E.g., 04/23/2024
E.g., 04/23/2024
Visa Policy

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

Multimedia
May 24, 2022
En Busqueda de Seguridad: Opciones de protección regional para personas de Centroamérica
Image of young Afghan girls.
Articles
July 13, 2022
Welcoming Afghans and Ukrainians to the United States: A Case in Similarities and Contrasts
By Muzaffar Chishti and Jessica Bolter
Multimedia
June 14, 2022
Alternativas a la migración irregular: Ampliación de los programas de trabajo temporal en Canadá, México y Costa Rica
Cover image for The Future of Remote Work
Reports
June 2022
The Future of Remote Work: Digital Nomads and the Implications for Immigration Systems
By  Kate Hooper and Meghan Benton
Multimedia
June 14, 2022
Promising Alternatives to Irregular Migration: Expanding Temporary Worker Programs in Canada, Mexico, and Costa Rica
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other leaders at the 2022 Summit of the Americas
Commentaries
June 2022
La Declaración de Los Ángeles podría representar un gran paso para la cooperación migratoria real en las Américas
By  Andrew Selee
Cover image for Programas de trabajadores temporales en Canadá, México y Costa Rica
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
Cover image for Temporary Worker Programs in Canada, Mexico, and Costa Rica
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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Refugee Sponsorship Programs: A Global State of Play and Opportunities for Investment
Policy Briefs
December 2019
Refugee Sponsorship Programs: A Global State of Play and Opportunities for Investment
By  Susan Fratzke, Lena Kainz, Hanne Beirens, Emma Dorst and Jessica Bolter
Coverthumb MPI Migracion Mexico EstadosUnidos SPANISH
Reports
September 2019
Invertir en el vecindario: Cambios en los patrones de migración entre México y Estados Unidos y oportunidades para una cooperación sostenible
By  Andrew Selee, Silvia E. Giorguli-Saucedo, Ariel G. Ruiz Soto and Claudia Masferrer
Coverthumb US Mexico Migration English
Reports
September 2019
Investing in the Neighborhood: Changing Mexico-U.S. Migration Patterns and Opportunities for Sustainable Cooperation
By  Andrew Selee, Silvia E. Giorguli-Saucedo, Ariel G. Ruiz Soto and Claudia Masferrer
Policy Briefs
August 2019
Rethinking U.S. Immigration Policy: New Realities Call for New Answers
By  Doris Meissner
Coverthumb TCM Competitiveness CouncilStatement
Reports
July 2019
Equipping Immigrant Selection Systems for a Changing World of Work (Transatlantic Council Statement)
By  Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Meghan Benton and Kate Hooper
Coverthumb_TCM Start Up Visas
Reports
July 2019
Start-Up Visas: A Passport for Innovation and Growth?
By  Liam Patuzzi
Coverthumb TCM Competitiveness Australia
Reports
May 2019
The Evolution of the Australian System for Selecting Economic Immigrants
By  Anna Boucher and Amy Davidson
Reports
May 2019
Immigration-Related Policy Changes in the First Two Years of the Trump Administration
By  Sarah Pierce

Pages

Two officials visit the China-Uganda Agricultural Cooperation Industrial Park in Uganda.
Feature
July 21, 2021
As Migration and Trade Increase between China and Africa, Traders at Both Ends Often Face Precarity

Trade between China and Africa has ballooned, reaching nearly $200 billion in 2019. Yet many of the migrant entrepreneurs and traders who contribute to this relationship live in precarious positions in both China and Africa. This article explores the informal systems navigated by many migrants in both regions and the policies that drive the precarity in which many of these traders live.

The flags of the United States and Canada.
Spotlight
June 15, 2021
Canadian Immigrants in the United States

The United States and Canada share the world's longest land border and similar cultures. But Canadians account for a tiny and shrinking share of all U.S. immigrants. Canadian immigrants tend to have higher educations and be older than other immigrant groups. This Spotlight explores the history and features of the Canadian immigrant population in the United States.

Flags of the European Union fly outside of the European Parliament in Brussels.
Feature
June 3, 2021
Borderless Europe: Seven Decades of Free Movement

Between Brexit and COVID-19, Europe’s 31-country zone of free movement has been profoundly tested. Still, the area has constantly evolved over the last 70 years, to include new groups of individuals who can freely move for work, study, or leisure, as well as cover larger geographic areas. This article examines the history and challenges to free movement, a crowning success of the European project.

Two men talk during a retiree luncheon
Policy Beat
May 26, 2021
Slowing U.S. Population Growth Could Prompt New Pressure for Immigration Reform

Results from the 2020 census show that the U.S. population has been growing at its slowest rate since the Great Depression. Reduced immigration has been one component of this sluggish population growth, which could pose a problem for the United States as people age and strain public retirement systems. This U.S. Policy Beat article examines how immigration fits into the country's demographic puzzle.

President Joe Biden speaks to journalists at the White House.
Policy Beat
April 26, 2021
Border Challenges Dominate, But Biden’s First 100 Days Mark Notable Under-the-Radar Immigration Accomplishments

During his first 100 days in office, U.S. President Joe Biden took more than three times as many executive actions on immigration as predecessor Donald Trump. While rising encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border have captured major attention, Biden has been remarkably active in areas that have received far less attention, including interior enforcement. This article explores the administration's actions during its first three months.

