the ECOWAS free movement protocol, so community citizens need no visa for 90 days, though the residence and establishment phases of the protocol are less consistently implemented than the entry phase.

Entry by state invitation; exit by citizens is criminalised

There is no ordinary immigration route. Foreign nationals enter by state invitation and controlled tour arrangement, and unauthorised departure by a citizen is prosecuted as a criminal offence.

Foreign residence is limited to accredited diplomats, aid workers and a small number of business representatives, in each case under close supervision. For citizens, leaving without authorisation is punished as illegal border crossing and, where the destination is South Korea or contact with missionaries is alleged, has been reported as treated far more severely. Refoulement of those returned from third countries is documented by UN human rights bodies. Any advice for an individual case must come from a lawyer and the relevant foreign ministry, not from this atlas.

The Foreigners Act with a combined residence and work approach

As a non-EU state, North Macedonia applies the Foreigners Act to all non-nationals. Temporary residence is granted for work, study, family and business, with work authorisation under the employment of foreigners legislation.

Regional CEFTA and Open Balkan arrangements ease labour mobility with neighbouring states in certain sectors.

EEA free movement and skilled-worker permits via UDI

As an EEA and Schengen member, Norway grants free movement to EEA nationals. Others need a residence permit under the Immigration Act, administered by the Directorate of Immigration (UDI), with a skilled-worker route.

Norway's high wage floor means skilled-worker permits often hinge on the salary meeting sector norms rather than a fixed national threshold.

Sponsored residence with an investor residency programme

Residence is normally employer-sponsored. The Investor Residency Programme launched in 2021 offers five and ten year self-sponsored residence.

Oman's Investor Residency Programme grants five or ten year self-sponsored residence against qualifying investment or property purchase in an ITC, with family inclusion, and it is the route that decouples status from an employer. For ordinary sponsored workers, the no-objection certificate that formerly barred a departing worker from re-entering Oman to work for two years has been relaxed, which materially improved mobility. Naturalisation requires long continuous residence and is discretionary, and Omani nationality law does not permit dual nationality without permission.

Work visas sponsored by a registered company, with security clearance

Foreign nationals need a visa obtained before travel for most categories, though an e-visa system operates for many nationalities. Work visas require a sponsoring company and Ministry of Interior clearance.

Business visas are available on a longer multiple-entry basis for nationals on an approved list. Certain areas require a No Objection Certificate for travel regardless of visa status, which catches foreign staff visiting project sites. Exit Control List placement can bar departure and is litigated in the High Courts. Dual nationality is permitted with a specified list of countries only.

Compact residence in the US, and tight inbound labour permits

Palauan citizens may live and work in the United States under the Compact. Inbound, foreign workers need permits and quotas apply, with citizenship restricted to those of Palauan descent.

Outbound, section 141 of the Compact allows Palauan citizens to reside and work in the United States without a visa as habitual residents, and Palauans also serve in the US armed forces at high rates. Inbound is comparatively controlled: the foreign workforce is large relative to the citizen population, particularly in construction and tourism, and permits are employer-tied with sectoral limits and repeated policy tightening. Article III restricts citizenship to persons of Palauan descent, so naturalisation is not generally available and long residence does not lead to citizenship, which also means the constitutional bar on non-citizen landownership is effectively permanent for foreign residents. Visitors are subject to the Palau Pledge, a conservation undertaking stamped into passports since 2017, and an environmental impact fee is collected on departure.

No independent control of entry, and a population registry administered under Israeli approval

The Palestinian Authority does not control external borders. Entry to the West Bank and Gaza, and changes to the Palestinian population registry, require Israeli approval under the Oslo arrangements.

This is the area where Palestinian legal autonomy is thinnest. Visitors reach the West Bank through Israeli-controlled crossings and receive Israeli entry permits, not Palestinian visas. Additions to the population registry — including registration of a foreign spouse or a child born abroad — require Israeli approval, and approvals were largely frozen between 2000 and 2021, leaving many families with unregistered members who cannot obtain identity documents. Gaza's movement is governed by the Israeli permit system and the Rafah crossing with Egypt. Family unification, rather than immigration in the ordinary sense, is the dominant legal issue.

Friendly Nations, Qualified Investor and work-permit quotas

Immigration is governed by Decree-Law 3 of 2008 and administered by the Servicio Nacional de Migración. The Friendly Nations visa was reformed in 2021 to require a job offer or property investment, and the Qualified Investor route grants permanent residence on a substantial investment.

Applications must be filed by a Panamanian lawyer. Residence and work permits are separate: residence comes from Migración, the work permit from MITRADEL, and both are needed to be employed lawfully.

Migration Act 1978 visas tied to work permits from Labour

Entry runs on the Migration Act 1978, but a foreign worker needs two separate instruments: a work permit from the Department of Labour and Industrial Relations, and a visa from Immigration and Citizenship Authority.

The two-instrument structure is the most common source of failed applications: a visa will not issue without the work permit, and the permit is assessed against whether the position could be filled by a citizen. Positions on the reserved occupations list are closed to non-citizens outright. PNG generally does not permit dual citizenship except in narrow circumstances, so naturalisation usually means renouncing the previous nationality, and the residence requirement is longer than most of the region at eight years.

