Peregrine News May 2015

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Peregrine Immigration Management Ltd, Registered in England and Wales: 7569415

This month we have added 9 new immigration processes to Immiguru, including one new

destination country Gibraltar.

We hope you are able to join us for a webinar on Thursday 11 June 2015 at 3pm (UK time) to look at

the NAFTA agreement and its impact on immigration.

Table of Contents

AUSTRALIA RECENT CHANGES TO THE 457 VISA 2

SWITZERLAND QUOTAS FOR EU/EFTA L PERMITS EXHAUSTED FOR SECOND QUARTER OF 2015 3

IRELAND NEW REQUIREMENTS FOR ACCOUNTANTS; AND NEW STAMP 4 APPLICATION PROCEDURE 3

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES BILATERAL VISA WAIVER SIGNED WITH THE EUROPEAN UNION 4

RUSSIA QUOTA APPLICATION DEADLINES 5

IRELAND TRUSTED PARTNER INITIATIVE LAUNCHED 6

SOUTH AFRICA NEW REQUIREMENTS FOR PARENTS TRAVELLING WITH CHILDREN 7

TURKEY CHANGES TO THE RESIDENCE PERMIT APPLICATION PROCESS 9

SOUTH AFRICA PREMIUM VISA SERVICE FOR QUALIFYING CORPORATE ACCOUNTS 9

UNITED STATES USCIS TO SUSPEND PREMIUM PROCESSING OF H-1B EXTENSION PETITIONS FROM 26 MAY TO

27 JUNE 2015 10

SOUTH AFRICA WORK AND BUSINESS VISA HOLDERS MAY STUDY PART-TIME 11

MORE FROM PEREGRINE 12

PEREGRINE NEWS

May 2015



AUSTRALIA Recent Changes to the 457 Visa

The Australian government has recently

announced changes to some of the rules of

the Subclass 457 Visa, including extended

sponsorship periods, a reduced market salary

threshold, an extended notification period

and more flexible English language testing

requirements.

The changes implement some of the

recommendations of last years independent

review of the 457 Visa, most of which have

been accepted by the government

Business Sponsorship Terms The period of standard business sponsorship

has been extended from three to five years,

and for start-up businesses the period has

been extended from 12 to 18 months.

Market Salary Exemption Threshold Applicants earning above A$180,000

(previously A$250,000) are now exempt from

the requirement that their salary is in line

with market salary rates. The threshold has

been adjusted to match the threshold for the

top rate of income tax.

Notification of Changes The timeframe for approved business

sponsors to notify the Department of

Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) of

any changes in a 457 visa holder's work

duties, or cessation of employment, has been

extended from 10 days to 28 days. This

change has been made to allow sufficient

time for compliance with the notification

requirements, and to align with other

comparable reporting periods that must be

met by businesses.

English Language Testing The government has slightly relaxed the

English language requirement rules as follows:

Applicants will now need to meet a

minimum overall test score, with a

lower minimum score than previously

in each test component.

Applicants will now be exempted

from the test requirement If they can

demonstrate five cumulative years of

study in English at the secondary or

tertiary levels, rather than five

consecutive years as previously.

The list of acceptable English language

test providers has been expanded. In

addition to the International English

Language Testing System (IELTS) and

the Occupational English Test (OET),

acceptable tests now include the Test

of English as a Foreign Language

Internet-Based Test (TOEFL IBT); the

Pearson Test of English (PTE); and

Cambridge English Advanced (CAE).

The recommendation to extend the

list of nationalities who are exempt

from meeting the English language

requirement has not been supported

by the Australian government.

Action Items The period of standard business

sponsorship has been extended from

three to five years, and for start-up

businesses the period has been

extended from 12 to 18 months.

The period of standard business

sponsorship has been extended from

three to five years, and for start-up

businesses the period has been

extended from 12 to 18 months.



SWITZERLAND Quotas for EU/EFTA L Permits Exhausted for Second Quarter of 2015

The quota for L permits for the second

quarter of 2015, for short-term assignees

from European Union (EU)/European Free

Trade Agreement (EFTA) countries, has been

filled.

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 third quarter of 2015. New

short-term L permit quotas for EU/EFTA

nationals will be available from 1 July 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-by-

case basis.

Who is Not Affected? The quota for B permits, and permits not

subject to quotas, such as the 120 day permit

and the 4 month short term permit) are not

affected. Quotas for non-EU/EFTA nationals

are also not affected.