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Cecilia Munoz and Carlos Gutierrez
Video, Audio
August 12, 2019

Rethinking U.S. Immigration Policy: Building a Responsive, Effective Immigration System

This discussion marked the launch of MPI's Rethinking U.S. Immigration Policy Initiative, which aims to generate a big-picture, evidence-driven vision of the role immigration should play in America’s future, as well as to build a bipartisan center so needed reforms can be enacted.

Video, Audio
May 17, 2019

"Merit-Based" Immigration: Designing Successful Selection Systems

With the U.S. administration calling for the United States to adopt a more “merit-based” immigrant selection system, this conversation focused on what policymakers should consider in designing—and managing—immigrant selection systems in a time of intense labor-market and demographic change.

Video, Audio
February 28, 2019

Una nueva política migratoria para una nueva era: Una conversación con la Secretaria de Gobernación Olga Sánchez Cordero

Durante su primera visita oficial a Washington, DC, la Secretaria de Gobierno Olga Sánchez Cordero presento un discurso público sobre la nueva política migratoria de México en el Instituto de Políticas Migratorias.

flicrk CIDH visita la frontera de Colombia con Venezuela
Audio
January 31, 2019

Creatividad Dentro de la Crisis: Opciones Legales para Inmigrantes Venezolanos en América Latina

Convocamos un seminario en línea en la ocasión del lanzamiento del informe que describe donde se han radicado los migrantes venezolanos; las medidas que han utilizado los gobiernos latinoamericanos para regularizar el estatus legal de los migrantes venezolanos; y los esfuerzos por integrar a los recién llegados en sus nuevas comunidades de residencia.

MPI Event Betilde Muñoz-Pogossian
Video, Audio
January 30, 2019

Creative Policy Responses in Latin America to the Venezuelan Migration Crisis

With more than 3 million Venezuelans having fled their country in crisis, this event features the release of an MPI-OAS report that examines the creative responses that host countries in Latin America are providing.

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Recent Activity

Articles
April 24, 2020

Vulnerable to COVID-19 and in Frontline Jobs, Immigrants Are Mostly Shut Out of U.S. Relief

On the frontlines of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic yet also more disproportionately affected by the virus and with reduced health-care access, immigrants in the United States have largely found themselves blocked from federal economic relief. As states and philanthropic groups seek to plug the gap, this article examines conditions and changing policies around immigration and the coronavirus response.

Audio, Webinars
April 8, 2020

Humanitarian Protection in an Era of Pandemic

MPI and MPI Europe experts discuss the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on asylum systems in Europe and North America, as well as in developing regions, where 85 percent of refugees live. During this freeform conversation, our analysts also assess the implications for the principle of asylum and the future for a post-World War II humanitarian protection system that is under threat.
 

Reports
April 2020

Immigration and U.S. National Security: The State of Play Since 9/11

The U.S. government has made important progress in shoring up weaknesses at the nexus of immigration and national security since September 11, 2001. But as new threats emerge and evolve—including public-health emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic—the question is whether the post-9/11 system is up to the task of meeting these challenges, as this report explores.

Audio, Webinars
April 2, 2020

COVID-19 in Latin America: Tackling Health Care & Other Impacts for Vulnerable Migrant Populations

This MPI webinar brought together public health and migration experts to analyze the impact that COVID-19 preventative measures will have on vulnerable immigrants and refugees in Colombia and Latin America. Speakers also discussed how policymakers and international organizations can include migrant populations in their emergency response plans.

Articles
April 2, 2020

Africa Deepens its Approach to Migration Governance, But Are Policies Translating to Action?

While migration once was a lower-priority topic for African governments, the last decade has seen a deepening in governance. Policymakers have integrated migration into their national development strategies and mainstreamed it across policy domains such as health and education. The actions are promising on paper, yet questions remain about the extent to which they will translate to more effective migration management.

Expert Q&A, Audio
March 31, 2020

Expert Podcast: Meeting Seasonal Labor Needs in the Age of COVID-19

Governments are facing urgent pandemic-related questions. One of the more pressing ones: Who is going to harvest crops in countries that rely heavily on seasonal foreign workers? In this podcast, MPI experts examine ways in which countries could address labor shortages in agriculture, including recruiting native-born workers and letting already present seasonal workers stay longer. Catch an interesting discussion as border closures have halted the movement of seasonal workers even as crops are approaching harvest in some places.

Commentaries
March 2020

A Race Against the Clock: Meeting Seasonal Labor Needs in the Age of COVID-19

As governments have reacted to the coronavirus pandemic by closing borders, seasonal workers have been kept out, raising a pressing question: who is going to produce the food amid agricultural labor shortages? Policymakers in the Asia Pacific, Europe, and North America have responded by seeking to recruit residents, lengthen stays for already present seasonal workers, and find ways to continue admitting foreign seasonal labor, as this commentary explores.

Articles
March 26, 2020

Crisis within a Crisis: Immigration in the United States in a Time of COVID-19

The global COVID-19 pandemic has brought into sharp focus the intersection of U.S. immigration and public health policy, and the unique challenges that immigrants face. This article analyzes the Trump administration’s introduction of some of the most stringent immigration restrictions in modern times, the often disparate fallout of the outbreak on immigrant communities, the status of federal immigration agency operations, and more.

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