Ley 6984 of 2022 replaced the 1996 migration law

Ley 6984/2022 modernised Paraguayan migration law, administered by the Dirección General de Migraciones. It restructured residence categories and simplified permanent residence, which Paraguay has long granted relatively readily. Mercosur nationals have a dedicated route, and residents obtain a cédula de identidad para extranjeros.

Paraguay historically had a reputation for accessible permanent residence, and the 2022 statute retained relatively straightforward pathways while tightening documentation and criminal-record requirements and removing the old bank-deposit route. Naturalisation after three years of permanent residence remains among the shorter periods in the region.

Migraciones administers residence under Decreto Legislativo 1350

Decreto Legislativo 1350 and its regulation govern migration, administered by the Superintendencia Nacional de Migraciones. Categories include worker, investor, family and student, and Peru has issued temporary permits (PTP and later CPP) to large numbers of Venezuelan nationals. Foreign residents receive a carné de extranjería.

Peru hosts one of the largest Venezuelan populations in the region and responded with successive temporary permit schemes rather than a new statute, so the operative rules for that group sit in supreme decrees layered over the 2017 framework. Naturalisation after only two years of residence is among the shorter qualifying periods in South America.

9(g) work visas with an Alien Employment Permit and a labour market test

Employment normally requires a DOLE Alien Employment Permit plus a 9(g) pre-arranged employment visa from the Bureau of Immigration. The AEP requires proof that no Filipino is able and willing to do the job.

The AEP is published for objection, and a Filipino union or worker may contest it. Special Investor's Resident Visa requires a US$75,000 investment, and the Special Resident Retiree's Visa runs on deposits scaled by age and pension status. Corporate registration with the Bureau of Immigration precedes 9(g) filings, and the Alien Certificate of Registration Identity Card is required for stays beyond fifty-nine days. Overstaying triggers fines and blacklisting. The Philippines also operates an Emigration Clearance Certificate requirement on departure for certain foreign nationals who have stayed six months or more.

EU free movement alongside a large national work-permit system

EU and EEA citizens enjoy free movement. Third-country nationals need a visa or residence permit under the 2013 Act on Foreigners, and Poland issues one of the largest volumes of first residence permits in the EU, with a simplified declaration route for several neighbouring states.

Applications are made to the voivodeship office of your place of residence; lodging in time stamps your passport and legalises stay while the case is pending, even if processing takes many months.

EU free movement plus residence permits and a well-known investment route

EU, EEA and Swiss nationals move freely. Others rely on the Foreigners Act, which offers work, study, family and entrepreneurial residence permits, together with a residence-by-investment scheme now refocused away from real estate.

Immigration functions transferred from SEF to AIMA, so verify which body handles a given application and expect appointment backlogs.

Sponsored residence with permanent residency available since 2018

Residence is normally employer-sponsored. Law 10 of 2018 created the Gulf's first permanent residency scheme, and exit permits were abolished for most workers.

Law 10 of 2018 was a genuine first for the Gulf: permanent residency, capped at one hundred grants a year, giving rights to health and education, property ownership and business ownership without a Qatari partner. It is narrow but it is real, and it is distinct from the long-term visas offered elsewhere because it does not expire. Exit permits, which required employer permission to leave the country, were abolished for most workers in 2018 and this is the change with the widest practical effect. Naturalisation exists in law but is highly restricted and rarely granted.

Residence tied to employment, with CEMAC free movement

Foreign nationals require a visa unless covered by the CEMAC protocol, and residence permits are generally tied to authorised employment. Refugee status is governed by the 2011 asylum law.

The 2011 refugee statute matters more than the general immigration law in practice, because the Republic of the Congo has hosted successive displaced populations from DR Congo and CAR across the river and the northern border.

Schengen since 2024 with an annual work-permit quota

Romania joined Schengen for air and sea borders in March 2024 and for land borders in January 2025. Third-country nationals are governed by Ordinance 194/2002, and the government sets an annual quota of newly admitted workers that has grown sharply.

The permit and visa must be applied for in that order and within a fixed window, so a permit obtained too early can lapse before the consular appointment is available.

A patent-based labour migration system with strict registration

Entry and stay are governed by the 2002 Law on the legal status of foreign citizens. Visa-free nationals from most CIS states work on a monthly patent, others need a work permit or highly qualified specialist status, and migration registration is mandatory.

A patent lapses automatically if a single monthly payment is late, and the loss of status is what turns a working migrant into an overstayer with an entry ban, so the payment receipts matter more than the card.

Visa-on-arrival for all nationalities, with EAC free movement

The 2021 immigration law governs entry and residence. Rwanda grants visa on arrival to all nationalities as a matter of policy, and EAC nationals may enter with an identity card and work without a permit.

Rwanda's open-entry policy is a deliberate economic strategy rather than a consequence of treaty obligation, and it goes further than the EAC requires. Rwanda has also entered controversial migration arrangements with third states, including the agreement with the United Kingdom that the UK Supreme Court held unlawful in 2023.

