News, Insights and Resources

WR Immigration’s December global immigration updates include the latest developments on the UK’s Electronic Travel Authorization applications, Canada’s ICT work permits, Australia’s Subclass 400 short-term work visas, and much more! UK Important Reminder: Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) applications for passport holders from the US, Canada and all other non-European visa exempt countries are now open. Travelers from these countries, who could previously enter the UK without a visa for up to 6 months for tourism or business, must now secure an ETA prior to arrival for any travel scheduled on or after January 8, 2025. Further information is available on the GOV.UK website. Canada Intra-Company Transfer (ICT) Work Permits Significant changes have been made to the eligibility criteria for ICT work permits for citizens of countries that are not subject to Free Trade Agreements with Canada, including citizens of China and India. Applicants from these countries should expect stricter guidelines that may in some cases limit their access to this category of work permit. Key changes to the requirements for these applicants include: While the above requirements apply only to applicants who are citizens of non-free trade agreement countries, “free trade” applicants, including citizens of the US and many European […]

In order to provide proactive strategies related to the hiring of foreign workers in Singapore in the context of the increasing labor market restrictions, here are recommended steps companies can take in advance of immigration sponsorship to meet government requirements going forward: Overview: The Ministry of Manpower of Singapore (MOM) has recently strengthened its Fair Consideration Framework (FCF) for greater deterrence against workplace discrimination. This has resulted in the MOM raising the administrative penalties across the board for all discrimination cases. These updates are intended to ensure that more jobs are advertised to locals as part of a fair hiring process, and there is no pre-selection of a foreign candidate. Exemption: Employers are not required to advertise on MyCareersFuture if any of the following applies: Your company has fewer than 10 employees. The fixed monthly salary for the vacancy is SGD 20,000 and above. The vacancy is short-term, i.e. not more than 1 month. The vacancy is to be filled by an intra-corporate transferee as defined by the World Trade Organization’s General Agreement on Trade in Services: (1) The employee must have worked for the company outside Singapore for at least 1 year before being posted to the branch, affiliate or subsidiary in Singapore; (2) The employee must be a manager, or executive, […]

The minimum salary for S Pass applicants will increase on January 1, 2020 to SGD 2400 per month, up from SGD 2300 per month. Fixed monthly allowances can be counted toward meeting the salary requirement.