In January–June 2026, Paraguay issued 29,765 thousand residence permits to foreigners, an 81% increase over the 16,456 thousand issued during the same period last year, according to the country’s National Migration Office. The number of applications filed rose by 62% to 33,243 thousand, compared to 20,567 thousand in the first half of 2025. The immigration service described the volume of applications as unprecedented and introduced additional work shifts, including on weekends.
Of the total number of documents issued, 23,833 thousand were for temporary residence permits, and another 5,932 thousand were for permanent residence status. Applicants submitted 27,024 thousand applications for temporary residence and 6,219 thousand for permanent residence.
Neighboring Brazil remains the main source of migration. Its citizens were issued 22,628 thousand permits, or 76% of the total.
Citizens of Argentina ranked second with 2,210 thousand permits. Next came Germany with 1,132 thousand, Spain with 821, Venezuela with 495, the United States with 450, the Netherlands with 426, France with 358, and Bolivia with 357.
Russia ranked tenth. In the first half of the year, 345 Russian citizens received Paraguayan residence permits, accounting for about 1.2% of all foreigners granted residency status.
Ukraine did not make the published list of the top ten countries. The National Migration Service did not provide a separate figure for Ukrainian citizens in its public press release. It was not possible to determine the exact number of Ukrainians based on available statistics.
Throughout 2025, Paraguay received a record 47,687 applications and issued 40,600 residence permits. Thus, in just the first six months of 2026, the country had already issued 73% of the total number of residence permits and permanent residence permits granted last year.
Ukrainian citizens may enter Paraguay without a tourist visa for up to 90 days. However, to extend their stay, obtain resident status, or engage in paid employment, they must comply with specific immigration requirements.
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is considering the possibility of introducing refundable security deposits of up to $100,000 for certain foreign nationals applying for immigrant visas and green cards through U.S. consulates abroad.
The proposal is being developed by the U.S. Department of State in collaboration with the Department of Homeland Security. A final decision has not yet been made, and official regulations and a list of applicant categories have not been published. The amount of the bond under discussion may be determined on a case-by-case basis and could be either lower or higher than the estimated $100,000.
It is expected that the requirement will initially be tested on citizens of a limited number of countries. The bond could be posted either by the applicant themselves or by relatives or sponsors residing in the U.S.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the money is planned to be returned after the immigrant obtains U.S. citizenship. Naturalization is typically possible no earlier than five years after obtaining permanent resident status. Thus, a significant amount of money may remain frozen for several years.
The State Department stated that it is reviewing existing authorities that allow it to require financial guarantees from certain applicants. The stated goal of the initiative is to confirm that a prospective immigrant has the means to support themselves and will not become dependent on public assistance.
U.S. law allows for the denial of a visa to a foreign national whom a consular officer deems a potential recipient of public assistance. The assessment takes into account the applicant’s age, health, education, professional skills, financial resources, and family status.
Current federal regulations already provide for the possibility of issuing an immigrant visa after a bond is posted, provided that it eliminates the risk of the applicant being deemed a potential financial burden on the government. Such a bond may be released after naturalization, permanent departure from the United States, or the foreign national’s death, provided the conditions have not been violated.
The proposed mechanism should not be confused with the existing pilot bond program for B-1/B-2 tourist and business visas. Under this program, certain applicants from countries with high rates of visa violations may be required to post a refundable bond of up to $15,000.
The introduction of a $100,000 bond could significantly limit access to family-based immigration for applicants with low to moderate incomes. Immigrant visas are most commonly issued to spouses, parents, children, and other relatives of U.S. citizens or permanent residents.
For now, this is only a proposed initiative. Applicants are not required to post such a bond until an official decision is published and they receive a corresponding request from a U.S. consulate.
French Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin has proposed imposing a temporary three-year moratorium on legal immigration, stating that the country has reached the limits of its capacity to integrate and assimilate newcomers.
According to Le Parisien, citing Darmanin’s interview with the Journal du Dimanche, the minister believes it is necessary to “put an end to immigration as it exists today.” He proposes suspending legal immigration for three years and reforming the Constitution to introduce binding, rather than merely advisory, quotas on the entry of foreigners.
