Government Placing Surprise Phone Calls to Employers to Verify Work Authorization

IMPACT – High

What is the enforcement measure? The Mexican government’s immigration agency, the National Institute of Immigration, is contacting employers that have recently filed work authorization applications for foreign workers and is requesting verification of information contained in the applications.

• Implementation timeframe: Ongoing.
• Visas/permits affected: Work authorization; temporary resident visas requested for job offer.
• Who is affected: Companies filing work authorization and visas for non-Mexican employees.
• Impact on processing times: When the immigration agency cannot reach an employer or its legal representative, there will be delays in processing until a company representative can be reached.
• Business impact: No impact.
• Next steps: Employers should make sure that a legal representative of the company is available to respond to a call from government authorities.

Background: In the past few weeks, employers who have recently filed for work authorization and temporary resident visas for foreign workers have been receiving phone calls from Mexico’s immigration agency, the National Institute of Immigration (INM). The unannounced policy began in the INM offices in Mexico City and is expected to spread to the rest of the country.

Officials are asking employers for the following information:

• The nationality of the foreign employee;
• The position and title of the foreign worker;
• The type of work the foreign employee will be engaged in; and
• The duration of the foreign worker’s stay.

Because the government did not announce this change, the phone calls are seen as a temporary measure to address some problems that arose earlier in the year due to staffing changes and the removal of corrupt officials.

BAL analysis: To avoid delays, employers that have filed applications in the past few months should make sure a company representative is on hand and able to answer questions regarding foreign employees.

This alert has been provided by the BAL Global Practice group and our network provider located in Mexico. For additional information, please contact GlobalVisaGroup@bal.com.

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