Immigration

Over 1 million temporary passport holders in Thailand will not be allowed to renew their expiring residency documents, issued between 2009 and 2013 as part of a national verification process. Instead, they are being told to forfeit their legal status, and apply for “pink cards” that ...

The Laotian government has issued an urgent order for officials to get stricter on foreigners entering the country. Everyone entering Laos from 7 March must have complete documents, said a source at the 1st Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge border checkpoint on 5 March. Keep reading   ...

The Lao Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Consulate Department has announced that it will halt the extension of expired passports and require officials and all citizens to apply for new passports. The move comes after sub-standard barcodes in passports issued between 2008 and 2012 caused problems when ...

Currently, migrant workers from other countries possessing “pink-card work permits” can work in Thailand for one year and are required to renew their permits if they want to continue working. Under a new proposal, migrant workers can work for two years before renewing theirpermits. The workers ...

Thailand’s Labour Ministry is preparing to document illegal migrant workers nationwide as part of the government’s attempt to crack down on illegal worker numbers and upgrade its records, says Department of Employment head Arak Phrommanee.  The plan will target specific geographic areas where illegal migrants are ...

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved a plan to support free migration for Vietnamese returning from Laos to settle in Vietnam. The plan will be carried out in 10 provinces that border Laos including Dien Bien, Son La, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, ...

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) on 21 January said that it would divide between itself and the Cambodian government the duties of processing and potentially relocating the scores of Montagnard asylum seekers whose claims the government finally agreed to hear on 20 January. Keep reading ...

In a seeming about-face, the Cambodian government has backed away from its looming deadline to deport more than 100 Montagnards currently seeking asylum in Cambodia, instead pledging to “expedite” the process of assessing their refugee status. Following a meeting on 20 January in Phnom Penh between Interior ...

More than 50 Vietnamese immigrants have been detained by Cambodia’s Interior Ministry’s immigration police following two recent raids, bringing the total number of people awaiting deportation for being in the country illegally to 73, according to an official. Keep reading ...

Entry into Myanmar by foreign visitors, including businesspeople, tourists and students, will get easier starting on 11 January. The Ministry of Immigration is now offering six new types of entry visa and three types of re-entry visa to international visitors effective 11 January. Keep reading ...