Darmainin had previously advocated for a temporary suspension of regular immigration for two to three years. This would apply to labor migration and family reunification, though exceptions could be maintained for doctors, researchers, and certain categories of students. Following the moratorium, the minister proposed transitioning to a system of immigration quotas, the volume of which would be determined after consultation with citizens.
Darmann’s proposal has not yet been adopted as state policy. Its implementation would require a political decision, a legislative process, and, according to the minister himself, a constitutional amendment. However, the initiative signals an intensification of the migration debate in France ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
Potential restrictions could affect several key channels of legal entry: labor migration, certain student programs, and family reunification. At the same time, France faces a shortage of foreign workers in medicine, science, certain service sectors, and professions with labor shortages, making a potential moratorium politically and economically contentious.
The issue of migration remains a central one in French domestic politics. According to Le Monde, in 2025 the country issued over 380,000 initial residence permits to citizens of non-EU countries, an 11% increase from the previous year. About half of the new permits were issued to students and for humanitarian reasons: international students received about 118,000 permits, humanitarian categories—about 92,000, family migration accounted for about 91,000, while professional immigration fell by nearly 13%—to approximately 51,000 permits.
Historically, the overall structure of immigration to France has been dominated by people from North Africa and Southern Europe. According to data cited by The Connexion based on INSEE, among immigrants by country of birth, the largest groups are those from Algeria—12.4%, Morocco—11.7%, Portugal—7.3%, Tunisia (4.9%), Italy (3.6%), Turkey (3.4%), and Spain (3.1%). These seven countries account for 46.4% of all immigrants in France.
Ukrainians occupy a distinct place in France’s current migration landscape as recipients of temporary protection following the start of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine. According to Eurostat, as of the end of March 2026, 4.33 million Ukrainian citizens and residents were granted temporary protection in EU countries. The largest countries hosting refugees were Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic. Eurostat’s country-specific tables for France as of March 2026 indicate approximately 70,700 people under temporary protection.
For France, a potential moratorium would mark one of the most drastic shifts in migration policy in recent years. For businesses, it could mean more difficult access to foreign labor; for universities, the risk of a reduction in international enrollment; and for family-based immigration programs, additional uncertainty. At the same time, Ukrainians under temporary protection are governed by a separate European regime that operates within the framework of EU decisions and is not considered ordinary labor or family-based immigration.
Official figures indicate net migration is falling, yet concern among Britons is close to the highest it has been since polling began in 1974
Rolling news coverage of protests outside asylum hotels, a series of government announcements on asylum seekers, and Reform’s party conference meant that immigration was once again the political topic of the summer.
In August almost half of Britons (48%) listed immigration as one of the top issues facing the UK. This year has recorded the highest concerns over immigration – outside of one other period during the 2015 Europe migrant crisis – since polling company Ipsos started asking the question in 1974.
But what do the figures really show – and do all of the claims made about immigrants add up?
Despite public concern about immigration rising in recent months, official figures show that the number of people coming into the country is falling – albeit from a record high peak.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that net migration has mainly hovered between 200,000 and 300,000 people a year since 2011. However, since Brexit came into effect on New Year’s Eve 2020, there has been a large increase in the number of immigrants. Commentators and critics have called this the “Boriswave”, as it occurred following the new post-Brexit immigration system introduced by Boris Johnson.
Recent figures show that the wave is subsiding. Net migration fell by half in 2024, and recent rule changes mean it is expected to fall further. This is largely because of a decrease in health and care visas. Fewer people are now escaping the Ukraine war or fleeing the Taliban through the now closed Afghan humanitarian scheme.
Student visas have also declined. Applications were down 1.5% in August (when student visa applications spiked ahead of the academic year) compared with 2024, and down 18% on the same month in 2023.
In comments to the BBC following his conference speech, Reform leader Nigel Farage blamed Johnson for “millions of people being allowed into Britain, most of whom by the way don’t even work and are costing us a fortune”. However, the available evidence complicates his version of events.
Most people claiming asylum aren’t allowed to work. But despite the large media focus on small boats and asylum seekers, these only make up a tiny proportion of the overall number of people coming to the UK – less than 5% of Home Office visas granted and arrivals detected in 2025.