Background The Swiss government has reduced the work

permit quotas for the year 2015. 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

EU/EFTA national assignments to

Switzerland, as pending applications

will be treated differently depending

on the canton.

IRELAND New Requirements for Accountants; and New Stamp 4 Application Procedure

Since the implementation of new

Employment Permit Regulations in October

2014, the Irish Department of Jobs, Enterprise

and Innovation (DJEI) has begun to require

accountants who are applying for

employment permits to provide evidence of a

recognised qualification.

Also, from 1 April 2015, there is a new

procedure for Critical Skills Employment

Permit or Green Card holders applying for

Stamp 4 residence permission.

Accountants All employment permit applications on behalf

of accountants and chartered accountants

must now provide evidence that their relevant

accountancy qualification is recognised by the

appropriate accountancy body in Ireland.

This is the case whether the qualification is a

Bachelors or Masters degree, or the

employees membership of an Institute of

Certified Public Accounts etc. In many cases

the employee can provide a memorandum of

understanding or a letter from the awarding

institute outlining in which countries their

qualifications are recognised.



The relevant accountancy qualification must

be recognised by one of the following bodies:

Association of Chartered Certified

Accountants;

Association of International

Accountants;

Chartered Institute of Management

Accountants;

Chartered Institute of Public Finance

and Accountancy;

Institute of Certified Public

Accountants in Ireland;

Institute of Chartered Accountants in

Ireland;


England and Wales;


Scotland;

Institute of Incorporated Public Accountants.

Stamp 4

What is the New Procedure?

Effective 1 April 2015, a holder of a Critical

Skills Employment Permit or Green Card

applying for Stamp 4 immigration permission

must submit detailed evidence to the DJEI of

their two years of employment in Ireland. If

the DJEI finds that the evidence is sufficient, it

will issue a letter of support which the

applicant must submit with their application

for Stamp 4 at their local Garda National

Immigration Bureau (GNIB)

The applicant must complete and submit a

new form to the DJEI, accompanied by the

following documents:

A letter from their employer, dated

within the last three months

confirming the applicants

employment and their job title;

Copies of three recent pay slips issued

to the holder of the employment

permit dated within the last four

months;

Copies of P60s issued to the holder of

the employment permit for each year

of employment covering the duration

of the employment permit.

Documentary evidence of Health

Insurance payments.

What is Stamp 4?

Stamp 4 immigration permission allows the

holder to work in Ireland for two years

(renewable) without an employment permit.

To obtain Stamp 4, an applicant must have

met the terms of their previous Critical

Skills/Green Card Employment Permit and

immigration conditions and be of good

character. Previously, there was no

requirement to obtain a letter of support

from the DJEI in support of a Stamp 4

application.

Action Items

Ensure that employment permit

applicants for accountancy roles

submit proof that their accountancy

qualification is recognised by the

appropriate accountancy body in

Ireland;

For Stamp 4 applicants, allow

additional time to obtain the DJEI

letter of support before applying at

the GNIB.

United Arab Emirates Bilateral Visa Waiver



Signed with the European Union

Effective 6 May 2015, United Arab Emirates

(UAE) nationals can travel without a visa to

any European Union (EU) Member States

which participate in the Schengen Area for

stays of up to 90 days (within any 180-day

period).

The remaining visa requirements for some EU

nationals travelling to the UAE (also for 90

days in 180) have also been lifted.

Agreement and Exceptions The EU and the UAE signed the Agreement

between the European Union and the United

Arab Emirates on the short-stay visa waiver

on 6 May 2015 and it will be provisionally

applied until it is ratified.

The reciprocal visa waiver is good for short

visits including tourism, business and

journalism, sports, artistic performances and

intra-corporate training. It does not apply to

those employed in the destination country, or

to those providing paid services.

The 90-day period is calculated for stays in the

territory of the EU Member States which are

already fully part of the Schengen Area.

Separate 90-day periods are calculated for

stays in any of the four Member States which

are not yet full participants in the Schengen

Area (Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus and Romania).

The visa waiver does not apply to the United

Kingdom and Ireland which have opted out of

the Schengen area. The United Kingdom has

since last year offered UAE (and Qatar and

Oman) nationals an electronic visa waiver for

up to 180 days of tourism, business or study.

