session 3 focus europe key updates on immigration-fiona mougenot

Focus Europe – Key Updates on

Immigration

28th October - Bangalore

1

INSZOOM Immigration Conference 2015Empower Employees for Immigration Compliance

Co

py

rig

ht

© 2

015

INS

Zo

om

Im

mig

rati

on

Co

nfe

ren

ce

About the Author: Fiona Mougenot

• Fiona Mougenot is the Managing Director at Expat Partners. A British

national, has lived and worked in France for over 25 years, during which

time she has developed a deep understanding of French culture and

business practices. Her professional experiences, in the areas of marketing,

tax and international human resources consulting, have been with multi-

national companies such as IBM, TRW, Barclays and KPMG LLP.

As a result of her consulting experience, Fiona has built a network of

relationships with members of the French public administration, and she

has sharpened her knowledge of the immigration process and requirements

in France. Through her own personal experience, and her experience

helping many international assignees who have come to live and work in

France, Fiona fully understands the difficulties that face an expatriate

arriving in France for an assignment. Tapping into this unfulfilled need in

today's marketplace has led her to develop services to assist international

companies - and expatriates themselves - with their immigration

applications, ensuring rapid turnaround. She founded Expat Partners in

2003 to provide full immigration services to the Global Mobility Directors

seeking assistance.

Expat Partners is a consulting group dedicated to providing top quality

service and assistance in the filing of immigration applications in France,

and in assisting companies with the administration of their foreign

employees in France. Expat Partners also assists with the consular

applications for outbound assignments.

2


Immigration

28th October - Bangalore

3

Co

py

rig

ht

© 2

015

INS

Zo

om

Im

mig

rati

on

Co

nfe

ren

ce

1. EU updates

2. Country 2015 updates

3. UK - MAC

4. Van der Elst

4


Immigration

1. EU updates

• Eight more European Union (EU) Member States have allowed

Croatian nationals full access to their labour markets,:

• Belgium Cyprus France

• Germany Greece Italy

• Luxembourg Spain

• Five Member Stateshave decided to extend their restrictions

for another three years.

• Austria Malta Netherlands

• Slovenia UK

1 July 2015

Lifting of

labour market

restrictions

for Croatian

nationals

• Must be transposed by the EU member states into their

legislations by 29 November 2016

EU Intra-

corporate

transferees

directive 5


6

• 2 March 2015 – Mandatory administrative fee for residenceauthorization, ranging between 60 € to 215€proof of paymentmust be submittedBelgium

• February 2015 – new fast-track scheme allowing certifiedcompanies quicker and easier access to highly qualifiedemployees from outside the EU and EEA

Denmark

• 1 March 2015 – New Record keeing rules for Detachmentstatus

• Foreign companies must now appoint a legal representative

• Pre-arrival docmentation requirements sent to the labour inspection and host company HR Manager

• Legal representative must have permanent access to documents such as pay slips, time sheets, justification of the payment of the salary

France


7

• Business Travel : now allows 90 days in 180 days for managingpersonnel (CEO, CFO) of German companies or affiliates

• Also for negotiations or supervision of a contract for the foreign company – NOTE difficult to differenciate from illegalemployment therefore exposure to risk

Germany

• 1 September 2015 – Occupations removed from the IneligibleList : Telecom engineers, IT engineers

• P30 submission within 3 months

• New forms

Ireland

• 1 October 2015 – increase in categories exempted from entry visa MVV for long term (over 90 days) :

• Holders with a valid residence permit from a Schengen country applying in the NL via a Recognized Sponsor « ErkendReferent »

• Holders of a valid EU work/residence permit providing cross-border services (Vander Elst)

• Applicants for a start-up/entrepreneurial permit

Netherlands


8

• 16 July 2015 authorities resume the granting of Golden Visas to investorsPortugal

• 30 July 2015 significant changes to ICT category :

• New EU ICT authorization has a maximum validityof 3 years for directors and specialists and 1 year for trainees – processingtime is 20 days

• Can in principal be used to work in other EU member states : for Spain after registering with the « Unidad de Grandes Empresas » UGE

• Existing « national » ICT category remains for applicants whoare not directors, specialists and trainess OR once the maximum validity of the EU ICT authorisation has been reached

Spain

3. UK - MAC

9

Call for Evidence for the wider Tier 2 review was

launched on 2nd July.

