In the Dominican Republic, thousands of work permit applications submitted by people hoping to work in Spain were discovered in garbage bins, but upon investigation most were found to have already been processed. Still, 50 of the 12,000 applications were unprocessed. Labor Minister Milton Guevara said investigations would continue.

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The government of Japan has submitted a bill to amend the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act to abolish the 60-day rule, which effectively voids refugee applications filed by anyone who has been in the country longer than two months. The proposal, if passed, would grant temporary residency permission to refugee applicants meeting certain criteria, including entering Japan directly from their home country and applying for refugee status within six months after arrival. Applicants would also be screened for flight risk and criminal history. Japan hopes to shake its reputation of having a closed door refugees policy. In the last thirteen years, Japan granted refugee status to fewer than 100 people. Members of the Democratic opposition party are critical of the government's plan, saying the system would still be far behind other nations, that it would impose strict restrictions on applicants and that the Justice Ministry's ad hoc methods would remain hidden from public view. Critics also say that the direct entry rule is problematic, given that all of the Afghan asylum seekers in Japan entered Pakistan or another neighboring country first, as they urgently fled their war-ravaged homeland.

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A judge in Zimbabwe stopped police from deporting a veteran U.S. reporter accused of criticizing the government. High Court Judge Charles Hungwe ordered immigration officials to bring the journalist in for a hearing, saying there was no reason for him to be detained. Andrew Meldrum, 51, is a correspondent for London's Guardian newspaper and has worked in Zimbabwe for 23 years. Meldrum already had a pending Supreme Court appeal of a previous deportation order when Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mahadi issued a second deportation order last week. Meldrum was told to report only on economic and cultural issues.

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Police in Peshawar, Pakistan, raided the office of a travel agent and seized dozens of stolen passports and fake visa stamps. A travel agency employee was arrested under suspicion that he supplied fake passports and other travel documents to members of al-Qaida. U.S. intelligence officials aided in the operation.

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The High Court of New Zealand has declared that a change to immigration rules made last November, which imposed tough new English language tests retrospectively on immigrants, is invalid. However, the tests will still apply to future migrants. Immigration Minister Lianne Dalziel said the Crown would consider appealing the ruling.