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Compare visas, rules, and settlement pathways across 10 major destinations. Every page links to the primary government source and carries a last-reviewed date. We never give legal advice.
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
The UK runs a points-based work visa system anchored by the Skilled Worker route and the Global Talent route, alongside a Student route and a narrower set of family, investor and entrepreneur options.
Republic of Ireland
Ireland operates an employment permits system administered by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (DETE), with immigration permissions separately issued by Immigration Service Delivery (ISD).
Federal Republic of Germany
Germany offers one of Europe's widest work-migration toolkits after the 2023–24 Skilled Immigration Act reforms: the EU Blue Card, Chancenkarte (Opportunity Card), general skilled-worker visas, and recognition-partnership routes for non-EU professionals.
Portuguese Republic
Portugal runs residence visas (D-series) administered by consulates and AIMA (Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum, which replaced SEF in late 2023).
Kingdom of Spain
Spain offers residence permits through consulates abroad and Oficinas de Extranjería inside Spain, with headline routes including the Digital Nomad Visa introduced under the 2022 Startup Law, Non-Lucrative Visa for passive-income residents, and the Highly Qualified Professional permit.
Kingdom of the Netherlands
The Netherlands operates the IND-administered Highly Skilled Migrant scheme via recognised sponsors, the EU Blue Card, the orientation year for recent international graduates, and a self-employed route under various treaties including DAFT for US nationals.
United Arab Emirates
The UAE issues residence via employer-sponsored work permits, Golden Visa long-term residence for skilled professionals and investors, the Green Visa for self-sponsored skilled workers, and a remote-work visa for overseas employees.
Canada
Canada's permanent-residence system is dominated by Express Entry, covering Federal Skilled Worker, Canadian Experience Class and Federal Skilled Trades, plus Provincial Nominee Programs.
Commonwealth of Australia
Australia operates a points-based SkillSelect system for permanent and provisional skilled visas alongside employer-sponsored subclasses (482 TSS, 186 ENS, 494 Regional), Working Holiday Maker subclasses, and student and global talent visas.
United States of America
The US issues nonimmigrant visas (H-1B, L-1, O-1, F-1, J-1) and immigrant visas (employment-based EB-1 through EB-5, family-based, diversity).
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·nl·material
Netherlands publishes 2026 Kennismigrant salary thresholds
IND confirmed the 2026 age-tiered Kennismigrant (highly skilled migrant) salary thresholds and reduced post-Zoekjaar thresholds.
·ie·material
Ireland refreshes Critical Skills Occupation List
The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment published a refreshed Critical Skills Occupation List, adding several construction and care-related roles and tightening criteria for some ICT roles.
·es·significant
Spain closes its Golden Visa programme
Spain’s residence permit for investors (Golden Visa) closed to new applications on 3 April 2025 following Organic Law 1/2025.
·au·significant
Australia replaces 482 TSS with the Skills in Demand visa
Australia launched the Skills in Demand (SID) visa, replacing the Temporary Skill Shortage (subclass 482) framework with three income-based streams.
·ca·significant
Canada tightens Post-Graduation Work Permit eligibility
IRCC introduced significant changes to PGWP eligibility, including field-of-study restrictions for most programmes and new language-test requirements.
·pt·material
Portugal tightens D8 digital-nomad documentation requirements
AIMA clarified documentation expectations for the D8 digital-nomad visa, standardising how contract income, remote-work arrangements, and minimum income evidence are assessed.