USA and Schengen Area lead immigration crackdown

There is contrasting news for travellers crossing borders on international business trips.

The good news, according to Carsten Østberg, managing director of the passport and visa specialist Nomadic, is that visiting the Gulf has never been easier. “Over the last few years, governments in the region have worked tirelessly to streamline cross-border immigration processes,” he says. “Take Dubai Airport’s fully automated track, for instance. Travellers can skip showing a passport entirely and simply walk past cameras – no stops needed.”

The bad news, Østberg adds, is that in the rest of the world “we’re seeing more complexity. The main drivers are national security and fraud prevention.”

The USA and the 29 countries that form Europe’s Schengen Area are prime examples of this trend. The USA has become significantly harder to enter since President Trump’s second term began in January 2025. Additional entry checks have been introduced, and existing rules are being enforced much more rigidly, leading to increased cases of deportation and even detention, sometimes for minor infringements.

The changes in the Schengen Area, meanwhile, illustrate how governments are increasingly using technology to police who crosses their borders and how long they stay. In October 2025 it began to introduce the European Entry/Exit System, which forces visitors from all other countries, even if they are entering on a visa waiver, to register and provide biometric data (fingerprints and a photo for biometric recognition) when they arrive at the border.

EES is scheduled to be followed in the final quarter of 2026 by the introduction of ETIAS, a pre-trip electronic authorisation process for visitors entering the Schengen Area from the 59 countries with a visa waiver arrangement (the UAE is the only Gulf Cooperation Council member among those countries).

How to help your travellers

The result of this increasing complexity, says Østberg, is that companies must now pay far more attention to the passport and visa process to ensure they properly look after their international business travellers. “It’s no longer just a matter of having a visa,” he says. “These days, it’s about meeting complex entry requirements, which often involves dialogue with immigration authorities; and with internal stakeholders such as legal, mobility and human resources; and sometimes with your client or business partner in the country you are travelling to.

“The key is planning and monitoring. Companies should allow sufficient time for visa processing, whilst tracking the number of days employees spend in each country, even for leisure trips, to avoid tax complications or overstays that could breach immigration regulations. Working with a visa specialist like Nomadic eases the burden,” says Østberg.

The USA is an example of how important it has become to plan well in advance. Waiting times for interviews for a visa are said to have more than doubled during 2025 and the price of a visa has rocketed, including introduction of a $250 “visa integrity fee”. None of these fees apply to travellers entering the USA on a visa waiver, but Qatar is the only GCC country with a US waiver arrangement.

Technology and communication

Fortunately, planning and monitoring business traveller immigration is becoming easier with the help of technology. Businesses can now subscribe to tools which allow their travellers to input their travel plans, including their dates, destination and reason for travel. In return they receive information about the specific entry requirements for their trip and any relevant application forms. This kind of tool normally involves working with an immigration specialist like Nomadic and your travel management company and online booking tool provider.

Communication with travellers is also key. There is plenty of misinformation on the internet, and travellers need to be told to use official channels for all international trip reservations so that the correct immigration advice can be offered. “Nomadic can support companies by drafting policies and guidelines to avoid non-compliance, and reduce the risk of fines, reputational damage and breaches of duty of care,” Østberg says.