On the bright side, it’s a great time to get a puppy – unfortunately, this is because travel seems to be a thing of the past. With restrictions set by most countries, hopping across borders is getting harder for both travel and immigration purposes. By April 2020, 90% of the world’s population (that’s 7.1 billion people) lived in countries with restrictions on people arriving from other countries. This included tourists, students, people traveling for business purposes, and new immigrants.

While the exact period seems to be changing constantly, most countries also have a self-quarantine period of 14 days in effect. A lot of these restrictions are still in place as we slide into 2021, with phrases like ‘border closures’ and ‘travel ban’ becoming commonplace. Employers have had to make changes to remain compliant with evolving regulations, so here we’ll take a look at some of these changes that could affect your organization.

United States

According to the National Immigration Forum, Trump’s administration has issued over 48 policy changes impacting nearly every facet of the immigration system since the start of the pandemic.The H-1B visa system, which allows American employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations, has been under constant modification.

As of January 8, 2021, the US announced that it is changing the selection process for the H-1B visa, prioritizing salary and skills over the current lottery system. Visa issuance declined in 2020, and there has been a significant backlog in permanent residence applications.