Immigration Act with the world's oldest citizenship by investment programme

The Immigration Act governs entry and residence federally. CARICOM nationals with a skills certificate may work without a permit and others receive a six-month stay. Saint Kitts and Nevis established the world's first citizenship by investment programme in 1984, now operating through the Sustainable Island State Contribution and approved real estate, and it remains the benchmark against which other regional programmes are measured.

Naturalisation by residence requires fourteen years, far longer than neighbouring states, which in practice makes citizenship by investment the only realistic route for most foreign nationals. The programme has been repeatedly restructured in response to international pressure on due diligence and pricing, so current regulations rather than historical descriptions must be relied on.

Immigration Act with CARICOM free movement and a CBI programme

The Immigration Act governs entry, residence and removal, administered by the Immigration Department within the Ministry of Home Affairs. CARICOM nationals holding a skills certificate may work without a permit, and other CARICOM nationals get a six-month stay. The Citizenship by Investment Act 2015 created a programme granting citizenship on an approved investment without any residence requirement.

The skills certificate regime is the practical route for regional professionals and is issued by the sending state, so an employer should verify the certificate rather than assume CARICOM nationality alone permits work. The citizenship by investment programme is administered separately from naturalisation and does not require presence in Saint Lucia at any stage.

Immigration Act with CARICOM entry and no CBI programme

The Immigration (Restriction) Act governs entry, residence and removal, administered by the Immigration Department. CARICOM nationals with a skills certificate may work without a permit and other CARICOM nationals receive a six-month stay. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is the only Eastern Caribbean state that has deliberately declined to operate a citizenship by investment programme, so residence and naturalisation are the only routes to status.

The absence of a citizenship by investment programme is a deliberate policy position rather than an oversight, and it matters practically because advisers accustomed to the regional CBI market will find no equivalent route here. Foreign nationals seeking status must therefore use work permits and residence, and the seven-year naturalisation period runs only on lawful residence.

Immigration Act 2020 with citizenship by investment available

Entry and residence under the Immigration Act 2020, with employment requiring a work permit assessed against local labour availability, plus a citizenship-by-investment route under separate legislation.

The Immigration Act 2020 consolidated and replaced the 2004 legislation. Ordinary routes are employment-based, business-based or family, and the work permit requires evidence that the role could not be filled locally. The Citizenship Investment Act 2015 provides for citizenship in return for qualifying investment, though it is used far less than Vanuatu's programme. A point specific to Samoa: the large Samoan population in New Zealand and Australia means dual citizenship and the status of Samoans born abroad are common questions, and the Citizenship Act permits dual citizenship.

Tightly limited residence categories outside the EU

San Marino is not an EU or Schengen member and has no border controls with Italy, but residence is strictly regulated. Ordinary residence is scarce, so most newcomers use special or economic residence categories.

There is no border post with Italy, so lawful presence is checked through residence, tax and employment records rather than at entry.

Sponsorship-based residence with a new premium residency track

Residence has historically required an employer sponsor. The Premium Residency scheme introduced in 2019 created the first route to residence in the kingdom without one.

The sponsorship link is the whole architecture of ordinary Saudi immigration status: the iqama is tied to the employer, and historically changing employer or leaving the country required the sponsor's consent. The 2021 reforms weakened both requirements substantially without abolishing the underlying structure. Premium Residency, available as a one-off or renewable product, decouples residence from an employer entirely and permits business ownership and property purchase, which is why it is treated as a policy landmark rather than just another visa category. There is no general route from residence to citizenship; naturalisation is discretionary and rare.

ECOWAS free movement with a carte de séjour regime and significant diaspora law

ECOWAS nationals enter visa-free for 90 days; others require a visa. Senegal is notable for extending voting rights and parliamentary representation to its diaspora, which has dedicated National Assembly seats.

Senegal's emigration law is more developed than its immigration law. Diaspora remittances exceed official development assistance, and the electoral code reserves National Assembly seats for Senegalese abroad, giving emigrants direct legislative representation — a model few African states have adopted.

A unified residence and work permit outside the EU framework

As a non-EU state, Serbia applies its own Foreigners Act and Employment of Foreigners Act to all non-nationals. Since 2023 a single application produces a combined temporary residence and work permit.

Serbia is visa-free for many nationalities for short stays, but any work requires the permit regardless of visa exemption.

Visitor's permit on arrival with Gainful Occupation Permits for employment

Seychelles issues a visitor's permit on arrival to all nationalities without a prior visa, subject to proof of accommodation and funds. Employment requires a Gainful Occupation Permit, granted where the skill is unavailable locally, and residence permits are available on investment grounds.

The universal visa-free entry policy is unusual and deliberate, supporting a tourism-dependent economy, while employment is tightly controlled through the GOP system to protect a very small domestic labour market.

Immigration Act 2000 as amended, with ECOWAS free movement and work permit quotas

Entry and residence are governed by the Immigration Act and administered by the Immigration Department. Non-ECOWAS nationals require visas, obtainable on arrival or through the electronic system, and foreign employees require work permits from the Ministry of Labour. ECOWAS nationals enter visa-free for 90 days.

