Immigration Law - Comparison of Immigration Visa Categories By Country

Comparison of Immigration Visa Categories By Country

The most important decision for immigrant is to choose a country to move to. It is based on current and past immigration regulations of the considered country and a number of life conditions there. It is important to make sure that immigration legislation of chosen country will allow achieving a settlement and/or citizenship within certain period of time. This article is an attempt to classify and bring together the information about immigration legislation on a number of most popular countries.

Country Employer Sponsored Work Visa Independent Work Visa Businessman, Self-employed or Entrepreneur Investor Ph.D. or Scientist Spouse Asylum Seeker By birth while both of parents are foreign nationals Studying as a migration route Illegal Migrant Citizenship Special arrangements
IND No restrictions After 12 years of residence (of which 1 year should be continuous)
USA Through H1B lottery, many applicants failed to receive a settlement after 6 years and had to leave the country. EB-1 Extraordinary Ability - for internationally recognized scientists, sportsman etc. EB-5: you need to invest $500.000 Ph.D. allows to apply for EB2 visa which makes it possible to avoid H1B lottery and get a green card faster than those on H1B Available After 5 years of permanent residence known as Green Card Green Card Lottery
United Kingdom British nationality law Tier 2 - settlement (ILR) after 5 years. A limit on number of Tier 2 migrants per year introduced by new government which makes it very difficult to find an employer willing to sponsor the visa. Tier 2 Intra-company transfers do not lead to settlement (ILR). (practically not available since April 2011) Tier 1 General - settlement (ILR) after 5 years. A limit on 1000 Tier 1 migrants per year introduced by new government. Besides that the migration legislation changes on average every six months which makes Britain not attractive for skilled migrants looking for a second nationality. Tier 1 Entrepreneur Tier 1 Investor There is no specific category here but it is easier for universities (as opposed to businesses) to acquire a Tier 2 visa ILR is provided after 2 years in marriage or partnership. UK is a popular destination for asylum seekers. Due to high number of asylum seekers, the Asylum Tribunal seems to be very unlikely to recognize even very irresistible proofs for asylum grounds. British citizenship can be obtained as a right for anybody who was born in Britain before 1994. After 1994, it can only be obtained by birth if at least one parent was settled there. It is also available as of right for people of whom one parent is a British citizen otherwise than by descent". All other classes of British Nationality do not confer right of abode in the UK to the holder. Tier4 Full-time students used to be are allowed to work up to 20 hours a week, which is now changed to 10 hours. After 10 years of continuous presence in the country on residential visas ILR is provided (this is probably not valid any more). For those who graduated in the UK there is After 15 years of continuous illegal but proven presence in the country ILR is provided. Citizenship is provided after 1 year of Permanent residency. Permanent residency in the UK is known as settlement or "Indefinite Leave to Remain" (ILR). EU citizens (temporary except Bulgaria and Romania), as created by the Treaty of Rome at 17 have the right to work, provide services or self-employment in the UK See also: Citizenship of the European Union

Some commonwealth citizens have right of abode in the UK, which for most practical purposes gives them the same rights as British Citizens in the UK.

Canada Official information Available but Canada reduced the number of jobs in demands. E.g. software engineers are now unable to use this route.
Australia Available
New Zealand Available
South Africa
Guernsey
Jersey
Gibraltar
Isle of Man Similar to British Tier1 General, but does not lead to EU nationality Similar to British Tier1 Entrepreneur, but does not lead to EU nationality
Hong Kong General Employment Policy (GEP); will receive Right of Abode (ROA) in Hong Kong, after 7 years continuous ordinary residence in Hong Kong. General Points Test (GPT) Capital Investment Entrant Scheme (CIES); you need to invest HK$10 million except on real estate; will receive Right of Abode (ROA) in Hong Kong, after 7 years continuous ordinary residence in Hong Kong. passing General Points Test (GPT) within Quality Migrant Admission Scheme (QMAS) Person under 21 years of age born in Hong Kong of foreigner with HK Permanent ID Card, will receive Right of Abode (ROA) in Hong Kong, but not Chinese nationality. Foreigner who is a Hong Kong Permanent ID Card holder may naturalise as Chinese national with HKSAR Passport, if applicant has settle in Hong Kong or Chinese territory, has near relatives of Chinese nationals, and other legitimate reasons. Mainland China issued a daily quota of 150 One Way Permits to mainland Chinese for Hong Kong settlement; will receive Right of Abode (ROA) in Hong Kong, after 7 years continuous ordinary residence in Hong Kong; plus the right to apply for a HKSAR Passport.
Israel Not available Law of Return
European Union Varies by member state Blue Card: will be available in 2012, except UK and Denmark
Austria May be available in the future, called Rot-Weiß-Rot-Card
Belgium
Bulgaria
Cyprus It is considered to be very unlikely to get nationality through work route Not available
Czech Republic Not available
Denmark Available: Danish Green Card
Estonia
Finland
France Not available
Germany Not available There are programs for Continental Refugees and Repatriates but the rules are severely tightened to prevent as little new migrants as possible to benefit from them.
Greece
Hungary
Ireland Not available Available
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg Luxembourgian nationality law
Malta
Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Romania Special arrangements for citizens of Moldova
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain Not available
Sweden
Singapore
NorwayNorwegian nationality law Min 4 years, see Norwegian nationality law#Naturalisation as a Norwegian citizen for more details. Min 7 years, see Norwegian nationality law#Naturalisation as a Norwegian citizen for more details. Citizens of other Nordic Council countries may naturalise after a two-year residence
Country Employer Sponsored Work Visa Independent Work Visa Businessman, Self-employed or Entrepreneur Investor Ph.D. or Scientist Spouse Asylum Seeker By birth Studying as a migration route Illegal Migrant Citizenship Special arrangements

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