E.g., 10/02/2023
E.g., 10/02/2023
Visa Policy

Visa Policy

_VisaPolicy

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

Cover image for Refugee Resettlement and Complementary Pathways: Opportunities for Growth
Reports
September 2021
Refugee Resettlement and Complementary Pathways: Opportunities for Growth
By  Susan Fratzke, Maria Belen Zanzuchi, Kate Hooper, Hanne Beirens, Lena Kainz, Nathan Benson, Eliza Bateman and Jessica Bolter
Refugees prepare to be resettled in the United Kingdom.
Articles
August 19, 2021
United Kingdom’s Decades-Long Immigration Shift Interrupted by Brexit and the Pandemic
By Will Somerville and Peter William Walsh
An Afghan man speaks to an interpeter working with the U.S. Marine Corps.
Articles
July 27, 2021
U.S. Government Rush to Evacuate Afghan Allies and Allocate Sufficient Special Visas Comes at Eleventh Hour
By Muzaffar Chishti and Julia Gelatt
Cover image for Future Scenarios for Global Mobility in the Shadow of Pandemic
Reports
July 2021
Future Scenarios for Global Mobility in the Shadow of Pandemic
By  Meghan Benton
Two officials visit the China-Uganda Agricultural Cooperation Industrial Park in Uganda.
Articles
July 21, 2021
As Migration and Trade Increase between China and Africa, Traders at Both Ends Often Face Precarity
By Daouda Cissé
The flags of the United States and Canada.
Articles
June 15, 2021
Canadian Immigrants in the United States
By Emma Israel and Jeanne Batalova
Photo of computer lab at the Jugaani village school in Georgia
Commentaries
June 2021
Achieving the “Partnership” in the European Union’s Talent Partnerships
By  Kate Hooper
Flags of the European Union fly outside of the European Parliament in Brussels.
Articles
June 3, 2021
Borderless Europe: Seven Decades of Free Movement
By Saara Koikkalainen

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Policy Briefs
February 2017
Trump Executive Order on Refugees and Travel Ban: A Brief Review
By  Sarah Pierce and Doris Meissner
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Policy Briefs
July 2016
The Immigration Act of 1990: Unfinished Business a Quarter-Century Later
By  Muzaffar Chishti and Stephen Yale-Loehr
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Reports
March 2016
No Way Out? Making Additional Migration Channels Work for Refugees
By  Elizabeth Collett, Paul Clewett and Susan Fratzke
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Reports
March 2016
The Canadian Expression of Interest System: A Model to Manage Skilled Migration to the European Union?
By  Maria Vincenza Desiderio and Kate Hooper
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Reports
May 2015
From Refugee to Migrant? Labor Mobility's Protection Potential
By  Katy Long
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Reports
April 2015
Unaccompanied Child Migration to the United States: The Tension between Protection and Prevention
By  Marc R. Rosenblum
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Policy Briefs
December 2014
A ‘Freer’ Flow of Skilled Labour within ASEAN: Aspirations, Opportunities, and Challenges in 2015 and Beyond
By  Guntur Sugiyarto and Dovelyn Rannveig Mendoza
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Reports
October 2014
Selling Visas and Citizenship: Policy Questions from the Global Boom in Investor Immigration
By  Madeleine Sumption and Kate Hooper

Pages

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Feature
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.

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Policy Beat
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.

A nurse assists a woman in a wheelchair
Feature
February 20, 2020
Japan’s Labor Migration Reforms: Breaking with the Past?

Japan is hoping to bring in as many as 350,000 medium-skilled foreign workers over five years to fill labor market gaps in its rapidly aging society. Yet does this system of Specified Skilled Workers represent an effort to secure a workforce without making long-term settlement possible? And considering its linkage to a Technical Intern Training Program much criticized for abusive practices, does this change represent real reform? This article examines these and other issues.

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Spotlight
February 14, 2020
Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States

Interested in answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about immigration and immigrants in the United States? This incredible resource collects in one place top statistics from authoritative government and nongovernmental sources, offering a snapshot of the immigrant population, visa and enforcement statistics, and data on emerging trends, including the slowing of growth of the foreign-born population, changing origins, and increasing educational levels.