Sierra Leone applies the ECOWAS free movement regime, so the visa requirement described here bites only on non-community nationals, who may obtain visas in advance or through the electronic visa system introduced to support tourism and investment. Employment of a foreign national requires a work permit from the Ministry of Employment and Labour, and permits are assessed against the availability of Sierra Leonean labour; the Local Content Agency Act 2016 reinforces preference for nationals in specified sectors. Citizenship law retains a descent requirement that has attracted criticism: the Citizenship Act 1973 conferred citizenship by descent through the paternal line of persons of 'Negro African descent', and although the 2006 amendment permitted transmission through the mother, the racial descent qualification remains, and dual citizenship is permitted subject to conditions on holding public office.

Employment Pass gated by a salary floor and the COMPASS points test

The Employment Act and Immigration Act frame entry. Since September 2023 Employment Pass applications must clear both a minimum qualifying salary and COMPASS, a points framework scoring salary, qualifications, diversity and local hiring.

The Employment Pass targets professionals, with a qualifying salary that rises by age and sector and is higher for financial services. COMPASS awards points across six criteria, and an applicant needs 40 of 120 to pass, which means a firm with few local employees can fail on the diversity and local-workforce axes even with a well-paid candidate. The S Pass covers mid-skilled staff under quota and levy, and work permits cover lower-wage sectors with tighter dependency ratios. Permanent residence is discretionary with no published points formula; naturalisation normally follows two years of PR.

EU free movement with temporary residence tied to purpose

EU citizens move freely. Third-country nationals apply under the 2011 Act on the Residence of Foreigners for temporary residence tied to a specific purpose such as employment, business or study, with permanent residence generally after five years.

Acquiring another nationality can cost Slovak citizenship under the 2010 rules, though a 2022 amendment carved out long-term residents of the other state.

EU free movement plus single permits and quota-free skilled routes

EU nationals move freely in this Schengen member state. Third-country nationals apply for a single residence and work permit under the Foreigners Act and the Employment of Foreigners Act, with exemptions for certain skilled roles.

Western Balkans nationals benefit from bilateral employment agreements that simplify recruitment in shortage occupations.

Immigration Act 2012 permits with work permit from Labour

The Immigration Act 2012 governs entry and residence, with employment requiring both a work permit from the Labour Division and a residence permit from Immigration.

As in PNG, two agencies must be satisfied and the work permit comes first in practice — a residence permit for employment will not be granted without it. The Citizenship Act 2018 replaced the 1978 legislation and clarified the position on dual citizenship, which is now permitted in defined circumstances after previously being prohibited. Because non-citizens cannot hold perpetual estates in land, immigration status and property rights are linked: a long-term resident still acquires only a fixed-term estate.

Weak entry administration, mass internal displacement, and large-scale return

Citizenship rests on Law 28/1962 and passport administration has been rebuilt in stages. The dominant realities are internal displacement of millions, refugee populations in Kenya and Ethiopia, and returns.

The 1962 citizenship law remains the formal basis and is dated in its treatment of descent and of women's transmission of nationality; the 2012 Provisional Constitution addresses citizenship in outline and leaves detail to legislation that has not been comprehensively enacted. Practical status documentation is complicated by the parallel authorities: Somaliland issues its own passports and identity documents, recognised by a handful of states for travel purposes, and Puntland has its own administration. The dominant movement facts are displacement from conflict and drought, with very large internally displaced populations around Mogadishu and other cities, protracted Somali refugee populations in Dadaab and Kakuma in Kenya and in Ethiopia, and periodic organised returns. Statelessness risk arises for people without documentation from any authority. Administration cannot be described as a functioning uniform system.

Immigration Act 13 of 2002, critical skills visas, and a constitutionally protected asylum system

Entry and residence are governed by the Immigration Act 13 of 2002 and its regulations, administered by the Department of Home Affairs. Work visas are category-specific: the critical skills work visa follows a published occupations list, while the general work visa requires a Department of Employment and Labour certificate that no suitable citizen or permanent resident is available. Asylum is dealt with separately under the Refugees Act.

Immigration is one of the most heavily litigated administrative fields in the country. Courts have repeatedly set aside blanket departmental practices — on the rights of asylum seekers to work, on the treatment of spousal and life-partner visas, and on the termination of the Zimbabwean Exemption Permit dispensation — on the basis that they were adopted without rational consideration or fair procedure. Practitioners therefore treat PAJA review as an ordinary rather than exceptional part of immigration practice.

An alphabet of visa categories with a points-based skilled route

The Immigration Act runs a detailed lettered visa system. E-series visas cover employment, D-series study and investment, and F-series long-term residence, with F-2 points-based residence and F-5 permanent residence.

The E-7 skilled worker visa is employer-tied and requires a matching job classification, while the E-9 non-professional visa operates through a government-to-government Employment Permit System with limited job mobility. The F-2-7 points route allows a move to residence status based on age, income, education and Korean proficiency, and after sufficient time an F-5 permanent residence. Naturalisation requires residence, language and civics testing, and Korea permits dual nationality only in narrow cases.

A 2011 nationality act that left many people's status contested

The Nationality Act 2011 defines South Sudanese nationality by descent and community ties. Its interaction with Sudan's simultaneous nationality amendments produced statelessness risks that remain unresolved.

