New payment system causing delays, backlog likely during holiday season

IMPACT – HIGH

What is the change? A new payment system under the new employment permits legislation is slowing down processing.

What does the change mean? Under the new system, payments must be received in the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation bank account to queue the application form for processing. In the past, the application queued from the date of receipt by the Department, not receipt of payment. In addition to this delay, employers should also anticipate processing slowdowns due to the upcoming holidays.

• Implementation timeframe: Immediate and ongoing.
• Visas/permits affected: Employment permits.
• Who is affected: Companies sponsoring foreign employees for employment permits in Ireland.
• Impact on processing times: The normal processing time of four to six weeks has been stretched to almost eight weeks.
• Business impact: Employers should plan for longer timelines that will impact business schedules and travel dates.
• Next steps: Employers should inform employees and assignees of the current backlog and manage expectations for later start dates.

Background: Ireland revised its employment permit scheme earlier this year, and the transition to the new case management system caused a backlog in October. In addition, under the new system, payment of application fees is submitted online and the Department does not begin processing until payment has cleared. This new requirement can add up to a week to the process. Previously, processing began as soon as payment was submitted.

Applications will face further delays in the coming months due to closures for the holidays.

BAL Analysis: While the new employment permit regime should ultimately streamline processing, it has gotten off to a bumpy start. Employers should be mindful that new payment arrangement will add approximately one week to processing times. Employers are reminded to file applications as early as possible and factor the additional time into their schedules.

This alert has been provided by the BAL Global Practice group in the United Kingdom. For additional information, please contact uk@bal.com.

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