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Peregrine News August 2015
Peregrine News August 2015
PEREGRINE NEWS
This month we have added 8 new immigration processes to Immiguru, including a new
destination country - Malta.
Immiguru now contains more than 1100 immigration processes to 90+ destination
countries, which our 190+ partners help us to keep up-to-date to reflect changes to rules
and procedures around the world.
We have also launched a useful new feature within Immigo, our global immigration case
management cloud software automatic emails to specific contacts on key milestones in a
case.
Table of Contents
SWITZERLAND QUOTAS FOR EU/EFTA L PERMITS EXHAUSTED FOR THIRD QUARTER OF 2015
2
INDIA E-TOURIST VISA EXTENDED TO 36 COUNTRIES
2
PORTUGAL PORTUGUESE IMMIGRATION AND BORDERS SERVICE STRIKE
3
AUSTRALIA UPCOMING DATA MATCHING PROGRAMME
3
APEC BUSINESS TRAVEL CARD TO BE EXTENDED TO FIVE YEARS
4
PHILIPPINES NATIONALS OF 41 COUNTRIES MAY BE ADMITTED WITH PASSPORTS VALID FOR UNDER 6 MONTHS
4
UNITED KINGDOM TIER 1 INVESTOR AND ENTREPRENEUR APPLICATIONS REQUIRE CRIMINAL RECORD
CERTIFICATE FROM 1 SEPTEMBER 2015
5
SPAIN CHANGES TO ENTREPRENEURS LAW INCLUDE NEW EU INTRACOMPANY TRANSFER AUTHORISATION 6
MORE FROM PEREGRINE
7
Who is Affected?
New, incoming EU/EFTA nationals who are
assigned to Switzerland but remain on foreign
employment contracts will not be issued L
permits until the fourth quarter of 2015. New
short-term L permit quotas for EU/EFTA
nationals will be available from 1 October
2015. Some cantons may, in exceptional
circumstances, continue to accept new
applications in this category; other cantons
will not. This should be checked on a case-bycase basis.
Background
The Swiss government has reduced the work
permit quotas for the year 2015 (see our alert
of 1 December 2014). The quotas are
allocated to the cantons on a quarterly basis.
Action Items
Allow for possible delays with sending
EU/EFTA nationals to Switzerland.
Contact your supplier for any new
Who is Eligible?
The eTV is now available to nationals of the
following additional countries (unless they are
of Pakistani origin or holders of Diplomatic or
Official passports): Andorra; Argentina;
Armenia; Aruba; Belgium; Bolivia; Colombia;
Cuba; East Timor; Guatemala; Hungary;
Ireland; Jamaica; Malta; Malaysia; Mongolia;
Monaco; Mozambique; Netherlands; Panama;
Peru; Poland; Portugal; Seychelles; Slovenia;
Spain; St Lucia; St Vincent & the Grenadines;
Suriname; Sweden; Taiwan; Tanzania; Turks &
Caicos Island; United Kingdom: Uruguay and
Venezuela. A full list of eligible nationalities
can be found here.
Action Items
PORTUGAL Portuguese
Immigration and Borders
Service Strike
Action Items
Note the closure of Portuguese
immigration offices today and
tomorrow and plan applications
accordingly.
AUSTRALIA Upcoming
Data Matching Programme
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO)
announced on 4 August 2015 that, beginning
in September 2015, it will request
immigration data from the Department of
Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) as
part of a data-matching programme intended
to ensure that certain taxpayers are correctly
meeting their taxation obligations.
Action Items
Ensure that the relevant details of
temporary visa holders are available,
including:
notification to the DIBP if any 457 visa
holder has ceased employment;
any change of position requiring a
new nomination;
any decrease in guaranteed earning;
record of any exemption from
superannuation payments;
notification to the DIBP of any merger
and/or acquisition.
Action Items
Consider the newly extended ABTC
for frequent business travellers who
are nationals of participating APEC
economies, to benefit from savings in
immigration costs and visa processing
time;
Postpone applications for the ABTC
until 1 September 2015 or after, to
benefit from the new five-year
validity.
PHILIPPINES Nationals of
41 Countries May be
Admitted with Passports
Valid for Under 6 Months
Effective 15 July 2015 nationals of 41
countries may enter the Philippines with a
passport or official travel document valid for
less than six months from the date of arrival.
Action Items
Ensure that your foreign national
employees or assignees travelling to
the Philippines have sufficient validity
remaining on their passport or other
travel document;
Note that nationals of the above
countries may enter the Philippines
with less than six months passport
validity, provided there exists no
Background
The Home Office introduced a new rule in
April 2015 which would require applicants to
provide the certificate from any country in
which they have lived continuously for 12
months or more over the past 10 years.
The Home Office has stated that by starting
with a small category of applicants, it will be
able to monitor and evaluate the
implementation of the policy.
Action Items
Applicants in the Tier 1 Investor and
Entrepreneur categories should allow
SPAIN Changes to
Entrepreneurs Law
Include New EU
Intracompany Transfer
Authorisation
Effective 30 July 2015, a new law (Ley
25/2015) amending the entrepreneurs law
(Ley 14/2013) introduces some significant
changes, especially in the investor and
intracompany transfer categories.
Action Items
Directors, specialists and trainees may
be able to take advantage of the EU
mobility benefits of the new EU ICT
authorisation, depending on the
practical implementation of this rule;
Companies registering to employ
highly-qualified foreign nationals
under corporate criteria should
ensure that they report any changes
correctly to UGE;
Investors can consider entering Spain
with a non-Investor status, and
appointing a representative to
manage their immigration
applications.