Visa & Immigration Update

The High Commission of India in Kuala Lumpur issued an advisory on 22 September warning Indian nationals not to use Malaysia's 30 day visa free facility to look for work. The mission points to a noticeable rise in Indian arrivals under visa free entry who have been misled by unscrupulous agents selling fake job promises.

The facility covers tourism and social visits only. Using it to seek employment is a clear breach of Malaysian immigration rules, and the consequences listed run from overstay and illegal status to exploitation, detention and legal action. Anyone travelling for work must hold a valid work permit or Visa With Reference before departure.

Genuine tourists are reminded to carry a confirmed return ticket and hotel booking alongside the arrival card and a valid passport.

In two days, Immigration New Zealand switches most visitor visa applications to the enhanced Immigration Online system. From 24 September, new applications across around 20 visitor categories must start there, including the standard Visitor Visa, Business Visitor Visa, Parent and Grandparent Visitor Visa, Medical Treatment Visitor Visa and Group Visitor Visa. The older system stops accepting new applications in these categories on the same day.

A handful of categories, including the Partner of a New Zealander and Child of a New Zealander Visitor Visas, stay on the old system for now, pending a separate transition.

China's National Immigration Administration confirmed on 21 September a nationwide rollout of online accommodation registration for foreign nationals staying anywhere other than a hotel. Article 39 of the Exit and Entry Administration Law requires visitors in private homes, guesthouses, boat houses or their own residences to register with police within 24 hours of arrival. Until now that usually meant an in person trip to the local station. An online filing now carries the same legal validity.

Filings run through the NIA Government Service Platform website, the NIA 12367 app, and mini programs on WeChat and Alipay, in English, French, Russian, Japanese, Korean and Chinese. Late registration can bring a warning or a fine. Foreign nationals returning to a self owned home or habitual residence while their residence permit is valid are exempt from repeat registration.

The Home Office's phased rollout of mandatory multi factor authentication on the Sponsor Management System, which began on 3 September, moves through the next cohort of sponsor licences this week. Every SMS login now needs a one time passcode sent by text or email on top of the usual username and password. Licences granted on or after 9 September have MFA switched on automatically, and Authorising Officers will start receiving email alerts for key licence activity.

Student sponsors follow after the worker routes. Level 2 user roles are being phased out entirely, with existing Level 2 users either upgraded to Level 1 where eligible or deactivated.

The government of President Abelardo de la Espriella, in office since 7 August, launched its first coordinated immigration enforcement operations this week in the border city of Cúcuta. The Cúcuta Citizen Security Secretariat, the National Police and Migración Colombia are running joint document checks in streets, parks and commercial premises to identify foreign nationals in irregular status.

Local authorities say the operations target people committing crimes or breaking immigration rules, not the Venezuelan population as a whole. Since the President announced that irregular migrants would be identified and deported, visits to Migración Colombia offices have climbed sharply as Venezuelans look for legal ways to stay.

The Kast administration is partially reviving a policy that lets Venezuelan nationals without a valid passport leave Chile on a safe conduct travel document issued by the Venezuelan government, as long as they are travelling to Venezuela. It is a partial rollback of a broader documentation circular rescinded earlier in the year.

Undocumented Venezuelans in Chile had struggled to leave at all, since neither Chilean authorities nor most destinations accepted expired passports for departure. The revived rule does not bring back the wider flexibility of the old circular.

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