The European Union unveiled a five-year strategy on January 28 and 29, 2026 to overhaul its visa system and deportations policy, casting the plan as a “paradigm shift” in how Europe manages borders and returns.
Magnus Brunner, EU Commissioner for Migration, and Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President, presented the strategy as a package that mixes tougher leverage on third countries with promised facilitation for highly skilled workers.
The announcement set out what the EU intends to do and what still requires legal and operational steps, with proposals spanning visas, border management and enforcement tools for removals.
Strategy framing and objectives
EU officials framed the approach as part of broader migration governance, tying legal pathways and border screening to stronger returns, while also pushing national authorities to apply common measures more consistently.
Brunner pointed to recent changes in migration indicators to argue for a tougher direction. He reported that irregular arrivals in the EU fell by 26% in 2025, while the deportation rate rose to 27% from 19% in 2023, though he said the results are “still far from sufficient.”
At the center of the strategy is a two-track approach that treats visa policy as a foreign-policy lever while advertising access routes for skilled labor, reflecting EU efforts to align migration management with both enforcement and economic needs.
Enforcement measures and return policy
On the enforcement side, the strategy seeks to increase the rate at which removal decisions lead to departures, while adding tools that could restrict future entry for people who do not comply with deportation orders.
The plan proposes “return hubs” outside EU territory to process and hold rejected asylum-seekers, adding a contentious new layer to how deportations policy could operate.
The proposal draws on models cited in the announcement as inspiration, including the UK-Rwanda and Italy-Albania agreements, which the EU referenced as examples of moving parts of the return process beyond EU territory.
Under the return-hub concept, the EU aims to create sites outside the bloc where rejected asylum-seekers could be processed and held, rather than being returned directly from an EU member state to a person’s country of origin.
That structure differs from direct returns by introducing a third-country location into the chain, raising questions that typically matter in return systems, including safety, due process and oversight for people moved through the hubs.
The strategy also proposes a new legal framework that compels national authorities to issue 10-year re-entry bans to any individual who ignores a deportation order, making non-compliance trigger long-term consequences.
A re-entry ban of that length can shape future visa eligibility and entry screening by marking prior non-compliance as a factor in later applications and border decisions.
Brunner and Virkkunen also envisaged longer detention periods for those considered a security threat, signaling a push to keep certain people in custody for more time while cases move through the system.
In enforcement systems, the length and conditions of detention often intersect with procedural safeguards, including access to counsel, appeal rights and documentation that supports or challenges a removal decision.
Visa policy as diplomacy and skilled-worker access
Brunner and Virkkunen described a new visa strategy that uses the granting of visas as a “diplomatic tool.” In practice, the EU said it intends to sanction countries that refuse to readmit their own nationals by restricting visa access for their citizens.
Such pressure can translate into processing friction or reduced facilitation for affected travelers, because governments that cooperate less on readmission can face tighter access to EU visas for their nationals under the strategy’s logic.
At the same time, the EU said it wants to move in the opposite direction for highly skilled workers, easing procedures in a way meant to make outcomes more predictable for employers and applicants.
That split-screen design creates a different set of watch points for travelers and employers: which countries could face tighter visa treatment tied to readmission cooperation, and which skilled-worker categories could see faster or simpler steps.
The plan also connects visa policy to enforcement goals, using access to Europe as leverage in diplomatic relationships where return and readmission arrangements determine whether deportations can be carried out efficiently.
Digitalization and ETIAS
The EU’s strategy also centers digital changes that affect both visa-required and visa-exempt travelers, starting with the planned launch of ETIAS.
The EU confirmed that the European Travel Information and Authorisation System, or ETIAS, will begin operations in the last quarter of 2026, setting up a pre-travel step for visa-exempt nationals.
ETIAS is a pre-travel authorization and screening requirement for people who do not need a visa for short stays, rather than a visa itself, and it does not grant a residence status.
For travelers, the process is designed to feel like an online authorization check before departure, with the possibility of denials or flags that prevent boarding or trigger extra scrutiny at the border.
Carrier checks form part of how such systems operate, because airlines and other carriers can be required to confirm that passengers have the correct authorization before travel.
The EU also said full digitalization of the visa process is expected by 2028, implying broader changes in how visa applications are filed and handled.