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Spotlight
December 5, 2019
Temporary Visa Holders in the United States

In fiscal year 2018, the U.S. State Department issued 9 million temporary visas, a 7 percent decrease from the previous year. Temporary visa issuance has been declining in recent years, and the Trump administration’s immigration priorities may help explain this trend. This Spotlight explores visa issuance and admission, and highlights key demographic information on visitors for pleasure and business, temporary workers, and foreign students.

 

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EventPH 2015.09.30 TheImmigrationandNationalityActof1965 ThenandNow
Video
September 30, 2015

The Immigration Act of 1965: Then and Now

Commemorating the 50th anniversary of passage of the Immigration Act of 1965, this symposium focuses on the political and policy dynamics that came together to make the law possible and how it changed the U.S. legal immigration system, the country's demographics, and future.

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Video, Audio
December 3, 2014

Digging Deeper Into Executive Action: A Further Examination of the Impacts

A discussion with MPI experts of the less-examined aspects of President Obama's executive actions on immigration, with respect to immigration enforcement, legal immigration, and immigrant integration.

EVENTPH 2014.10.28 The Global Boom in Investor Immigration (youtube E.Collett)v.3
Video
October 28, 2014

The Global Boom in Investor Immigration: What Are the Lessons For Policymakers?

A discussion on the extraordinary boom in investor immigration, including the rapidly expanding EB-5 visa in the United States, Malta’s controversial “cash for citizenship” policy and a host of programs across Europe and the Caribbean.

EventPH2 2014.8.13 Giving Cities and Regions a Greater Voice in Immigration Policy
Video
August 13, 2014

Giving Cities and Regions a Greater Voice in Immigration Policy

MPI researchers and representatives from London and Detroit discuss the policies and strategies used—at national and local levels—to attract immigrants into local economies.
EventPH 2014.02.27 A Treacherous Journey Child Migrants Navigating the U.S. Immigration System
Video, Audio
February 27, 2014

A Treacherous Journey: Child Migrants Navigating the U.S. Immigration System

This panel discussion on unaccompanied minors focuses on a report by Kids in Need of Defense and the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies at UC Hastings College of the Law, whose primary conclusion is that children face a U.S. immigration system created for adults that is not required to consider the child’s best interests.

Pages

Recent Activity

Reports
September 2021

Refugee Resettlement and Complementary Pathways: Opportunities for Growth

The number of people who have been forcibly displaced has grown to unprecedented levels. While the global refugee protection regime has come under incredible strain as a result, states have also shown creativity in the design of resettlement programs and complementary pathways. This report takes stock of these programs worldwide, identifies opportunities to scale them up, and assesses barriers that have hindered growth.

Articles
August 19, 2021

United Kingdom’s Decades-Long Immigration Shift Interrupted by Brexit and the Pandemic

The United Kingdom was once a country primarily of emigration, but in recent decades many more migrants have arrived at its borders than have left. This decades-long transition was interrupted by Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic, and this article describes the inflection point at which the country finds itself.

Articles
July 27, 2021

U.S. Government Rush to Evacuate Afghan Allies and Allocate Sufficient Special Visas Comes at Eleventh Hour

The U.S. government is racing to speed up the evacuation and immigration of Afghan translators and others who provided assistance during the 20-year war in Afghanistan. The eleventh-hour moves are a response to long delays and backlogs that have plagued the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program since it was unveiled more than a decade ago. This article provides an overview of the SIV program and the rush to evacuate Afghan allies.

Reports
July 2021

Future Scenarios for Global Mobility in the Shadow of Pandemic

More than 18 months since the first COVID-19-related travel restrictions were introduced, the pandemic’s effects on global mobility are still unfolding. With vaccination campaigns picking up speed in some places while only beginning in others, and new variants of the virus emerging, the timeline for restarting international migration and travel remains uncertain. This report explores how different policy choices could result in very different mobility realities.

Articles
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.

Articles
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.

Commentaries
June 2021

Achieving the “Partnership” in the European Union’s Talent Partnerships

The European Commission marks a new chapter in EU cooperation on migration with third countries with the launch of its Talent Partnerships, which seek to combine mobility schemes for work or training with investments in third countries in related areas, such as vocational education and training. The success of these partnerships will hinge on the degree of support they can win from Member States, the private sector, and third countries.

Articles
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.

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