News
French passport-and-ID portal taken offline after cyber-attack, causing application backlog
2+ hour, 5+ min ago (274+ words) Visa HQ The site, which handles all online applications for French passports, national ID cards and driving licences'and underpins consular processing abroad'went dark at 19: 30 CET on 24 April During the outage, citizens and expatriate residents cannot submit new applications or track…...
Cyber-attack forces shutdown of France's passport-and-ID portal ANTS
2+ day, 3+ hour ago (222+ words) Visa HQ From 19: 30 local time, all online applications for French passports, national ID cards and driving licences have been suspended; only static information pages remain accessible The outage comes ten days after ANTS first disclosed a cyber-intrusion that targeted names,…...
Foreigners" Information Portal Goes Offline, Disrupting Visa Booking & Form Downloads
1+ week, 16+ hour ago (283+ words) Visa HQ Sunday, 19 April 2026 The Information Portal for Foreigners (ipc. gov. cz), the Czech Ministry of the Interior's one-stop site for visa types, downloadable forms and the on-line appointment system, is experiencing an unplanned "technical shutdown." A banner message on…...
Phishing surge targets 300 000 Austrians as digital-ID certificates near expiry
2+ week, 6+ day ago (314+ words) Visa HQ Police in the western state of Vorarlberg have sounded the alarm over a wave of sophisticated phishing attacks exploiting the mass expiry of ID Austria digital certificates, the electronic credential used by more than five million residents to…...
China traslada los permisos fronterizos a formato digital: la Administraci'n Nacional de Inmigraci'n anuncia el permiso electr'nico para "reas de gesti'n fronteriza
3+ week, 4+ day ago (323+ words) A partir del 15 de abril de 2026, China dejar" de emitir permisos en papel para las "reas de Gesti'n Fronteriza y pasar" a un permiso electr'nico accesible a trav's de la aplicaci'n NIA 12367. Esta medida reduce la burocracia para los viajeros…...
Poland finalises NIS2 cybersecurity law'foreign subsidiaries must self-assess within a month
2+ mon, 8+ hour ago (220+ words) Visa HQ On 26 February the legal publisher printed amendments to Poland's National Cybersecurity System Act, completing the country's transposition of the EU's NIS2 Directive After a one-month vacatio legis, the new rules will apply from late March 2026 Companies meeting size or…...
Next Gen FDI 2. 0: UAE Adds Digital Banking Partners to Fast-Track Visas and Accounts for Relocating Tech Firms
2+ mon, 1+ week ago (209+ words) Visa HQ The Ministry of Economy quietly updated its Next Gen FDI web portal on 19 February, detailing a "Phase 1 banking arm" that brings Emirates NBD and Wio Bank into the government-backed relocation package for high-growth digital companies The two lenders…...
New Chrome plug-in lets applicants track French naturalisation files in real time
3+ mon, 2+ week ago (250+ words) Visa HQ A French developer has open-sourced a Chrome extension that scrapes the Interior Ministry's online naturalisation portal and displays real-time status updates'down to which civil servant is handling the file'directly in the applicant's browser Launched on 12 January, the plug-in…...
Cyber-Attack on European CUTE Platform Disrupts Check-in and Baggage Systems at Dublin Airport Terminal 2
3+ mon, 2+ week ago (245+ words) Visa HQ Dublin Airport's Terminal 2 is still running on manual backup procedures four days after a ransomware assault crippled the Common Use Terminal Equipment (CUTE) platform used by dozens of European airports The daa, which operates the airport, said today…...