from ABIL Immigration Insider

The government fee charged for a permanent residence permit has been reduced from €401 to €130. This reduced fee is for the European Community permanent long-term resident permit (Directive 2003/109/EC) and the Dutch national permanent residence permit. This reduced fee is the result of a judgment of the European Court of Justice of April 16, 2012 (C-508/10). The Court ruled that the Dutch fees were "excessive and disproportionate." The reduced fee will be retroactively applied from April 26, 2012.

from ABIL Global Immigration Update

Over the last three years, the number of applications for economic permanent immigration to the Canadian province of Québec has more than doubled, rising from approximately 30,000 in 2008 to approximately 65,000 in 2011. In response to this growing volume, the Québec government's Ministry of Immigration and Cultural Communities (MICC) proposed on March 21, 2012, an omnibus bill encompassing several major changes to Québec's immigration law, the Loi sur l’immigration au Québec. If passed in the Québec National Assembly, the bill will represent significant changes to eligibility for obtaining a Québec Selection Certificate to immigrate permanently to Québec.

The proposed changes will govern applications accepted by Québec for the period April 1, 2012, through March 31, 2013. These changes are aimed at expediting processing times and according priority treatment to candidates for Québec permanent residence with professional profiles currently highly sought after in the Québec labor market, and at restricting the eligibility of other candidates. A new Demand Management System will dictate the numbers of applications for Québec permanent residence accepted.

Applications for Québec permanent residence by foreign workers and students will be divided into two main groups. Group 1 will not have any restrictions on the number of applications accepted and will include candidates who obtain at least 12 out of 16 points for their Field of Training based on the MICC's list of Fields of Training. Other candidates who may form part of Group 1 are foreign nationals working in Québec with valid work permits, foreign nationals participating in recognized youth exchange programs, foreign nationals holding valid study permits who obtained their diplomas from recognized post-secondary educational institutions in Québec, and foreign nationals with an employment offer validated by the MICC. Foreign workers who can be attributed points for their Field of Training but obtain less than 12 points will form part of Group 2, with a limit of 14,300 applications.

Under the new Demand Management System, applications for business immigrants will be restricted to pre-set quotas. For investors, the maximum number of applications accepted for the period April 1, 2012, through March 31, 2013, is 2,700. That quota was reached on April 12, 2012. A maximum of 215 entrepreneur applications will be accepted for the April 1, 2012-March 31, 2013, period. The Demand Management System is not intended to have an impact on the Québec government's commitment to accept approximately 50,000 immigrants annually from 2012 to 2015. The proposed changes will make it more difficult, however, for many candidates who would have qualified before March 21, 2012, for permanent immigration to Québec.

by Julie Pearl, ABIL Lawyer
Pearl Law Group Global Immigration NewsFlash

Service Canada announces changes to its LMO Program.

Effective April 1, 2012, Service Canada will allow LMO applications to be submitted online and most excitingly, offer an Accelerated LMO Process (ALMO). The online service will significantly cut down on paperwork and the ALMO will dramatically decrease the processing times for LMO applications. LMO applications have been taking up to 12 weeks recently, which has been a tremendous burden on companies hoping to bring foreign workers to Canada under the program or extending expiring work permits. Service Canada has promised a 10 day processing time for those companies who meet the following criteria:

• previously had at least one LMO approved within the last two years;
• a clean compliance history with the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program, and are not currently under audit; and
• not been the subject of an investigation, an infraction, or a serious complaint, and do not have any unresolved violations under provincial laws. Finally, the employer must consent to participate in a subsequent audit process. (Until now, there has been a voluntary compliance program when submitting an LMO).

Companies should take advantage of these changes and check with their immigration provider on how to start submitting applications online and enjoying the accelerated service.

from ABIL Global Immigration Update

Following the termination of the facilitated process for information technology (IT) workers (labor market exemption) in British Columbia in December 2011 and in all other provinces in September 2010, Québec has also announced the end of the program for the seven different types of IT occupations. The program expedited the admission of foreign workers in certain IT occupations, mainly those in software development.