Secession split one nationality into two and the two states legislated in parallel: Sudan withdrew Sudanese nationality from those who acquired South Sudanese nationality, while South Sudan defined its own nationality by descent from indigenous communities. People of mixed parentage, long-term residents in the north, and members of border communities could satisfy neither definition cleanly, which created a documented statelessness problem that neither state has fully resolved. South Sudan is simultaneously a major refugee host — principally Sudanese arriving since April 2023 — and a major source of refugees in Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia and Sudan. The Refugee Act 2012 provides a determination framework operated with UNHCR. Administration is constrained by document availability and registry capacity, so the practical position on proving nationality is weaker than the statute implies.

EU free movement alongside a national regime with strong regularisation routes

EU, EEA and Swiss citizens enter under free movement. Other nationals fall under the Immigration Act and its regulation, which combine work and residence authorisations with distinctive routes for long residence and for digital nomads and entrepreneurs.

Applications are handled by provincial foreigners' offices with divergent local practice, so confirm the requirements of the specific province.

Visa administration under the 1948 Ordinance, with an ETA front end

The Immigrants and Emigrants Act of 1948 remains the governing statute, administered by the Department of Immigration and Emigration. Short visits use an Electronic Travel Authorisation. Longer stays run through resident visa categories, and the Board of Investment route is the practical basis for most employment-linked residence.

Most nationalities need an ETA or visa before arrival; ETAs are issued for short tourist and business visits. Residence visas are employment, investment, religious or student based and require a local sponsor. BOI-approved projects can obtain resident visas for expatriate staff within approved quotas. Overstaying attracts fines and can result in removal and re-entry bans. Visa categories and fees have changed repeatedly with the outsourcing and re-insourcing of the visa platform — verify current arrangements before travel. Dual citizenship is permitted but requires application and approval; it is not automatic.

Entry law formally in force while the country is a mass displacement emergency

The Passports and Immigration Act 2015 and the Asylum Act 2014 form the framework. Sudan has since become the site of one of the world's largest displacement crises, with millions internally displaced and large outflows to Chad and Egypt.

Sudan was for decades a significant refugee host, particularly of Eritreans, Ethiopians, Syrians and South Sudanese, and the 2014 Asylum Act provided for a domestic determination framework operated with UNHCR. That position inverted after April 2023: Sudan is now primarily a source of displacement, with very large internal displacement and cross-border movement into Chad, Egypt, South Sudan and Ethiopia. The 2011 nationality amendments following South Sudan's secession stripped Sudanese nationality from those who acquired South Sudanese nationality, which created statelessness risks for people of mixed or contested origin and remains a live legal problem. Border procedure, visa issuance and status determination in the current conflict cannot be described reliably, so this entry records the statutes and the displacement facts without asserting how entry is administered.

Vreemdelingenwet residence with CARICOM free movement

The Vreemdelingenwet 1991 and the Wet Toelating en Uitzetting govern admission and expulsion, administered by the Ministerie van Justitie en Politie. As a CARICOM member Suriname applies the Skills Certificate free-movement regime. Residence permits (verblijfsvergunning) and work authorisation are distinct requirements.

Because Suriname is in CARICOM but its administration and law operate in Dutch, regional nationals exercising Skills Certificate rights encounter a language and documentation environment quite different from the rest of the Community. There is also longstanding movement with the Netherlands, and Dutch nationals of Surinamese origin have specific facilitated arrangements under a bilateral framework.

EU free movement and employer-tied work permits via Migrationsverket

EU citizens move freely. Non-EU nationals need a work permit tied to a specific employer and job, administered by the Migration Agency, with a salary threshold that was raised sharply in recent reforms.

The higher salary threshold has excluded many lower-paid roles from work-permit eligibility, a significant recent policy shift.

Free movement for the EU/EFTA, quotas and permits for everyone else

Switzerland runs a dual system. EU and EFTA nationals enjoy free movement under a bilateral agreement, while third-country nationals fall under the Foreign Nationals and Integration Act, which limits admission to qualified workers within annual quotas set by the Federal Council. Permits are graded L (short-term), B (residence) and C (settlement).

The annual quotas for non-EU workers are tight and used up early in some years, so timing an application matters. Naturalisation is unusually decentralised: the commune and canton have decisive roles alongside the Confederation.

Entry law of 1970, and the largest refugee outflow of the century

Entry and residence are governed by Legislative Decree No. 29 of 1970. The dominant legal questions concern the more than five million Syrians outside the country and the conditions for voluntary return.

Syria is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention. The pressing issues are outbound rather than inbound: over five million registered refugees in neighbouring states and Europe, and roughly seven million internally displaced. Return raises concrete legal problems — expired or absent civil documentation, military service liability for men of eligible age, property occupied or designated for redevelopment, and the legal effect of documents issued by non-state authorities. Nationality law under the 1975 statute transmits citizenship through the father, which leaves children of Syrian mothers born abroad to unregistered fathers at risk of statelessness.

Visa-light entry with residence permits under the foreign nationals regime

São Tomé and Príncipe operates a liberal entry policy, with visa exemption or visa-on-arrival for many nationalities to support tourism. Residence and work permits are issued by the Serviço de Migração e Fronteiras, and CPLP nationals benefit from facilitated arrangements under the Lusophone community framework.

