Iceland: Issue of Residence Cards Limited – Due to supply chain issues, Icelandic immigration authorities limit the issuance of residence cards to those with documentary evidence of travel needs. Residence card applicants who are delayed in obtaining a card may use their residence card approval letter as proof of residence during this time, although this letter cannot be used to re-enter Iceland after the trip. Concerned applicants are advised to plan the trip well in advance in order to obtain a residence card in time for the trip.
Paraguay: Yellow fever vaccination required for certain travelers entering and exiting Paraguay – Effective immediately, all travelers between the ages of one and 59 entering or exiting from Bolivia, Brazil, Peru or Venezuela must present a yellow fever vaccination certificate when entering or exiting Paraguay. Persons who have not received a yellow fever vaccination at least 10 days prior to their trip may not be allowed to board their flight or may be denied entry or exit from Paraguay. Paraguayan nationals and residents and travelers who are unable to vaccinate for medical reasons (with documentation issued by a certified physician) may opt-out of being vaccinated to enter Paraguay, but must be monitored by health authorities for 10 days upon arrival . The government is implementing this measure in response to outbreaks of yellow fever in these countries. Please contact your Fragomen representative for case-specific advice if you are planning to travel to or from these countries to or from Paraguay.
Peru: Delays in deciding consular visa applications – Foreign nationals applying for initial consular visas (including resident worker consular visas and appointed worker visas) are currently experiencing delays in the decision by the National Immigration Inspectorate. Some foreigners currently have processing times of three months or more for visa approvals (versus the standard legal processing time of 30 working days) and a month or more for local ID issuance after approval (instead of the usual week). Foreign nationals require a local ID card to be included on the local payroll. For this reason, foreign nationals and employers wishing to apply for a visa through a consular process should collect documents and submit their immigration applications earlier than usual and expect delayed labor and payroll appointments in the coming months. Domestic visa applications are currently not affected. Fragomen will inform affected applicants of possible delays and will report on relevant developments.
Peru: Technical issues with the online visa application system causing delays – The National Superintendence of Immigration’s online visa application system, “digital agency”, is currently experiencing technical issues preventing applicants from submitting initial and renewal visa applications. In Peru, all immigration processes are online and in-person visa applications are not available. Therefore, processing delays for all visa applications, including domestic and consular visas, can be expected over the next few weeks until the system is fully restored. Fragomen is actively monitoring the system and is contacting affected customers and will report any relevant updates where appropriate.
Qatar/South Korea: Visa Waiver Agreement signed – The governments of Qatar and South Korea have signed a bilateral agreement allowing for visa-free entry. Under the exemption, Qatari nationals on tourist visas can enter South Korea for up to 30 days and conduct business activities limited to market research, business meetings, consulting, contract signing, or small-scale international trade. You must obtain a K-ETA to perform the above activities. If they intend to stay longer than 30 days, they should apply for a consular visitor visa (probably a C-3-4 visa or other visa issued at the discretion of the consular post). South Korean nationals can enter Qatar without a visa for up to 90 days. It is not clear whether South Korean nationals can do business in Qatar under the agreement. This agreement aims to develop stronger economic ties between the two countries.
Slovakia: Improved state change proposed in country, among other changes – The Slovak government is proposing to allow foreign nationals to stay in Slovakia on the basis of a pending application for a temporary residence permit, which would make it easier for visa-exempt nationals to convert their status to authorized work in the country. Currently, these persons are required to have sufficient remaining authorized stay period in their visa-waiver passport to cover their stay from the date of arrival in the Schengen area to the approval of the residence permit, which makes changing status in the country difficult in practice. Visa nationals would still have to wait for approval abroad. The legislative proposal would also introduce stricter checks for self-employment renewals and for workers changing status to self-employed to tackle reported abuse of the self-employment permit. The proposal would formalize online filing options and introduce tighter border controls, among other changes. It is still unclear whether the proposal will be accepted by Parliament in its current form. If approved, the proposed measures are expected to come into effect on January 1, 2023.