The largest proportion of people coming into the UK is made up of students (about 47%, including dependents). Students aren’t expected to work, but do contribute by paying fees towards their degrees, and can’t get indefinite leave to remain so either leave the UK or contribute by moving into paid work afterwards.
The second largest group are people on working visas, who make up 20%, with their dependents making up 11%.
Currently, the published data on immigrant earnings is patchy – and isn’t helped by ongoing issues with the ONS labour force survey.
Madeleine Sumption, director of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford said that while the data on employment was imperfect and rates “vary widely by immigration category”, the figures suggested employment rates among recent migrants were “not far off existing residents or long-standing migrants”.
A Home Office report managed to link some visa types that were granted between 2019 and 2023, to pay as you earn (PAYE) earnings in the 2023-24 financial year – with most of them recording earnings. As for those without records, it’s probable most will have already left the country.
It’s not just people on working visas who work. The report also found that almost half of people entering on family visas (48%) had some PAYE earnings (and again that’s not including those who are self employed or left the country).
Much of the talk around immigration recently has focused on dependents – family members who are allowed to immigrate alongside the main visa holder. New health and care workers were prevented from bringing their children and other dependents by the Sunak government, as were most students.
The PAYE data suggests many dependents do in fact work – 81% of health and care worker dependents, 45% of skilled worker dependents, and 25% of senior or specialist visa dependents received earnings (once again – these don’t take into account the self-employed, or the fact that many will have left the country. Adjusting the figures to account for the primary visa holders that have left raises the estimates further).
Among all the different types of people coming to the UK, newly arrived refugees (around 28% according to some estimates) and those on humanitarian visas are the least likely to be in work.
In terms of overall earnings, the Migration Observatory found that the immigrant earnings grow quickly – the median non-EU immigrant worker in 2024 earned similar or slightly more than the median UK worker.
So will recent migrants – as Farage stated – cost the UK a fortune in the long run? Based on the available data we still can’t tell – but given the fact that most people moving to the UK won’t be going through the school system, and also have to pay towards their NHS treatment, it’s unlikely they would cost more than others.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has set an immigration quota of 9,203 people for 2023.
According to the government decree No. 111 of February 7, the quota for relatives of citizens of Ukraine (full siblings, grandfathers and grandmothers, grandchildren) was 845 persons; for persons who were previously citizens of the country – 396 persons; for parents, spouses and minor children of immigrants – 2.055 thousand people; workers of science and culture, immigration of whom corresponds to interests of Ukraine – 850 people.
For persons who have carried out foreign investment activities in the Ukrainian economy in foreign convertible currency in an amount not less than $100 thousand immigration is established without restrictions.
In addition, this year under the quota can immigrate to Ukraine 5 thousand highly qualified specialists or workers who are in dire need of the economy of the country.
Among other things, a quota of 57 persons has been set for persons who have served in the Armed Forces of Ukraine for three or more years.
There is no quota for persons who have lived continuously in the territory of the state for three years from the date of their status as victims of human trafficking.
As reported, in 2021 the immigration quota was 9,818 persons, and in 2022 – 8,488 persons.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has set an immigration quota for 2022 at 8,488 people.
The relevant decision was made at a government meeting on Wednesday.
In particular, a quota for relatives of Ukrainian citizens (siblings, grandparents, grandchildren and granddaughters) was 805 people; for persons who were previously citizens of the country – 406 people; for parents, spouses and minor children of immigrants – 2,345 people; and figures of science and culture, whose immigration meets the interests of Ukraine – 730 people.
For persons who have carried out foreign investment activities in the economy of Ukraine in foreign convertible currency in the amount of at least $100,000, immigration is established without restrictions.
In addition, this year, 4,101 highly qualified specialists or workers can immigrate to Ukraine under a quota, the urgent need for which is tangible for the country’s economy.
Among other things, a quota of 99 people has been established for persons who have served in the Armed Forces of Ukraine for three or more years.
For persons who have continuously lived in the territory of the state for three years from the date of establishing a status of victims of human trafficking for them, a quota of two people has been established.
As reported, in 2021, the immigration quota was 9,818 people.
