Finland
Stricter requirements for citizenship
The Finnish Parliament has approved a set of amendments to the Citizenship Act that will enter into force on 17 December 2025.
The amendments will introduce stricter requirements for acquiring Finnish citizenship. The amendments concern the requirement for sufficient financial resources, the integrity requirement, the establishment of identity and the loss of citizenship.
The new requirements will apply to applications submitted on 17 December 2025 or later. All citizenship applications that have been submitted before 17 December 2025 will be processed in accordance with the current Citizenship Act.
Requirement for sufficient financial resources
Applicants for Finnish citizenship must meet the requirement for sufficient financial resources. The applicant’s financial resources are not considered sufficient if the applicant has resorted to unemployment benefit or social assistance for longer than three months in total during the past two years. The applicant must provide a reliable account of his or her livelihood in Finland during the past two years. Exceptions to the income requirement can be made in certain cases.
Establishment of identity
Applicants who have been issued with an alien’s passport for obtaining a national passport are required to present a valid national passport or similar document to prove their identity.
Integrity requirement
Offences will have a more substantial impact on whether the applicant can be granted Finnish citizenship. The importance of national security will also be emphasised. The waiting periods resulting from offences will be longer. In future, a waiting period of one to eight years can be imposed in connection with a negative decision. Citizenship is not normally granted during the waiting period.
Loss of citizenship
The loss of Finnish citizenship will become more common in cases where the person has given false information or otherwise acted fraudulently when applying for citizenship. Serious offences, including terrorist, treason or high treason offences punishable by six years of imprisonment, can lead to the loss of citizenship.
It is important that applicants ensure they meet all the requirements for acquiring Finnish citizenship before applying. Those who apply for citizenship before meeting the requirements may receive a negative decision. A large number of citizenship applications that do not meet the requirements will make processing times longer.
Portugal
Consulates cancel appointments for job seeking visa applications
Portuguese diplomatic posts around the world have announced that, effective 23 October 2025, Portuguese consular offices and visa application centres of external service providers (i.e., VFS Global, BLS International and TLScontact) will no longer be able to accept job seeking visa applications, as this type of visa no longer exists as previously defined by law.
Therefore, all appointments for job seeking visas from that date will be cancelled.
This follows the announcement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 22 October 2025 of the publication of Law No. 61/2025, amending Article 57-A of Law No. 23/2007, which approved the Foreigners’ Law, regarding job seeking visas.
The key changes under the new law include the following:
- Visa validity is restricted to Portugal only, and no longer allows entry to other Schengen countries.
- A new visa for highly qualified job seekers is introduced, with stricter qualifying criteria than the existing job seeker visa.
- The “manifestation of interest” process is closed. This procedure previously allowed foreign nationals to regularise their stay after entering Portugal without a work or residence visa.
- Residence applications must now be submitted from abroad, through a Portuguese consulate.
- Nationals of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP) must now obtain a residence visa before travelling to Portugal.
- At least two years of legal residence is now required before family reunification applications can be accepted.
- Spouses and partners must be at least 18 years old and unions must be recognised under Portuguese law.
- Spouses and partners in stable unions must demonstrate at least 18 months of cohabitation before entering Portugal and then wait another 15 months after arrival before applying.
- Spouses and partners with minor or dependent children are exempt from the two-year rule, as are Golden Visa holders and highly qualified professionals.
- Applicants must now prove they have adequate housing and stable financial means without recourse to social support. The authorities may also request proof of language skills and knowledge of constitutional values.
- The immigration authority now has nine months, instead of three, to decide family reunification applications
Implementation is ongoing and requires further regulatory updates.
Switzerland / United Kingdom
UK-Switzerland Services Mobility Agreement extended
On 21 October 2025, the UK and Switzerland agreed a further extension to the existing UK-Switzerland Services Mobility Agreement (SMA) to cover the next four years, up to 31 December 2029. The extension will come into force on 1 December 2025.
The extension is intended to ensure that businesses and services providers in the UK and in Switzerland have the certainty they need to continue to make use of this arrangement, while the parties are negotiating a permanent solution to this in the Free Trade Agreement. This follows the announcement in November 2022 to extend the agreement.
The SMA allows UK professionals to travel freely to Switzerland and to work and deliver services visa-free for up to 90 days per year. The agreement also ensures UK professionals will not face economic interests tests or be required to secure work permits during these first 90 days of service supply.
The agreement also allows Swiss professionals to come to the UK and provide services under contract in a number of key skilled sectors through the UK’s service supplier visa for up to 12 months.
The SMA is supplemented by an agreement on the recognition of professional qualifications, which has been in force since March 2025.
United Kingdom
Increased fees for expediting sponsorship applications
The UK government has significantly increased certain fees for sponsorship applications.
Effective 21 October 2025:
- the fee for expedited processing of a sponsorship management request made by a Worker sponsor or Temporary worker sponsor has increased from £200 to £350;
- the fee for priority service for expedited processing of sponsor licence applications has increased from £500 to £750
