The Consular Newsletter (June 22-July 05, 2026)

This week, Japan eyes raising some tourist visa fees by more than 400 percent, while Manhattan consulates evacuate over tower collapse fears.

The essential news on consular affairs, diplomacy, migration, security, and travel for professionals and researchers / This week, Japan eyes raising some tourist visa fees by more than 400 percent, while Manhattan consulates evacuate over tower collapse fears.

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A. Announcements

Become a Member to join professionals and researchers in consular affairs, diplomacy, migration, security, and travel.

B. Video of the week

C. Consular affairs

Multiple continents

• 22 Iranian crew of US-interdicted tanker handed over to Iranian consulate in Karachi. Anadolu Agency

• Award-winning Sudanese journalist says UK visa denial prevented him from attending ceremony. Anadolu Agency

• Belgium issues visas to Taliban delegation for EU meeting. Reuters

• DR Congo superfan denied US visa to support team at World Cup. Reuters

• Death toll of Chinese citizens in Venezuela earthquakes rises to 9: Chinese embassy. Global Times

• Embassy says 12 Indians among 13 killed in Qatar gas plant explosion. China Daily

• EU targets Somalia with visa curbs as president pushes back on returns. Al Jazeera

• France appears to consider freeing consular agent in exchange for journalist held in Algeria. Le Monde

• Seafarer’s body returned from Venezuela with ‘missing’ organs; Indian embassy seeks probe. The Times of India

• Syria approves deportation of detained German journalist Eva Michelmann after months in custody. The Syrian Observer

• U.S. grants consular accreditation to Syrian Embassy in Washington. Syrian Arab News Agency

Africa

• 500 Malawians stranded in Joburg after repatriation buses lacked permits. GroundUp

• Diplomatic facade? How a businessman’s claimed consular role sparked questions over Malawi’s oversight. Nyasa Times

• FG secures release of six Nigerians detained in Côte d’Ivoire without trial. TheCable

• Ghana High Commission urges citizens in South Africa to stay indoors. Modern Ghana

• Kenya races to evacuate citizens as anti-immigrant tensions rise in South Africa ahead of June 30 ‘deadline’. Daily Nation

• Second batch of Nigerians evacuated from South Africa arrives in Lagos. Channels

• Uganda repatriates second batch of citizens from South Africa. The Whistler

Americas

• Man serving life for Consulate murders dies in custody. KTSM

• Mexican governor Esteban Villegas says his US visa has a yellow alert. El País

• Ottawa reverses some orders for ‘lost Canadians’ to surrender certificates. Global News

• Trump reveals new images of passport with his portrait to mark America’s 250th. The Washington Post

• Venezuelan Canadians seek restored consular access as Canada weighs Caracas mission. New Canadian Media

• Wisconsin dairy farms could gain new hiring option under visa changes. Wisconsin Public Radio

Asia

• 1 year in prison for gang member who forced 2 Thai women into prostitution in Hong Kong. South China Morning Post

• 20 months on, Assam withholds Bangladesh consular access amid crackdown. The Assam Tribune

• Chinese Embassy in Thailand renews travel advisory, warning against risks in Thai-Myanmar border areas. Global Times

• Japan says two nationals detained in China over alleged smuggling of export-controlled goods. TRT World

• Japan to raise some tourist visa fees more than 400 percent. The New York Times

• Passport is not a citizenship document: senior MEA official. The Hindu

• Visa-free ‘dividends’: China drawing a boom in foreign visitors this summer. South China Morning Post

Europe

• Italian passport becomes a safe haven for Britons after Brexit. Italianismo

• Madness of the passport queues has got to stop. The Times

• Why are there holiday delay warnings over the EU’s new border system? BBC

Middle East, Oceania, and Pacific Islands

• Stay tuned for next week’s newsletter.

D. Honorary consuls

• Stay tuned for next week’s newsletter.