The visa waiver agreement also does not yet

apply to Switzerland, Iceland, Norway and

Liechtenstein, which have signed the

Schengen Agreement but are not EU Member

States.

Action Items

Note that UAE nationals travelling to

the EU countries in the Schengen area

for tourism or business (not paid

activities), for up to 90 days in any

180-day period, no longer require a

visa. The same is true for EU nationals

(other than British and Irish nationals)

travelling to UAE.

RUSSIA Quota Application Deadlines

The final deadlines for companies submitting

standard work permit quota applications are 1

July 2015 for 2016 quota applications, and 1

September 2015 for 2015 quota corrections.

Quota Application Procedure Quota applications are submitted online via

Migrakvota, and then supporting documents

are submitted manually at the Moscow

Centre for Labour Exchange.

Manual submission of documents can be

made on the following dates:

17-22 May and 15-30 June for

standard work permit quota slots for

applications in 2016;

13-24 July and 10-31 August for

standard work permit quota

corrections for 2015.



Background on Standard Work

Permit Applications In the last twelve months the Russian

authorities have made significant changes to

the standard work permit system, making it

an onerous and complex immigration

category.

Since last year, Russian employers must

provide a letter guaranteeing medical

insurance and accommodation for all foreign

national employees, which is now also

required at the time of the quota filing.

In addition, standard work permit applicants

must travel to Russia prior to their work

permit application to take tests on basic

Russian language, history and legal system,

and to obtain a medical certificate from an

approved clinic.

Since these requirements do not affect the

quota-free Highly Qualified Specialists (HQS)

work permit process, it is expected that more

and more employers will consider engaging

exclusively HQS Work Permit holders.

At the same time (since January 2015)

Commonwealth of independent States (CIS)

nationals must apply for quota-free, region-

specific work patents instead of employer-

specific work permits in Russia and so it is

anticipated that the requested number of

quotas in 2015 will be greatly reduced.

Action Items

Note the latest deadlines for

submitting quota applications;

Consider the HQS category if the

applicant salary can be raised to

2,000,000 RUB (1,000,000 RUB for IT

companies).

IRELAND Trusted Partner Initiative Launched

On 12 May 2015 the Department of Jobs,

Enterprise and Immigration (DJEI) launched

the Trusted Partner Initiative, which is

intended to reduce the paperwork required

from employers and European Economic Area

(EEA) contractors applying for employment

permits for foreign nationals.

Applicants granted Trusted Partner status will

have access to a unique set of employment

permit application forms where they must

provide their Trusted Partner Registration

number in lieu of a number of their employer

details. Applications should also be processed

faster.

Who Qualifies? Qualifying companies must be registered in

Ireland, and must not have been convicted of

any offence under Irelands immigration or

employment permits laws.

What are the Benefits?

Faster turnaround of Trusted Partner

employment permit applications, as

fewer company details have to be

checked;

Shorter application forms (no need to

provide company contact details,

registered address, signature and

latest P30 with every permit

application);

What Remains the Same?

The eligibility for each permit type;

Personal documents required from

the employee;



The government processing fee paid

by the employer;

Some corporate documents are still

required, such as the job description

and letter of support.

How to Apply for and Renew Trusted

Partner Status An application to register as a Trusted Partner

must be made on the official form which is

available on the DJEI website. The application

form for Trusted Partner registration must be

signed by the Company Secretary, the Person

of Compliance or Person of Process or the

business owner. There is no fee for this

application. Processing of this applications is

supposed to take only two days.

Trusted Partner status is valid for two years,

and a reminder to complete renewal will be

sent two months before expiry.

Action Items

Irish-registered employers who

employ foreign nationals should

consider applying for Trusted Partner

status to take advantage of the

reduced processing times and

paperwork requirements;

Note that the announced faster

processing times may not become

established until processing offices

are used to the new system.

SOUTH AFRICA New Requirements for Parents Travelling with Children

Effective 1 June 2015, parents or legal

guardians travelling to or from South Africa

with their child will have to produce the

childs unabridged birth certificate(s) along

with other relevant documents. This change

has been much anticipated over the past

months and is being implemented to reduce

human trafficking.

Without the required documents, airlines may

not allow a child to board flights into or out of

South Africa, and immigration officials at the

border of South Africa might refuse to allow a

child to enter or depart from South Africa.

Who is affected? These new requirements apply equally to all

foreign and South African national parents,

travelling with all children under the age of

18, into or out of South Africa, via any port of

entry.