The CPLP mobility framework is the meaningful route for Portuguese-speaking nationals, and the country's small administrative capacity means practice is often more permissive than the statutory text suggests.

Permit-based employment with a strict registration duty

The Law on Legal Status of Foreign Citizens and the migration legislation require work permits for foreign employees, with registration of residence shortly after arrival.

Foreign workers need both an individual work permit and an employer authorisation, subject to quota. A permit is job- and employer-specific. Visa-free entry applies to CIS states and e-visas are available to many others. Permanent residence follows a qualifying period; naturalisation requires five years' residence and language knowledge, and dual nationality is permitted only with Russia under a bilateral treaty. Tajikistan is heavily dependent on labour emigration, so the outbound regime and Russian entry rules are practically more consequential than inbound rules.

The Immigration Act with strict work-permit quotas

The Immigration Act (Cap 54) and the Non-Citizens (Employment Regulation) Act 2015 govern entry and work. Work permits are quota-limited by class and employers must show that no qualified Tanzanian is available, and Zanzibar administers its own permits for some purposes.

Tanzania requires two separate authorisations for a foreign employee — a work permit from the Labour Commissioner and a residence permit from Immigration — and the 2015 Act tightened the succession-planning requirement, obliging employers to train a Tanzanian understudy. This dual-permit structure is the most common source of compliance failure.

Work permit plus Non-B visa, with a 4:1 Thai-to-foreign staffing ratio

Employment requires both a Non-Immigrant B visa and a work permit under the Foreign Working Management Emergency Decree. Employers generally must maintain four Thai employees per foreign worker and registered capital of two million baht per permit.

Thirty-nine occupations are reserved for Thai nationals, including most manual trades, and cannot be performed by foreigners at all. Ninety-day reporting applies to long-stay foreigners, and re-entry permits are needed to preserve an extension when leaving. The Long-Term Resident visa introduced in 2022 offers ten years with a digital work permit for wealthy, retired, remote-working or highly skilled applicants meeting income and asset tests, and the Destination Thailand Visa followed in 2024 for longer tourist and remote-work stays. Permanent residence exists but is capped by nationality quota and rarely granted; citizenship generally follows five years of PR.

Immigration Act permits with permanent residence for qualifying investors

The Immigration Act governs entry, work permits and residence, administered by the Department of Immigration. A work permit is required for any non-Bahamian employment and is granted only where a suitably qualified Bahamian is not available, with the labour-market test applied strictly. Permanent residence may be granted to those making a substantial investment in a residence, and accelerated consideration is offered above a higher threshold.

The practical distinction is between a work permit, which is employer-specific and confers no path to status by itself, and permanent residence with the right to work, which is not tied to an employer. Permanent residence granted on the strength of a home purchase does not automatically include the right to work in The Bahamas, and that right must be applied for and endorsed separately.

Visas and residence under the 2017 Migration and Asylum Act

Law No. 11/2017 governs entry, visas, residence and asylum. The Immigration Service under the Ministry of Interior issues permits, and work permits are coordinated with the labour authorities.

The Act provides classes of visa for tourism, business, work and study, with work visas requiring an employment contract and, in most cases, a work permit issued under the labour legislation. Nationals of a number of states can obtain a visa on arrival at Dili airport for short visits. Permanent residence becomes available after a qualifying period of lawful residence. The Act also contains the domestic framework for refugee status determination, reflecting Timor-Leste's accession to the Refugee Convention. Removal decisions are subject to judicial challenge in the district courts.

ECOWAS free movement with visa on arrival for many other nationals

ECOWAS nationals enter visa-free for 90 days. Togo issues visas on arrival at Lomé airport for many nationalities, and a carte de séjour is required for stays beyond three months.

Togo's visa-on-arrival practice is a deliberate facilitation measure tied to Lomé's role as a regional air and port hub, and it operates alongside the ECOWAS Protocol rather than as part of it. The seven-day initial validity catches travellers unaware, since it must be converted at the immigration directorate in Lomé before expiry.

Immigration Act with residence permits and restricted land rights

Entry and residence under the Immigration Act administered by the Ministry of Police and Immigration, with work permits required for employment and no route to land ownership regardless of status.

Immigration practice is comparatively simple, but the interaction with land law is the point that surprises newcomers: even a naturalised Tongan cannot buy land, because no land in Tonga is saleable at all, and the allotment entitlements attach to Tongan male subjects by birth under the Land Act. A foreign resident therefore holds a lease, and only a lease. Naturalisation is discretionary and comparatively rare. The large Tongan diaspora in New Zealand, Australia and the United States makes dual nationality and the status of children born abroad recurring questions.

Immigration Act work permits with a 30-day exemption

A non-national who intends to work must hold a work permit issued by the Ministry of National Security under the Immigration Act, and engaging in work without one is an offence for both worker and employer. A short exemption allows work of up to 30 days in a twelve-month period without a permit. CARICOM nationals with an approved skills certificate may work without a permit under the free-movement regime.

The 30-day exemption is frequently misread as 30 days per entry, when it is cumulative across the year, so repeated short technical visits can silently exhaust it and place both the individual and the host employer in breach. Permits are tied to a named employer and role, so a change of either requires a fresh application rather than an amendment.

