The Top Ten Toughest Immigration Laws In The World

During the week that Australia is set to reach a population of 25 million on August 8th, 2018, due to unprecedented immigration, some 24 years earlier than projected. Trump vows to crack down on immigration and the UK braces itself for Brexit.

Haskew Law, a UK-based global immigration firm, has published their report on the top 10 countries with the toughest immigration controls. The findings highlight that not everywhere feels the same way about the benefits of immigration.

1. Japan

Since the spring of 2009, the "Nikkei" Law (Nikkei refers to a Latin American immigrant of Japanese descent) offers unemployed Latin American immigrants 3,000 US Dollars to leave Japan and return to their home country, Foreign Policy reported. Their family members also get 2,000 US Dollars for the relocation. There's just one catch: You only get the payment if you promise that you will never return to Japan to work.

2. Denmark

Denmark's most scrutinized laws on immigration is the 24-year rule, which states that for the foreign spouse of a Danish citizen to qualify for citizenship, both the Danish spouse and the foreign spouse must be at least 24 years old. The rule's purpose is to limit the number of immigrants, prevent forced marriages, and create a better integration process.

3. Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia’s government is keen to protect the country's status quo, and doesn’t want to compromise its cultural values or standard of living by allowing foreigners to become permanent members of society. Your only route to becoming a naturalised citizen is by marriage to a national; even this, however, doesn’t guarantee citizenship, particularly for non-Muslims.

4. China

Chinese citizenship is legally authorised, but in practice is near impossible. According to the Law of Citizenship, if you're a foreigner seeking Chinese citizenship, you must be either: a relative of Chinese citizens, or permanently living in China, making Immigration to China one of the hardest in the world. Despite a population approaching 1.4 billion, during the Fifth National Population Census (2000) there were only 941 naturalized citizens who did not belong to a recognised Communist Party.

5. South Korea

As a country that places a high value on its ethnic and cultural homogeneity, Korea only allows temporary low-skilled workers to do the difficult, dangerous and demanding jobs. To become a Korean citizen is virtually impossible. The number of Koreans living abroad exceeds the number of migrants within Korea, with more than 2 million Koreans residing elsewhere, many in advanced countries including the United States, Canada, Australia, and Japan.

6. The Gulf States

The Gulf states allow a huge immigrant influx to meet the demand for cheap, low-skilled labour, but the immigrants are temporary, with no rights to permanent residency and must leave once their job has finished and they have no rights to join a union or other employment protection. There is also no access to health care or education.

7. Switzerland

To be considered for permanent residency you must live in Switzerland for 10 years. To be eligible to do that, you must either be a high-net-worth investor, married to a Swiss partner or be employed by a Swiss company in a highly skilled and well-paid roll. In short, those who want to emigrate to Switzerland have a mountain to climb.

8. Austria

Most migration to Austria is done on a flexible system which is known as the Red-White-Red Card and is designed to grant residence based on the skills of potential incoming workers and the shortages in the Austrian labour market. The issue is there are only 11 professions that qualify under the scheme unless a person has exceptional, critical skills in demand. This makes Austria impossible to move to unless you have a very specific skills set.

9. Nigeria

Long-term expats are required to apply for a Combined Expatriate Residence Permit and Aliens Card (CERPAC), which acts as both a work permit and a residence permit. Holding an employment offer or contract is necessary, and a CERPAC is always tied to a specific job. If you leave Nigeria, you must apply for a re-entry visa. Nigeria like most African countries has strong cultural priorities and does not promote immigration.

10. India

There is no path to legal permanent residency for foreigners who are not of Indian ancestry, except through marriage or by giving up their original citizenship to become naturalised. A person must leave India every five years to re-apply for their long-term visa. Even if you own a business in India and invested heavily in the economy India will never grant you residency.

Source Contact Details:

Haskew Law

Jack Haskew

https://haskewlaw.com

jack.h@haskewlaw.com

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