E. The diplomatic and consular networks database and rankings

• Canada opens consulate in Phoenix after more than decade-long hiatus. Arizona’s Family

• This North Korean embassy is in a really odd location. CNN

• The Syrian Embassy in Washington was granted consular accreditation. Syrian Future Movement

• More: link

F. The passport and visa database and rankings

• Billionaire sex-for-visa claim at WiseTech tests investor limits. Bloomberg

• Canada subjects immigration language tests to greater scrutiny. CIC News

• H-1B visas skyrocket despite Trump Admin crackdown. Newsweek

• More: TBA

G. Passport, visas, and migration fraud

• Hackers steal passport and driver’s license data of 3 million Texans. Malwarebytes

• Kenya deports Somalia’s second deputy prime minister over alleged passport fraud. CNBC Africa

• Thousands of immigrants got scammed by an attorney exploiting humanitarian visas, lawsuits say. The Associated Press

• More: link

H. Migration laws, regulations, and policies

• [Japan] 外国人が日本語や我が国の制度・ルール等を学習するプログラムの検討に関する「法務大臣政務官ＰＴ報告書」（令和８年７月）. MOJ / ISA

• [Indonesia] Pengaktifan pengesahan gambar bagi permohoan eVisa vdr. MOHA / Immigration Department

• [New Zealand] Group and tour escort visitor visa applications moving to enhanced Immigration Online. MBIE / Immigration

• More: link.

I. Consular jobs and internships

• [Job] France in Oran, Algeria / Agent Visas (deadline: July 13).

• [Job] United Kingdom in Cairo, Egypt / Pro Consul (deadline: July 15).

• [Job] United Kingdom in Perth, Australia / Consular Services Officer (deadline: July 26).

• More: link

J. Perspectives

• A new parliamentary position on remote work by holders of a “Visiteur” visa in France (by John B Howard)

• Docket politics and the immigration courts: why mega masters are only new-ish (Part 2) (by Austin Kocher)

• From visa drama to World Cup hero: the resurgence of Breel Embolo (by Fox in the Box FC)

• Ghana demands justice after citizen killed in South Africa anti-migrant protests (by Kofi Oppong Kyekyeku)

• How migration data shapes - and distorts - the UK debate (by Fraser Nelson)

• Migrants : l’UE en mode « send them back » (by David Carretta, Christian Spillmann, and Oliver Grimm)

• Minister Leitão Amaro blames left for migration pressure (by Portugal Decoded)

• My upcoming Portuguese residency permit renewal (by Barbara Grassey)

• Non-EU-citizen flying in or out of Europe this summer? Get ready to wait (by Dave Keating)

• Passports: is the President’s office being demeaned? (by RN BHASKAR)

• The Supreme Court’s birthright ctizenship ruling leaves Trump only hard choices (by Ilya Shapiro)

• The World Cup of visas: beyond stories (by The Beauty of Movement)

• Un tribunal italien rappelle qu’un signalement Schengen ne suffit pas à justifier un refus de visa (by Avv. Fabio Loscerbo)

• Visa vie (by Tom Portsmouth)

• What the diplomatic visa reveals about the colonizer’s playbook (by C.T. Luna)

• While South Africa was debating borders, I was ovulating! (by Noluvuyo Gqadu)

K. Get daily news

• Bluesky, Facebook, KakaoTalk, Line, LinkedIn, Mastodon, Substack, Telegram, Threads, Viber, VK, WhatsApp, and X for consular affairs.

• LinkedIn for consular jobs and internships.

• LinkedIn for honorary consuls.

• LinkedIn for migration, laws, regulations, and policies.

• LinkedIn for passports, visas, and migration fraud.

• LinkedIn for the diplomatic and consular networks database and rankings.

• LinkedIn for the passport and visa database and rankings.

K. Partners

Incubating partner: Yonsei University. Country research partner for The Diplomatic and Consular Networks Database and Rankings: (Albania) Albanian Institute for International Studies.

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The views expressed are solely those of the author(s), not of the Center.

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