A 1968 entry law with no domestic asylum procedure

Entry and residence run under Law 1968-7 and its decrees. Tunisia ratified the Refugee Convention but has never enacted an asylum law, so status determination is conducted by UNHCR.

The 1968 law is a security-era instrument and its penalties for irregular stay, including fines calculated per week of overstay, are enforced at exit, which regularly surprises long-staying foreigners. There is no statutory asylum procedure, so recognised refugees hold UNHCR documentation without a domestic status conferring work rights, and a draft asylum law has been pending for over a decade. Tunisia's position on the central Mediterranean route has made irregular transit migration politically salient, and enforcement practice has fluctuated sharply with that politics rather than with legal change. Nationality passes through either parent following the 2010 amendment, and naturalisation is discretionary with a five-year residence baseline.

Law No. 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection

Law No. 6458 of 2013 consolidated Turkish immigration and asylum law and created the Directorate General of Migration Management. It provides for short-term, family, student and long-term residence permits, and establishes the temporary protection regime under which Syrians are registered.

Law No. 6458 was Turkey's first comprehensive migration statute and created a civilian migration administration in place of police-led control. Work permits are issued under Law No. 6735 by the Ministry of Labour and are tied to an employer. The temporary protection regime is the most significant feature in practice: it is a group-based status created by regulation rather than individual refugee determination, and Turkey maintains a geographical limitation to the 1951 Refugee Convention under which Convention refugee status is confined to persons displaced by events in Europe. Residence in certain districts is closed to new foreign registration where saturation thresholds are met.

Visas required of nearly everyone, with letters of invitation

Turkmenistan operates one of the world's most restrictive entry regimes. Almost all visitors need a visa supported by a letter of invitation, and independent tourism requires a state-licensed guide.

Letters of invitation must be approved before a visa is issued, and refusals are common and unexplained. Tourist visas require an accompanying licensed guide for the whole stay. Work permits are tied to employers and require ministry approval. Exit restrictions also apply to citizens, and there are documented cases of individuals barred from leaving without stated reasons. Residence permits for foreigners are rare outside diplomatic and major-project contexts.

Immigration Act with the Falepili Union mobility pathway to Australia

Entry under the Immigration Act with permits issued by the Immigration Office. The 2023 Falepili Union treaty with Australia creates a distinctive outward mobility pathway for Tuvaluans.

Inward immigration is minimal and permit-based. The legally significant development runs the other way: the Falepili Union treaty with Australia, signed in 2023 and in force from 2024, provides a special mobility pathway allowing a capped number of Tuvaluans each year to live, work and study in Australia with access to services, alongside Australian commitments on climate resilience and a consultation clause concerning security arrangements. It is the first treaty of its kind framed around climate mobility, and it is the single most consequential instrument in Tuvaluan immigration law even though it governs emigration rather than entry.

The 1999 Citizenship and Immigration Control Act, with generous refugee law

The Uganda Citizenship and Immigration Control Act 1999 governs entry, permits and citizenship. The Refugees Act 2006 is among the most liberal in the world, granting refugees the right to work, move freely and receive land for cultivation.

The Refugees Act 2006 and its 2010 regulations make Uganda an international outlier: refugees receive plots for cultivation in settlements rather than closed camps, may work and move freely, and can access national services. With one of the largest refugee populations in Africa, this framework rather than the general permit regime is the substance of Ugandan immigration law.

Wartime exit restrictions alongside an ordinary permit system

Foreigners enter under the 2011 Law on the legal status of foreigners, with employment permits issued by the employment service. Martial law adds a border regime that restricts departure by most male citizens aged 18 to 60 and requires military registration.

Residence permits are now issued as biometric cards through the migration service, and overstaying even briefly triggers an entry ban that is hard to lift from outside the country.

Sponsored residence plus Golden and Green long-term visas

Most residence is employer-sponsored and renewable in two-year cycles. The Golden Visa gives ten years and the Green Visa five, both without an employer sponsor.

The Golden and Green visas were designed to break the link between residence and a single employer, and they matter because under the ordinary sponsored route losing the job ends the residence within a grace period. Golden Visa eligibility covers investors, entrepreneurs, specialised talent, outstanding students and some professionals meeting salary thresholds, and it permits self-sponsorship and family sponsorship. The 2021 nationality amendment created a narrow discretionary route to naturalisation for investors, professionals and exceptional talent by nomination, which is the first meaningful crack in a system where citizenship was effectively unavailable to residents.

A points-based system after Brexit ended EU free movement

Since 2021 EU and non-EU nationals face the same points-based system. The Skilled Worker route needs a licensed sponsor, a job at the required level and a salary threshold, with settlement usually after five years.

Salary thresholds were raised sharply in 2024, so eligibility checks must use current figures rather than older guidance.

The INA, numerical caps and the per-country limit

The Immigration and Nationality Act sets out every category of admission. Immigrant visas divide into family-sponsored and employment-based preferences, most of which are numerically capped, while non-immigrant categories such as H-1B, L-1 and F-1 permit temporary stays for defined purposes. Immediate relatives of US citizens are exempt from the caps, which is why that route is far faster.

