By: L.N. Reklai & Summer Kennard KOROR, Palau (Dec. 29, 2025) — Shock, anger and unease have dominated public reaction in Palau following President Surangel Whipps Jr.’s decision to sign a memorandum of understanding on Dec. 24 agreeing to accept up to 75 deportees from the United States in exchange for $7.5 million in U.S. […]
Tag: Immigration
Posted inTop Stories
Digital Residency Visa Extensions Questioned for Possible Conflict With Palau Statute
By: L.N. Reklai Koror, Palau — Senate Floor Leader Kerai Mariur is calling on President Surangel Whipps Jr. to address what he says is a clear mismatch between Palau’s immigration law and a regulation granting visa benefits tied to digital residency. In a Nov. 24 letter, Mariur flagged Section 320 of the Immigration Regulations, amended […]
Posted inWorld News
Trump signs immigration order featuring numerous exemptions
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump claimed Wednesday that he had signed an executive order “temporarily suspending immigration into the United States.” But experts say the order will merely delay the issuance of green cards for a minority of applicants. Trump said his move was necessary to help Americans find work in an economy ravaged […]
Posted inTop Stories
Palau’s Immigration office projects decline in numbers of foreign workers
The Bureau of Immigration and Labor (BOIL) is projecting a decrease in the number of foreign workers in Palau by the end of 2019, according to the latest Labor Data and Statistics. A total of 6,581 workers, majority of whom are comprised of Filipinos, are currently working in Palau based on the BOIL data as […]
Posted inTop Stories
Immigration Chief admits to data being hacked
The Bureau of Immigration chief has admitted that the official files of the Bureau were hacked and erased last year. Last year, Island Times received a tip from a confidential source that the database containing information about people entering and exiting Palau was hacked. Flavin Misech who is currently the Chief of Immigration admitted that […]
Posted inTop Stories
Difficulties implementing the new EO: Immigration relying on Social Media
Last month an executive order was issued by the President to prevent foreign nationals with criminal history to enter Palau, however, immigration officers in charge of implementing it face difficulties. The Chief of the Immigration Department Flevin Misech said, “Palau is a very small country, there are very few countries we have diplomatic ties with. […]