Visa Policy

Visa policy is the process by which countries decide which noncitizens they wish to admit—either as short-term travelers, international students, temporary workers, or permanent immigrants. Beyond setting quotas and outlining which characteristics are most important in immigrant selection, visa policy also has a public diplomacy aspect, with visa facilitation, for example, serving as a sign of the strength of bilateral relations. The research here examines the permutations of visa policy around the world.

Recent Activity

Reports February 2024 Outmatched: The U.S. Asylum System Faces Record Demands By Kathleen Bush-Joseph	Multimedia January 24, 2024 Are the Pacific’s Climate Migration Experiments a Preview for the World?
Reports January 2024 Expanding Protection Options? Flexible Approaches to Status for Displaced Syrians, Venezuelans, and Ukrainians By Andrew Selee, Susan Fratzke, Samuel Davidoff-Gore and Luisa Feline Freier	Articles January 19, 2024 Biden at the Three-Year Mark: The Most Active Immigration Presidency Yet Is Mired in Border Crisis Narrative By Muzaffar Chishti, Kathleen Bush-Joseph, and Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh
Articles November 29, 2023 Antiquated U.S. Immigration System Ambles into the Digital World By Muzaffar Chishti and Julia Gelatt	Articles November 16, 2023 Climate Migration 101: An Explainer By Lawrence Huang
Multimedia September 18, 2023 20th Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference	Articles October 25, 2023 Can the Biden Immigration Playbook Be Effective for Managing Arrivals via Sea? By Muzaffar Chishti, Kathleen Bush-Joseph, and Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh

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Reports May 2023 Apuesta por la regularidad migratoria: Respuestas de América Latina y el Caribe frente a la crisis del desplazamiento venezolano By Luciana Gandini and Andrew Selee	Reports May 2023 Betting on Legality: Latin American and Caribbean Responses to the Venezuelan Displacement Crisis By Luciana Gandini and Andrew Selee
Reports March 2023 Migration, Integration, and Diaspora Engagement in the Caribbean: A Policy Review By Valerie Lacarte, Jordi Amaral, Diego Chaves-González, Ana María Sáiz and Jeremy Harris	Policy Briefs February 2023 Unblocking the U.S. Immigration System: Executive Actions to Facilitate the Migration of Needed Workers By Julia Gelatt
Reports February 2023 External Processing: A Tool to Expand Protection or Further Restrict Territorial Asylum? By Pauline Endres de Oliveira and Nikolas Feith Tan	Reports June 2022 The Future of Remote Work: Digital Nomads and the Implications for Immigration Systems By Kate Hooper and Meghan Benton
Reports June 2022 Programas de trabajadores temporales en Canadá, México y Costa Rica: ¿Son vías prometedoras para gestionar la migración centroamericana? By Cristobal Ramón, Ariel G. Ruiz Soto, María Jesús Mora and Ana Martín Gil	Reports June 2022 Temporary Worker Programs in Canada, Mexico, and Costa Rica: Promising Pathways for Managing Central American Migration? By Cristobal Ramón, Ariel G. Ruiz Soto, María Jesús Mora and Ana Martín Gil

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The U.S. Coast Guard interdicts a vessel with Cuban migrants.

Policy Beat

October 25, 2023

Can the Biden Immigration Playbook Be Effective for Managing Arrivals via Sea?

Amid the highest Caribbean maritime migration levels in a generation, the Biden administration is relying on a carrot-and-stick strategy it honed amid record unauthorized migration at the U.S.-Mexico border. The approach, combining limits on asylum, expanded legal pathways, and international enforcement partnerships, could be increasingly important if maritime migration rises, as this article explains.

Feature

June 6, 2023

In Canada’s French-Speaking Quebec, Immigration Sparks Anxieties about Language and Identity

Canada's ambitions to dramatically increase immigration have met resistance in Quebec, the country's only majority-French province, where many worry their identity is under threat. Provincial officials have sought to fortify the role of the French language in society through academic, immigration, and linguistic policies, but the language nonetheless faces demographic threats, as this article explains.

Venezuelan migrants at the Colombian border.

Feature

April 11, 2023

In a Dramatic Shift, the Americas Have Become a Leading Migration Destination

Political and economic crises, new free-movement arrangements, and other trends are transforming countries across Latin America and the Caribbean, a region once known primarily for its emigration. The number of immigrants living in the region has nearly doubled since 2010, an incredible change in a short period of time. This article makes sense of a profound transition underway in the Western Hemisphere.

Migrantes venezolanos en la frontera colombiana.

Feature

April 11, 2023

El Cambio de los Patrones y Políticas Migratorios en las Américas

Los países de América Latina y el Caribe están siendo transformados por crisis políticas y económicas, nuevos acuerdos de libre circulación y otras tendencias. La cantidad de inmigrantes que viven en la región casi se ha duplicado desde 2010, un cambio increíble en un corto período de tiempo. Este artículo da sentido a una profunda transición en curso en el hemisferio occidental.

President Joe Biden at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Policy Beat

January 26, 2023

Biden at the Two-Year Mark: Significant Immigration Actions Eclipsed by Record Border Numbers

At his term's midpoint, President Joe Biden has relied on executive action to advance his immigration agenda more than his predecessors, including Donald Trump. Yet many of the changes to interior enforcement, humanitarian protection, and other areas have been overshadowed by the record pace of arrivals at the U.S.-Mexico border, which has presented the administration with major policy and operational challenges.

