This article is part of a recurring series highlighting recent talent mobility industry reports. If you would like the WERC editorial team to consider covering a specific industry report, email mobility@worldwideerc.org.
Governments around the world are revisiting their immigration policies—tightening some rules, easing others—as they respond to political pressure, economic uncertainty, and shifting labor needs. The result is a more uneven, and often more complicated, environment for companies that rely on international talent.
Fragomen’s Worldwide Immigration Trends Report 2025 offers a look at the current landscape. The report tracks changes in more than 100 countries, highlighting where access is improving and where new obstacles are emerging. Despite improvements in processing systems across several regions, many nations have raised fees, extended wait times, and added new compliance checks.
The global average on Fragomen’s Talent Mobility Index remained flat at 42 in 2024, but that headline figure masks a more fragmented reality. While over 40 countries made it easier to bring in workers, 50 moved in the opposite direction. Talent mobility is still possible, but it’s more complex, and it demands more attention.
Planning for the Worst
Armed conflict and political instability in regions such as the Middle East, Ukraine, and Sudan continue to disrupt mobility and pose risks for internationally deployed staff. Fragomen recommends that companies take a proactive approach to crisis planning—not only to protect employees, but to ensure continuity in volatile environments. The report outlines key steps for building a responsive, region-specific risk strategy:
- Establish working groups with local office and headquarters representatives to coordinate decision-making during periods of instability.
- Evaluate and monitor any current or potential threats where employees are stationed, keeping staff updated on crisis developments in their regions.
- If security or stability deteriorates, advise employees to register with their embassy or local consular office.
- Inform staff of emergency protocols, including evacuation procedures and other safety measures, as well as emergency contacts.
- In crises, instruct employees to keep original biographical and travel documents, medical records, and travel insurance documentation accessible, with digital copies stored off-site.
- Identify potential exit routes, relocation destination countries, and remote work possibilities, including alternate land- or sea-based departure points in case flights are inaccessible.
Circumnavigating the Red Tape
Countries around the globe are tightening their immigration policies, seeking to attract top talent from abroad while boosting domestic employment numbers. This has resulted in barriers such as higher immigration fees and minimum salary levels for foreign nationals; a reduction in funding for immigration departments, which has delayed processing times for immigration; and additional procedural or administrative requirements, like labor market tests.
Fragomen offers some advice to organizations seeking to minimize the impacts of these barriers, such as focusing on the specific occupations and sectors being sought by various nations. Saudi Arabia, for example, offers self-sponsored long-term residency permits for special talent individuals in the health care and science sectors, while Brazil is expected to facilitate visas and residence permits for foreign nationals seeking to invest in its green sectors.
Some countries, meanwhile, are prioritizing professional experience over academic qualifications. Organizations can take advantage of this by focusing on skills-based recruitment, keeping in mind that conflict may arise in some areas with legacy rules governing employer-sponsored immigration programs, which tend to limit eligibility to occupations for which a degree is required. Another emerging trend is collaboration with refugee-focused recruiting organizations to find foreign talent.
In the meantime, avenues are available to expedite the application process for employees whose relocation is being sought, such as Sweden’s new four-tiered work permit application and Argentina’s expedited corporate process. The digitalization of immigration applications in Qatar, Singapore, and Australia can also be utilized. Nations are also increasingly offering long-term residency options to attract global talent. The United Arab Emirates’ Golden Visa and Saudi Arabia’s new Premium Residency Program are examples. Other nations are allowing the dependents of foreign workers to access the labor market, as observed in Luxembourg, Iceland, and Ireland, which businesses can take advantage of to tap into a previously underutilized talent resource.
Take Advantage of What’s Already There
As of October 2024, a majority of surveyed countries allowed foreign nationals to switch from student to work-authorized status without needing to leave the country. Germany’s Opportunity Card, Norway’s Job Seeker Visa, Qatar’s “Ouqoul” platform, and Brazil’s residence permit for graduates of Brazilian institutions are examples of pathways for organizations seeking to expand or diversify their talent resources. Additionally, programs available in such countries as Sweden, Australia, and Singapore can connect in-country foreign talent to future employers via internships, traineeships, or partnerships.
Stay Focused on the Rules
As immigration costs rise, immigration noncompliance penalties are increasing, and governments are getting more adept at enforcement thanks to technological advancements aided by AI. Numerous countries last year raised fees for noncompliance, including the United Kingdom, which doubled the penalty for illegal employment of foreign nationals; Taiwan, which increased the fine for foreign nationals who overstay their Alien Resident Card fourfold; and Luxembourg, which tripled the penalty for illegal employment of foreign nationals.
Challenges Likely to Continue
Fragomen cites elections in Europe, the U.S., and elsewhere as signaling that further tightening of immigration policies may be on the horizon. Already, some EU members are extending internal border controls, while on-site inspections have increased in such places as Indonesia and Norway. In South Africa, authorities have announced a recent increase in immigration-related inspections in some sectors. In Saudi Arabia, too, compliance enforcement actions are increasing.
While Fragomen’s Talent Mobility Index showed stability compared to last year when it comes to immigration policy worldwide, 2025 brings with it new political administrations, economic challenges, and geostrategic risks. Already, in the United States and the United Kingdom, major changes are being made that will impact foreign nationals, though pathways are also being established for in-demand, skilled talent. For organizations, the key will be to stay on top of world events and immigration rules.