Grace Period There will be a four month grace period,

starting 1 June, for children who are already in

South Africa, having entered the country for

an intended return trip prior to 1 June, and

who are departing to complete their journey.

Please note that this grace period does not

apply to children who are already resident in

South Africa with their parents, nor to any

children entering the country after 1 June.

Documents Required Parents and legal guardians travelling with

children under the age of 18 must produce

the unabridged (full form) birth certificate of

the child which clearly states the names of

both parents. Any certificate which is not in

English must be accompanied by an official

translation by a legally recognised/sworn

translator.



Child travelling with one parent

The parent must also produce:

consent in the form of an affidavit

from the other parent registered as a

parent on the birth certificate of the

child, authorising him or her to enter

into or depart from South Africa with

the child he or she is travelling with;

a court order granting full parental

responsibilities and rights or legal

guardianship in respect of the child, if

he or she is the parent or legal

guardian of the child;

where applicable, a death certificate

of the other parent registered as a

parent of the child on the birth

certificate; and/or

legally separated parents should also

provide a court order when the other

parent refuses to give consent for the

child to travel.

Child travelling with a person who is not a

biological parent

The guardian must also produce:

an affidavit from the parents or legal

guardian of the child confirming that

he or she has permission to travel

with the child;

copies of the identity documents or

passports of the parents or legal

guardian of the child;

the contact details of the parents or

legal guardian of the child.

An unaccompanied minor child

The child must carry:

proof of consent for the child to travel

into or out of South Africa, from one

or both of his or her parents or legal

guardian, in the form of a letter or

affidavit; along with a court order

granting full parental responsibilities

and rights in respect of the child, if

the proof of consent is provided by

only one parent;

a letter from the person who is to

receive the child in South Africa,

including his or her residential

address and contact details in South

Africa where the child will be residing;

a copy of the identity document or

valid passport and visa or permanent

residence permit of the person who is

to receive the child in South Africa;

and

the contact details of the parents or

legal guardian of the child.

Please note:

Any document which is not in English

must be accompanied by an official

translation by a legally

recognised/sworn translator;

Sworn/notarized affidavits must not

be older than three months at the

time they are presented to the

authorities at the time of travel;

All documents must be originals or

copies certified/notarized as a true

copy of the original by a

Commissioner of Oaths, Notary Public

or the equivalent commissioning

authority empowered by law do so in

the country concerned.

Action Items

Ensure that any children travelling

into or out of South Africa after 1 June



2015 have the required documents

readily available, translated and

notarised/certified if necessary.

TURKEY Changes to the Residence Permit Application Process

Effective 18 May 2015 residence permit

applications in all Turkish cities must be made

to the offices of the Migration Department,

rather than to the local Foreigners

Department (Police Authority) in the area of

residence.

Application Process Under the new system, residence permit

applicants must make an appointment using

the online system of the Migration

Department, and then submit their

application at the main office of the Migration

Office (in Istanbul, this is on Vatan Street) at

the appointed time and date.

Applicants with pending residence permit

application appointments made via their local

Foreigners Department will now have to

submit their applications at the main office of

the Migration Department at the appointed

time and date.

Action Items

Note that there may be delays in

issuing residence permit application

appointments at the main office of

the Migration Department, as all

processing is transferred there from

the local Foreigners Department

offices.

SOUTH AFRICA Premium Visa Service for Qualifying Corporate Accounts

On 14 May 2015 a new Corporate Account

Visa Facilitation Services (VFS) Centre was

opened in Johannesburg as a one-stop shop

for quicker and more efficient visa

applications for foreign nationals employed by

qualifying companies.

The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has

invited interested companies to apply for

Corporate Account status by 25 May 2015. It

is not clear at present whether the application

window may be extended after this date.

What are the Benefits? The Corporate Account VFS Centre will only

serve foreign nationals attached to companies

which have been given Corporate Account

status, and will expedite applications and

provide support and advisory services. It is

likely, therefore, that applications submitted

at the new Corporate Account VFS Centre will

be processed much quicker.

Who is Likely to Qualify? Based on the selection criteria in the points

system outlined below, companies most likely

to qualify for Corporate Account status are

those which have, or which are planning to

have, large numbers of foreign national

employees.

Those with a relatively low number of foreign

national employees (i.e. 10-20) might not

meet the selection criteria, but are welcome

to apply.