As a result, Citizenship and Immigration Canada will require Labor Market Opinions (LMOs) for those temporary foreign IT workers who previously qualified for the exemption. The process will be much lengthier and will require a job posting of at least 14 days, followed by an application for the LMO work permit.

from ABIL Global Immigration Update

The UK has announced the creation of a new agency, the UK Border Force, which is now responsible for border control and inspection procedures at UK ports of entry. The UK Home Secretary said that after it was revealed that thousands of people were allowed into the country without proper immigration checks, it was decided that the UK Border Agency (UKBA) would be split into two separate bodies. The Border Force will "become a separate operational command, with its own ethos of law enforcement, led by its own Director General, and accountable directly to ministers." UKBA will continue to manage immigration administrative functions such as processing work and residence permit applications.

from ABIL Global Immigration Update

The government of the United Kingdom (UK) is urging all those who plan to come to the UK during the Olympic Games to plan ahead and begin making travel arrangements, including securing any necessary visas. The London 2012 Games will be the biggest event that the UK has hosted and the government expects many extra visitors during the already busy summer season.

from ABIL Global Immigration Update

The South African Department of Home Affairs issued a confidential directive in December 2011 that seeks to regulate the issue of short-term work authorizations. It has supplemented that directive in recent weeks with policy guidelines on the same subject. The holders of visa-exempt passports (for example, U.S., Canadian, and European Union (EU) passports) are most affected.

Generally speaking, persons traveling on visa-exempt passports receive a visitor permit that is valid for three months upon arriving at a South African port of entry, unless they already hold some other residence status. It was often not realized that this visitor permit allowed the holder only to visit, not work.

Immigration legislation did, however, allow for persons needing to enter the Republic to work, so long as the work was for no longer than three months. This special category of visitor permit could be obtained upon arrival at a port of entry, so long as the passport was visa-exempt. This type of permit was intended principally for film crews, performing artists, models and support staff, counsel needing to consult with clients, and other such legitimate short-term deployments.

Until recently, the practice had been that upon presentation of a letter from the offshore employer asking for such short-term work authorization, this subcategory of visitor permit would be issued at the port of entry for a period of three months. However, the ease with which this could be done led to considerable abuse. There were instances of people actually working in the Republic on these visitor permits for years by "commuting" home every three months. This, it was thought, allowed the employer to bypass the requirements for an ordinary work permit. The Department of Home Affairs views such practice as immigration fraud.

The new regime has a number of key features. A well-motivated representation must be submitted in writing to the Director General of Home Affairs at least 10 days before the person is scheduled to arrive in South Africa. The Director General must approve the request in writing, and the employee must submit that approval to the port of entry upon arrival. This permit may only be obtained at a port of entry or at an embassy. The permit will not be extended; anyone needing to stay and work for longer than 90 days must instead apply for an appropriate work permit.

from ABIL Global Immigration Update

The Australian government has announced reforms to the permanent entry employer-nominated visa program to be introduced on July 1, 2012.

Key reforms include:

• removing the existing distinction between applications with respect to whether they are made by applicants who are in or out of Australia
• replacing the current requirement of paying nominated permanent resident applicants at least the Minimum Salary Level (MSL) of $67,556 for IT-related occupations and $49,330 for other occupations with the need to pay the market salary
• raising the upper age limit to less than 50 years; exceptions will apply for certain occupations and persons working in Australia for more than four years who were paid more than A$118,100 as of July 1, 2012
• increasing the English-language IELTS test result to 6 for all applicants except those already in Australia and working for their nominating employer for the last two years; exceptions will apply for certain occupations, and nationals of five English-speaking countries (United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand)
• introducing a single consolidated nominated occupation list (NOL) to replace the current sponsored employee 457 occupation list, the Employer Nomination Skilled Occupation List, and the State and Territory Sponsored Occupation List
• integrating the permanent employer nominated visas with the skilled independent migrant selection model SkillSelect to be launched on July 1, 2012. Intending migrants who complete an Expression of Interest in migrating to Australia in SkillSelect can also indicate whether they are prepared to be sponsored for temporary residence or nominated for permanent residence by an employer.
  

