Finland
Residence permits for temporary protection to be extended
The Finnish Immigration Service (Migris) will extend all residence permits granted on the basis of temporary protection until 4 March 2025.
Migris will send the holder a letter when they have extended a permit on the basis of temporary protection. If Migris has their phone number, they will also receive a text message stating that their permit has been extended.
Migris recommends that holders of residence permits granted on the basis of temporary protection apply via the online service for a new residence permit card after their permit has been extended.
However, it is legal for them to stay in Finland even if they do not apply for a new card. All residence permit cards issued on the basis of temporary protection are valid, even if their last day of validity is 4 March 2023 or 4 March 2024. The right to work on the basis of temporary protection will also be valid until 4 March 2025.
Germany
New flexibilities for Israeli nationals
The Ministry of the Interior has announced that Israeli nationals who are currently residing in Germany can remain in the country until 26 April 2024 without having to apply for a residence permit or an extension to their visa-free stay.
Usually, Israeli nationals can stay in Germany for up to 90 days without a visa. From 26 January to 26 April 2024, they will now be exempt from the requirement for a residence permit to stay. The ordinance was promulgated in the Federal Law Gazette on 22 January 2024 and will enter into force on 26 January 2024. It will apply retroactively from 7 October 2023
Hungary
Measures to control foreign worker numbers
The Hungarian government has announced that only up to 65,000 guest worker permits and employment residence permits can be issued in 2024. This is significantly lower than the quota of 81,000 which could have been allowed, based on the average number of vacant positions over the previous four quarters.
The government has also defined a list of approximately 300 occupations for which guest worker permits cannot be issued.
Pause in application processing
Meanwhile, applications for a residence permit or for an interim/a national/an EU residence card (former interim/national/EC permanent residence permits) may not be submitted between 1 January 2024 and 29 February 2024.
The processing of applications for a residence permit or for a permanent residence permit submitted before 1 January 2024 will be suspended between 1 January 2024 and 29 February 2024 and the authorities will not make a decision on these applications. Attaching a supporting document to a pending application is available.
After 29 February 2024, the authorities will continue to process applications submitted by 31 December 2023 and take a decision in accordance with the legislation in force at the time of submission of the given application; submitting a separate application for this purpose is not required.
The validity of residence permits and permanent residence permits expiring between 1 January 2024 and 29 February 2024 will be extended until 30 April 2024. For this purpose, no further actions are required to be taken by the persons concerned; neither to appear at the Client Service Offices nor to submit an application. No separate certificate will be issued on the extension of the validity of the documents. The provision on the extension of the documents concerned allows for legal residence in Hungary. However holders of expiring residence documents may have trouble re-entering Hungary from another Schengen country during this period.
During the period from 1 January 2024 to 29 February 2024, administration of only the following types of cases will be available:
- Submitting biometric data for applications submitted electronically by 31 December 2023;
- applications for the replacement or substitution of a document;
- extension of an expiring certificate entitling its holder to temporary residence;
- extension of the validity of an immigration permit document;
- applications of EEA nationals for the issuance of a registration certificate or for a permanent residence card;
- applications of family members of EEA nationals for the issuance or extension of a residence card or a long-term residence card.
United Kingdom
Requirement to renew sponsor licence removed
The Home Office has announced to sponsors that, from 6 April 2024, it will remove the requirement to renew a sponsor licence. If a sponsor licence is due to expire on or after this date, the organisation holding the licence will no longer need to apply to renew their licence or pay a renewal fee.
To prepare for this change, the Home Office has extended licence expiry dates on all licences due to expire on or after 6 April 2024 by 10 years. These sponsors do not need to take any action. If they have already received a notification to renew their licence, they should now ignore it.
Sponsors who have already made an application to renew their licence (which is due to expire on or after 6 April 2024) will be contacted shortly to arrange a refund of their renewal fee.
Sponsors whose licence expires before 6 April 2024 will need to apply to renew the licence and pay a renewal fee before the expiry date, if they wish to remain licenced beyond the expiry date. They will then not need to apply to renew the licence again.
Sponsors can select the Licence Summary function in the Sponsor Management System (SMS) to view their licence expiry date. Information on the renewal process can be found in the Workers and Temporary Workers guidance Part 3 or Student sponsor guidance Document 1.
UK and South Korea expand Youth Mobility Schemes
The British Embassy in Seoul has confirmed that, effective 31 January 2024, the number of nationals from South Korea who can apply for the Youth Mobility Scheme (YMS) visa each year is increasing from 1000 to 5000 and the upper age limit will also increase from 30 to 35.
South Korean nationals interested in applying for the YMS visa will no longer need to register their interest in a ballot and, instead, can apply at any time from 31 January if they meet the eligibility criteria.