Digitalization can shift consular interactions toward online submissions and digital documents, while some steps may still remain in-person, particularly where identity checks or biometrics are required.
Those technology changes sit alongside the broader enforcement push, linking travel access to screening and returns in a single migration-management agenda.
Performance metrics and political framing
The EU cited the 2025 and 2023 figures as part of the case for action, using irregular-arrival and return-rate statistics as performance measures that can be used for political accountability.
Such statistics can be sensitive to definitions, because what counts as an irregular arrival and what counts as a return or removal can vary across systems and time periods.
The EU framed the numbers in terms of policy aims that include deterrence, enforceability of decisions and cooperation with third countries, tying performance metrics directly to the strategy’s enforcement emphasis.
Related actions in the United States
While the EU laid out its roadmap, U.S. agencies issued official statements earlier in January that also emphasized security screening and stricter benefit adjudication, underscoring how migration policy debates are hardening across major destinations.
USCIS issued a policy memorandum on January 1, 2026 to “Hold and Review” all pending benefit applications filed by nationals of 39 countries affected by new travel restrictions, covering “visas, green cards, and asylum.”
“This effort ensures USCIS exercises its full authority to investigate immigration benefit requests filed by or for aliens who may pose risks to the national security and public safety of the United States.” (USCIS Policy Memo, Jan 1, 2026)
A “Hold and Review” approach generally means applicants can face delays and extra checks while cases remain pending, including requests for additional evidence as adjudicators reassess eligibility and security considerations.
The U.S. State Department and DHS announced on January 14, 2026 a pause on immigrant visa issuance for 75 countries, effective January 21, 2026, to review public charge and welfare usage policies.
“The Trump administration is bringing an end to the abuse of America’s immigration laws. immigrants must be financially self-sufficient and not be a financial burden to Americans.” (State Dept/DHS Statement, Jan 14, 2026)
A pause can affect consular processing by slowing case movement and limiting appointment availability, with some cases moving into additional administrative steps while policies are reviewed.
DHS also announced the termination of Temporary Protected Status for Somalia on January 13, 2026, effective March 17, 2026.
“DHS has determined that the conditions in Somalia no longer support a TPS designation. individuals must prepare for departure or seek an alternative lawful immigration status.” (DHS Newsroom, Jan 13, 2026)
The U.S. actions and the EU strategy do not change each other’s eligibility rules, but both reflect heightened attention to screening, compliance and removal outcomes in the visa system.
Implications for travelers, asylum seekers and employers
For U.S. citizens traveling to the EU, the most direct change in the current roadmap is ETIAS, which will require an authorization starting in the last quarter of 2026 as a mandatory pre-travel security screening.
Travelers who are used to boarding with only a passport for short trips will need to adapt to a pre-authorization mindset, keeping documentation consistent and watching for authorization outcomes before travel.
For asylum seekers, the strategy’s return hub model and expedited border procedures connect to the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum taking full effect in June 2026, which the announcement linked to faster processing and returns.
The EU’s proposed return hubs and the planned use of re-entry bans and detention tools could also affect how quickly cases move, because enforcement capacity and detention rules shape timelines once a negative decision is issued.
Employers and skilled workers, meanwhile, face a dual message: the EU wants to ease procedures to attract highly skilled workers, while also building a tougher enforcement framework that can increase scrutiny and compliance checks in adjacent channels.
In practical terms, that can mean monitoring for changes to the visa categories most relevant to skilled hiring, and watching how any promised simplification interacts with identity checks, background screening and documentation requirements.
The strategy’s diplomatic-visa angle also means travelers from certain countries could experience tighter treatment if their governments fall into a category the EU deems uncooperative on readmission.
For visa-required travelers, that can translate into restrictions or reduced facilitation, while for visa-exempt travelers it can translate into additional screening layers, depending on how the EU applies its tools.
With proposals and implementation running on separate tracks, the near-term watch points include legislative steps, operational guidance and the sequencing of digital measures as ETIAS comes online and visa digitalization advances toward 2028.
Readers tracking official updates can monitor EU and U.S. agency channels, including the European Commission’s Migration and Home Affairs page at https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/index_en, the USCIS Newsroom, and DHS Press Releases.
Travelers seeking details on the pre-travel authorization can also follow Official ETIAS Information as the EU moves toward the last quarter of 2026 launch that anchors its digital screening push.