from ABIL Global Immigration Update

Outside of refugee movements (which are regulated by the Refugees Act), immigration in South Africa is regulated by the Immigration Act, 2002, and the regulations to that Act. Two significant amendments to each of these Acts are expected. The Department of Home Affairs is revising the regulatory regime underpinning these Acts. These amendments may come into operation in the second quarter of 2012 or possibly as soon as the end of April 2012.

While the provisions of the Amendment Acts are obviously known, the Department tends not to reveal in advance what is coming in the regulations and is not required to engage stakeholders on their content. In some critical ways, it is impossible to understand the Amendment Acts before we have seen the new regulations.

One issue that will affect the deployment of staff to South Africa is, however, quite clear. Under the current Act (and even its predecessor), it is entirely lawful for an expatriate employee to travel to South Africa immediately to take up a post, particularly if he or she is the holder of a visa-exempt passport. The employee would enter the country as a visitor and then apply from inside the country for the appropriate work or transfer permit. Even if his or her visitor permit had expired before the main application had been adjudicated and approved, in practice the Department's receipt for the application would serve as a de facto permit to remain in the country. It would not be a de facto "interim" work permit, however.

The new Act expressly provides that, from whenever it comes into operation, a person cannot travel into the Republic as a "visitor" and then, within a week or several, apply for a work permit. Travelling with one's family and seeking study permits, or similar activities, would be a dead giveaway as to intent. The new Act reasons that to say that one is entering the country on the basis of being a visitor when he or she knows that the real purpose is to take up a position constitutes misleading the Department and entering on the basis of misrepresentation. So applying to change a visitor permit to a work permit (or medical permit) will be strictly prohibited. The visitor must instead return to his or her country of ordinary residence (with the family) and apply through the appropriate Embassy for the correct permit.

The new Act provides that "internal" changes of purpose will only be allowed in exceptional circumstances to be defined by the Minister in the new regulations.

Employers should be alert to these changes because a mistake could be a very expensive miscalculation.

from ABIL Global Immigration Update

The work permit numerical limit for 2012 is 1,745,584; employers wishing to sponsor foreign workers in Russia in 2013 must submit their forecasts before May 1, 2012; the Federal Migration Service of Russia has penalized performers.

The Russian government has announced that the work permit numerical limit (quota) for 2012 is 1,745,584. The quota has not changed significantly since last year and permits will continue to be distributed among the various regions in the country. Companies wishing to sponsor foreign workers in Russia in 2013 must submit their forecasts to the local labor authorities before May 1, 2012.

There is also a list of 41 positions that are quota-exempt. Several new positions have been added to the quota-exempt position list since last year, including design engineers, electrical engineers, and technicians, among others. Also included on the list are circus performers, sound engineers, engineer-welders, ringmasters, and drilling technicians. Work permits for highly skilled professionals continue to be quota-exempt but such positions must meet strict salary requirements.

In other news, the Federal Migration Service of Russia has penalized bands that performed on March 9, 2012, at the "Disco of the 90s" show. Among others were bands such as Snap, East-17, La Bouche, and Culture Beat. Artists and signers did not have work permits, only tourist visas. Penalties ranged from US$80 to US$160. Organizers were assessed penalties of US$25,000.

This precedent makes clear that the Federal Migration Service sees the main criteria as the type of activity that will be conducted in Russia and not the period of stay. Before this action, no such penalties were imposed. Russian immigration legislation does not stipulate a special visa for foreign artists and signers, so they will have to obtain either a standard work permit for one year, which takes three months to receive and is subject to numerical limits, or a "Highly Qualified Specialist" work permit for three years. This also raises tax issues.