April 2026 Global Immigration Recap | APAC

Also Authored by Melvin Ng and Riduan Fattah

Clark Hill’s Outbound Immigration & Global Mobility practice guides corporate clients and individuals through complex global immigration challenges worldwide. We pride ourselves on creative, compliant and people-centered solutions – looking at global mobility from a wholistic perspective in an ever-changing immigration environment. Our team assists with short-term assignments, long-term relocations, consular processing, document procurement, document legalizations/apostilles, and business visas in 100+ countries worldwide.

Below is an overview of the major updates from April 2026 in the Asia-Pacific region.

Japan

Immigration Services Agency (ISA) Announces Updates Required Documents for Certain Visas

The Immigration Services Agency (ISA) has announced updates to the documents required for certain work visa categories. Additional documentation is now required for Category 3 and 4 Intra-Company Transferee (ICT) applications, including Certificate of Eligibility (COE) and change of status applications. Applicants must submit expanded evidence to confirm the legitimacy and business activities of both the overseas sending entity and the Japanese host entity. Required materials may include corporate registration documents, financial and operational records, proof of the Japanese worksite, and documents verifying the applicant’s background. For renewals, alternative proof of properly declared income is required if resident tax certificates are unavailable.

There will also be language proficiency requirements for specific applicants. The ISA plans to add a language requirement for Engineers/Specialists in Humanities/International Services status for Category 3 and 4 companies. Overseas applicants for roles requiring Japanese language skills will need to demonstrate CEFR B2 proficiency (equivalent to JLPT N2). This requirement is expected to apply only to applicants entering from abroad. International students in Japan changing status are anticipated to be exempt.

Thailand

Changes to Documents Required for Board of Investment Promoted Companies

The Thai authorities have introduced further changes affecting companies promoted by the Board of Investment (BOI):

• The requirement to submit Social Security Contribution (SSC) payment evidence has now been expanded to apply to all BOI-promoted businesses, whereas previously it applied only to manufacturing companies. Under the new rules, service companies and manufacturing companies with fewer than 30 employees must submit SSC payment evidence once per year by 28 February. In contrast, manufacturing companies with more than 30 employees are required to submit proof of their most recent monthly SSC contributions every three months, with submissions due by the 15th of each month (for example, January contributions must be submitted by 15 January). Without the required SSC, BOI applications will not be accepted.
• The authorities have clarified acceptable tax documentation for visa extension applications. Applicants may submit either tax documents certified by the Revenue Department or non-certified documents, provided that the cover page, the page displaying the foreign national’s name, and the payment receipt page all bear the same tax reference number.

Vietnam

Pre-Entry Personal Information Declaration Required at Tan Son Nhat International Airport

As of April 15, 2026, foreign nationals and holders of Vietnamese visas are required to complete a pre-entry personal information declaration and present it at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City.

This declaration may be completed prior to arrival via the following website or by scanning the official QR code displayed at the airport, which will lead to the declaration platform. After completing the declaration, a personal QR code will be generated, and this needs to be presented to the immigration officers during immigration clearance at the airport.

For further information, please contact Clark Hill’s APAC team at apac@clarkhill.com.

For further information on any of the updates in this bulletin, reach out to one of the members of our Outbound Immigration & Global Mobility team.

To view April’s updates for the EMEA and Americas regions, click the respective region.

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