As the new Corporate Account VFS Centre has

been opened in Johannesburg, it will mainly



benefit those businesses located in the

Gauteng Province and neighboring provinces.

Selection Criteria The DHA will make use of the following points

system in evaluating applications:

The number of visas required in key

positions - this will be counted in

man-years over the coming three

years (20 Points);

Size of the incremental capital

expenditure (capex) over the coming

three years (20 Points);

National priority/relevance of the visa

requested to the development of

national infrastructure (20 Points);

Critical skills component - percentage

of visas contained in the notice

contemplated in section 19(4) of the

Immigration Act, 2002 (Act No. 13 of

2002) (20 Points);

Efforts by the corporate applicant to

transfer imported skills to locals (20

Points);

Proof that at least 60% of the total

staff employed by the business are

permanently employed South African

nationals or permanent residents (20

Points).

Action Items

Interested employers in South Africa

should apply for Corporate Account

status before Monday 25 May 2015.

UNITED STATES USCIS to Suspend Premium Processing of H-1B Extension Petitions from 26 May to 27 June 2015

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

(USCIS) announced on 19 May that it will

temporarily suspend premium processing of

all H-1B extension of status petitions effective

26 May 2015 until 27 July 2015.

What is Premium Processing? Premium Processing service permits

employers to request USCIS to adjudicate

(approve, deny or request additional

evidence) petitions within 15 calendar days by

submitting Form I-907, a Request for Premium

Processing Service and an additional filing fee

of $1,225.00.

What Petitions are Affected? During the suspension, petitions for H-1B

extensions of stay via premium processing will

not be accepted.

USCIS has stated that if an H-1B extension of

status petition is submitted prior to 26 May

2015 via premium processing and USCIS does

not act on the petition within the 15-day

calendar period, it will refund the premium

processing fee.

Premium processing requests will be accepted

for H-1B cap petitions and for H-1B petitions

requesting change of status or consular

notification.

What is not entirely clear from the

announcement is whether H-1B petitions

requesting an amendment without an

extension of H-1B status will be affected. An

amended H-1B petition is filed with USCIS



when there is a change in a term of

employment, such as a change in position or

worksite, or even a change in employer, but

no request to extend the validity of the

current H-1B expiration date.

Why Suspend Premium Processing? USCIS is being "proactive" in anticipation of

thousands of applications for employment

authorization documents that may be

submitted by H-4 spouses beginning 26 May

2015 based on a regulation published earlier

this year. USCIS states that this temporary

suspension will permit them to adjudicate the

applications for employment authorization for

H-4 spouses who are married to H-1B

employees that are in a certain stage of the

permanent resident process.

It is important to note that this regulation

could be negatively impacted if the court

grants a preliminary injunction as the result of

a lawsuit filed by a group of former Southern

California Edison employees against the U.S.

Department of Homeland Security this past

April. If the court grants the preliminary

injunction, USCIS will not be permitted to

process the employment authorization

documents applications to be filed by H-4

spouses, making the announced suspension of

premium processing unnecessary.

Action Items

H-1B extension petitions via premium

processing should be made as soon as

possible, and at any rate before 26

May 2015.

Note that, even if submitted before

26 May, these petitions may not be

processed within the usual 15-day

period.

SOUTH AFRICA Work and Business Visa Holders May Study Part-Time

Effective 1 May 2015, holders of business

visas and all categories of work visa are

allowed to register and undertake part-time

studies with appropriately

registered/established higher learning

institutions.

Who Benefits? This is relevant to all foreign nationals holding

work visas (Intra-Company Transfer, Critical

Skills & General categories) or business visas,

wishing to further their studies part-time at a

South African university or college. These

foreign nationals now no longer require

additional permission to study part-time, and

may do so under the auspices of their existing

visas.

It is important to note that full-time study is

strictly prohibited for work and business visa

holders in South Africa. Note also that the

duration of the course of studies must not

exceed the validity of the foreign nationals

existing work or business visa.

Action Items

Inform work and business visa holders

and applicants of their new

permission to study part-time while in

South Africa.



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DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this immigration newsletter has been

abridged from laws, court decisions, and administrative rulings and should not be

construed or relied upon as legal advice. If you have specific questions regarding the

applicability of this information, please contact Peregrine 2014 Peregrine

Immigration Management Ltd.

Peregrine News May 2015

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Transcript of Peregrine News May 2015