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Expert Q&A, Audio

March 15, 2023

The Golden Ticket? Exploring the World of Investor Visas

Investor visa programs have become popular for countries seeking to attract foreign investment and stimulate economic growth. But how exactly do these programs work, and what are the potential benefits and drawbacks? MPI’s Kate Hooper speaks with Madeleine Sumption, the director of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, about the range of investment visa programs, applicants’ motives, and more.

Expert Q&A, Audio

February 2, 2023

In from the Cold? Should Climate Migrants Get Special Legal Migration Pathways?

Should countries extend legal protections to people displaced by climate change? This episode of Changing Climate, Changing Migration contemplates the merits of such an approach, featuring Ama Francis, a climate displacement project strategist with the International Refugee Assistance Project and Columbia Law School’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law.

Video, Audio

December 13, 2022

The Ukrainian Displacement Crisis: A Conversation with the European Commission's Director General for Migration and Home Affairs

Monique Pariat, the European Commission’s Director General for Migration and Home Affairs, spoke to the DC policy community on Europe’s rapid response to the Ukrainian displacement crisis, lessons learned, and considerations for future policies.

Evacuees prepare to board a C-17 Globemaster III at Hamid Karzai International Airport, Afghanistan, Aug. 18, 2021

Video, Audio

August 10, 2022

One Year On: The Situation for At-Risk Afghans in Afghanistan and Abroad

Marking the one-year withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and the fall of Kabul to the Taliban, this webinar reflects on the humanitarian and development challenges in Afghanistan and for neighbors, the difficult choices facing aid donors, and what needs to be done to ensure at-risk Afghans can reach safety.

Video, Audio

June 14, 2022

Alternativas a la migración irregular: Ampliación de los programas de trabajo temporal en Canadá, México y Costa Rica

Este seminario web, que presenta el lanzamiento de un informe, examina el potencial de Canadá, México y Costa Rica para expandir los programas de trabajadores temporales para los centroamericanos, ofreciendo un medio importante para convertir algunos flujos irregulares en flujos legales.

Recent Activity

Video, Expert Q&A, Audio

November 9, 2020

What Is Immigration Policy Expected to Look Like in a Biden Administration?

What actions might the incoming Biden administration take on immigration, whether to unwind some of the most restrictive Trump policies or advance an affirmative agenda of its own? And what challenges and opportunities will the Biden administration face? MPI experts analyze the campaign pledges and prospects ahead, for everything from reversing the Remain in Mexico program and cuts to legal immigration, ending border wall construction, and reviving DACA and refugee resettlement, as well as new policies such as legalization.

Policy Briefs

November 2020

At the Starting Gate: The Incoming Biden Administration’s Immigration Plans

Joe Biden pledged during his campaign to reverse some of the most restrictive immigration actions undertaken during Donald Trump’s four years in office. While some actions can be undone with the stroke of a pen, others will take more time. This policy brief outlines the incoming administration’s top immigration priorities, examines challenges and opportunities ahead, and previews MPI policy ideas that could improve the immigration system and advance the national interest.

Expert Q&A, Audio

October 28, 2020

The COVID-19 Shock to the System of Human Mobility and the International Response

As the world reopens after the pandemic, how does global governance need to be improved to restart human mobility safely and securely? In this episode of Moving Beyond Pandemic, host Meghan Benton speaks to Elizabeth Collett, Special Advisor to the International Organization for Migration’s Director General, to get a global overview of what is happening with migration and mobility and discusses the challenges and opportunities the pandemic poses for global governance.

Video, Audio, Webinars

October 22, 2020

COVID-19, the Withdrawal Agreement and Citizens' Rights: No Time to Waste

This webinar explores how governments’ implementation plans for the Brexit withdrawal agreement have been affected by COVID-19, and the potential implications for citizens’ rights at the end of the transition period and beyond. Among the topics covered: which mobile populations are most at risk at the intersection between Brexit and the pandemic, and what contingency measures might mitigate these vulnerabilities and keep timelines on track.

Commentaries

October 2020

Broad and Blunt, the Trump Administration’s H-1B Changes Miss the Opportunity for Real Reform

The Trump administration's changes to the H-1B visa program are the most significant in three decades, promising to end the practice of replacing U.S. workers with highly skilled immigrants. While the problems the administration has identified and the interest in protecting U.S. workers are legitimate ones, its approach may cripple the H-1B program itself, as this commentary explains.

Articles

September 16, 2020

College-Educated Immigrants in the United States

Nearly 13 million immigrants have a four-year college degree or better. But these highly educated immigrants are not spread evenly throughout the labor market. They make up disproportionate shares of certain jobs, especially in the science and technology fields, accounting for 45 percent of software developers, 42 percent of physical scientists, and 29 percent of physicians. Yet there are signs that the trends of this population might be changing, as this article explores.

Video, Audio, Webinars

September 10, 2020

The U.S. Immigration Policymaker-in-Chief: The Long History of Executive Authority over Immigration

Top legal scholars discuss the Trump administration’s substantial use of executive power to change the country’s course on immigration, how this compares to past administrations, and how the president’s role in immigration policy could be carefully considered and reimagined.

Commentaries

August 2020

When Emergency Measures Become the Norm: Post-Coronavirus Prospects for the Schengen Zone

Most EU Member States closed their borders to travel from neighboring countries in the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic. While internal borders in the Schengen zone largely reopened in time for summer holidays, there is a lingering sense they could snap shut anew. Though the reflexive introduction of border controls speaks to an inherent lack of trust between states, the 2015-16 migration crisis offers lessons on how to begin to rebuild trust, as this commentary explores.

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