The per-country limit of 7 per cent of the annual total is the single most consequential rule in the system: it is applied to countries of birth rather than population, so employment-based applicants from India face waits measured in decades while an identical applicant from a low-demand country is current. Immigration judges sit within the Executive Office for Immigration Review inside the Department of Justice, not the judicial branch, and their decisions are reviewed by the BIA and then the circuit courts of appeals.

Ley 18.250 recognising migration as a human right

Ley 18.250 of 2008 governs migration and expressly recognises the right to migrate, guaranteeing equal treatment in access to health, education and work regardless of status. The Dirección Nacional de Migración administers residence, and Mercosur nationals have a simplified route. Uruguay grants legal citizenship to residents after defined periods, distinct from natural citizenship.

Uruguay distinguishes natural citizenship, which is by birth or descent, from legal citizenship granted to residents, and legal citizens cannot pass citizenship to children abroad in the same way — a distinction with practical passport consequences that surprises many applicants. The statute's framing of migration as a human right, with an explicit prohibition on criminalising irregular entry, aligns it with the Argentine and Ecuadorian models.

Visa-free access for many nationalities and an IT Park talent route

Uzbekistan opened visa-free entry to a long list of countries from 2018 and created simplified residence and work routes, including a fast-track regime for IT Park participants.

The visa-free list and e-visa system transformed access after 2018. Employment still generally requires a permit tied to an employer and a quota, but IT Park residents obtain simplified three-year visas and work authorisation for foreign staff, which has attracted relocation. The 2020 Citizenship Law resolved the status of many long-term stateless residents by granting citizenship to those resident since before 1995. Dual nationality is not permitted.

Immigration Act 2010 plus a citizenship-by-investment programme

Residence permits under the Immigration Act 2010, with work permits from the Department of Labour — and one of the region's few active citizenship-by-investment programmes.

The Development Support Programme and related schemes grant citizenship in exchange for a contribution, with processing measured in months and no residence requirement — which is why Vanuatu passports feature in international mobility discussions. That programme has attracted scrutiny: the European Union suspended and then fully revoked visa-free access for Vanuatu passport holders over due-diligence concerns, so the practical value of the citizenship acquired this way has changed materially and any advice quoting historic visa-free access to the Schengen area is out of date. Ordinary work-permit practice is separate and requires labour-market justification.

Ley de Extranjería y Migración against a backdrop of mass emigration

The Ley de Extranjería y Migración of 2004 and the Ley de Migración framework govern entry and residence, administered by SAIME. In practice the dominant migration fact is outward: more than seven million Venezuelans have left, making this the largest displacement crisis in the Americas and generating regularisation programmes in Colombia, Peru, Brazil, Chile and Ecuador.

For most practical purposes Venezuelan migration questions arise abroad rather than domestically, and turn on the destination state's regularisation scheme — Colombia's ten-year ETPV permit, Peru's CPP, Brazil's humanitarian residence — rather than on Venezuelan permit categories. Obtaining or renewing Venezuelan passports and apostilles has itself become a significant obstacle for nationals abroad.

Work permits tied to a sponsoring employer and justified local-hire shortage

Foreign nationals working over three months need a work permit issued to a specific employer, supported by evidence that the role could not be filled locally, plus degree and experience documents that must be legalised.

Permits run up to two years and are renewable once, after which a fresh application is required. Exemption certificates cover investors above a capital threshold, intra-group transferees in licensed commercial-presence sectors, and short assignments. A temporary residence card follows the permit and can reach two years, removing the need for repeated visa runs. The 2023 amendments extended e-visas to ninety days with multiple entries and lengthened visa-exempt stays to forty-five days, which materially eased short business travel. Employers face fines and workers face deportation for working without a permit, and the paperwork burden falls on the employer.

Entry law overtaken by conflict, with Yemen a country of refuge and exodus

The 1991 Entry and Residence Law remains nominally in force. In practice entry is controlled separately by the authorities holding each airport and port.

Sanaa airport has operated under severe restriction since 2016 and access to the country is controlled by whichever authority holds the relevant airport or port, so the statutory visa framework describes very little of what actually determines entry. Yemen simultaneously hosts a substantial refugee and migrant population, largely Somali and Ethiopian arriving across the Gulf of Aden, and has produced over four million internally displaced people. Yemen is a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention, which is unusual in the region, and Somalis have historically received prima facie recognition. This entry is research because the operative position changes with territorial control.

Immigration and Deportation Act permits with investor and employment categories

The Immigration and Deportation Act 18 of 2010 governs entry, employment and residence. Employment permits are issued where the skill is not locally available; investor permits are tied to capital thresholds. Zambia does not permit dual citizenship for those who acquired foreign nationality before the 2016 amendment restored it.

The 2016 restoration of dual citizenship was a significant change for the Zambian diaspora, and the Act's investor categories are the practical route for mining and agricultural investment.

Immigration Act permits with residence and investor categories

The Immigration Act (Chapter 4:02) governs entry and residence, with temporary employment permits, residence permits and investor categories administered by the Department of Immigration. Citizenship is governed by the Constitution's Chapter 3, which restored citizenship by birth to many previously deprived of it.

The constitutional citizenship provisions matter more than the Act for a large group of people of Malawian, Mozambican and Zambian descent whose citizenship status had been in doubt for decades.