Wider review of Tier 2 by mid-December 2015

Responses sent to the MAC by 25th September

Call for Evidence

Government Commission to review Tier 2

The MAC has been asked to provide early advice on the economic rationale for and the impact on net migration of setting new minimum salary thresholds to ensure that Tier 2 migrants are not undercutting the resident labour force. The MAC is asked to consider the impact of:

(i) increasing the Tier 2 (General) minimum salary threshold of £20,800 and the Tier 2 (ICT) minimum salary thresholds of £24,800 for the short-term category and £41,500 for the long-term category to a level that better aligns with the salaries paid to highly-specialised experts or individuals filling skills shortages skilled to NQF level 6 or higher;

10

Government Commission to review Tier 2

(ii) increasing the Tier 2 minimum salaries per occupation for experienced workers from the 25th percentile to the 50th or 75th percentiles, or other appropriate measure;

(iii) increasing the Tier 2 minimum salaries per occupation for new entrant workers from the 10th percentile to the 25th or 50th percentiles, or other appropriate measure.

11

Call for Evidence I

• Is pay a good measure of economic value?

• Impact of an increase in thresholds on demand for migrants.

• Alternative measures for determining the minimum salary thresholds?

• Alternative national pay scales or sources of salary data?

• Consider regional variations in pay.12

3. UK

• If the worker does not meet the minimum salary for the appropriate SOC code they do not qualify for the visa.

• Bidding for projects is more competitive globally and the UK is competing with other economies worldwide in order to win work.

• At present, it is argued that if projects are awarded to UK businesses, often the labour will need to be supplemented by skilled individuals in the UK business’ India office.

• The UK lacks skills in some areas, especially engineering and IT, and it is essential these individuals can be brought in at short notice to provide cover on projects if required.

• This is the argument that is being presented by businesses across the board in their response to the MAC.

• Typically, IT professionals should be earning around £33,000 for an IT analyst, £31,100 for a software developer professional, and £40,600 for a IT project manager.

13

3. UK

• At present, if Indian basic salaries are low, we can take allowances into account to ensure that the threshold is met.

• Final consultation will be published in December 2015.

• At present, the consultation is ongoing

• This consultation is part of an ongoing trend to tighten up on the Tier 2 visa route.

• It is increasingly challenging to obtain a sponsor licence and a Tier 2 visa due to the increasing strict criteria.

14

15

4. VAN DER ELST

The Vander Elst procedure derives for a 1994 ruling by

the European Court of Justice regarding the right of an

EU company to provide services within the EU. ECJ stated

that in accordance with the principles of freedom to

provide services and the principle of non-discrimination a

non-EU national who is employed by a company in one

EU country must be allowed to provide services to a

company in another EU country for a limited period

without the need for a work permit

The principle established by the ECJ has been

incorporated and implemented in different ways by

member states

4. Vander Elst

16

• Must hold a work permit from the EEA member state and have an employment contract

• Social security certificate

• Signed service agreementBelgium

• Does not generally accept Vander Elst except for:

• Certain business limited related activities for under 3 monthsDenmark

• Employees must be hired by an EU company

• If coming from a non-Schengen country then a visa application is required

• Prior detachment declaration is mandatory

• If the assignment is over 90 days a French residence permit application is mandatory

• A1 certificate of coverage required

France

4. Vander Elst

17

• Employees must be hired by an EU company with a valid permit in the EU

• Procedure usually not applicable for ICT transfers

• European Health insurance card or evidence of contributions to a private insurance

• Visa application is filed at the Consulate in person

Germany

• Lawful resident in the EU and employed by an EU company

• Private medical coverage

• Online application filed to the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service

Ireland


• Service level agreement

• Support letter from the sending company confirming transfer

• Italian company must inform the relevant Italian trade unions

• Maximum 4 years providing permit in the EU employer’scountry remains valid

Italy

4. Vander Elst

18


• Sending and host company must belong to the same group

• Signed service agreement

• Must inform the Spanish labour authorities

Spain

• Lawful resident in the EU and employed by an EU company

• Private medical coverage

• Online application filed to the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service

Netherlands


• Service level agreement

• Support letter from the sending company confirming transfer

• Italian company must inform the relevant Italian trade unions

• Maximum 4 years providing permit in the EU employer’scountry remains valid

Italy

Contact Info:

• Fiona Mougenot

7 Rue Sebastien MercierParis, 75015 FRANCE+33 (0)1 45 00 05 80 T+33 (0)1 45 00 05 90 [email protected]

• INSZoom.com, Inc.

2603 Camino Ramon, Suite 375San Ramon, California 94583 USA925 244 0600 T

[email protected]

19

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]