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(Ireland’s Employment Permits (Amendment) Act is set to take effect Oct. 1. In a series of alerts, BAL will highlight the major changes to help prepare employers for this overhaul of Ireland’s employment permit regime.)
IMPACT – HIGH
What is the change? The Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (DJEI) will roll out new application forms for the nine new employment permit categories and will not provide a grace period after it is introduced Oct. 1.
What does the change mean? Companies sponsoring foreign work permits must submit applications on the new forms starting Oct. 1.
Background: Starting Oct. 1, DJEI will make available online the new application forms corresponding to the nine new employment permit categories and will accept only the new forms.
Applicants who submitted the old application form and who have passed the pre-check process by Sept. 30 will still be processed after Oct. 1.
BAL Analysis: Employers who want to pass pre-check before Sept. 30 must work with their BAL attorney to submit a completed and fully authorized form with a payment check this week; otherwise they will have to wait until Oct. 1 and submit their application using the new forms.
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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(Ireland’s Employment Permits Amendment Act is set to take effect Oct. 1. In a series of alerts, BAL will highlight the major changes to help prepare employers for this overhaul of Ireland’s employment permit regime.)
Remuneration rules change for ICTs and CFSs
What is the change? The Employment Permits (Amendment) Act revises the definition of remuneration for Intra-company Transfer (ICT) and Contract for Services (CFS) employment permits for new and renewal applications.
What does the change mean? To meet the annual remuneration threshold of €40,000 for ICTs and CFSs (€30,000 for ICT trainees), the basic annual salary must meet the national minimum wage and where this is not the norm, any top up amount paid to reach that level must be shown on the pay slips of the employee. In addition to the minimum wage, accommodation and health insurance can be taken into consideration in meeting the remuneration threshold.
Background: As of Oct. 1, pay slips for ICTs and CFSs must include the basic salary at the time of the application, top up payments to achieve the minimum wage and all deductions. Employers must be able to verify payments for board and accommodations (or their value) and payments for health insurance.
There will be a grace period for ICT and CFS renewals before the end of the year. For permits due for renewal between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, the department will accept renewal applications that do not meet the new requirements upon confirmation that the basic salary will continue to meet the national minimum wage, that future pay slips will meet the new requirements and that payments for board and accommodations and health insurance will be verifiable with supporting documentation. The documentation must be supplied within three months of renewal.
BAL Analysis: Employers should prepare for new documentary requirements in the form of pay slips and evidence of accommodations, health insurance payments and all amounts included in basic salary. Additionally, employers are on notice that the National Employment Rights Authority (NERA) will be checking pay slips during employer audits.
What is the news? Ireland is on the verge of introducing a new employment permit scheme that will involve a transition period.
What does this mean? Employers, employees and assignees applying for employment permits should anticipate delays in processing.
Background: Last month, the Employment Permits (Amendment) Bill 2014 was signed into law, creating nine new employment permit categories and broadening the list of eligible occupations. The new schemes will begin to be implemented this month.
BAL Analysis: Employers should be mindful of imminent processing delays starting the middle of this month and continuing through the transition from the old system to the new regime, and be prepared to adjust start dates. On a positive note, when the Trusted Partner Scheme is in operation in the coming months, it will streamline processing and reduce wait times.
IMPACT – MEDIUM
What is the change? Ireland will begin piloting a Trusted Partner Scheme, an accreditation program for certain companies in Ireland.
What does the change mean? Participants in the scheme will have a far more streamlined application process.
Background: The Trusted Partner Scheme will be piloted by the end of this year, with an official start date to be determined. Once accredited, participating companies will not have to provide as much information or an employer signature and will benefit from faster processing times.
BAL Analysis: The program will be welcomed by businesses as a fast-track process that reduces administrative and documentary burdens and speeds up employment permit processing.
What is the change? Ireland’s president has signed into law the Employment Permits (Amendment) Bill 2014 – a legislative reform of work permit categories and criteria.
What does the change mean? The law creates nine new Employment Permit categories and broadens the list of eligible occupations.
Background: The law broadens the list of eligible occupations and high-skilled occupations, codifies the Irish immigration system and provides new legislation.
The nine Employment Permit (EP) categories are:
The Critical Skills category aims to attract applicants in the technology and engineering fields and provides them exemption from labor market testing. Labor market testing will continue to be required of applicants in the General and Contract for Service EP categories.
BAL Analysis: The new categories, which are now codified, will greatly clarify the rules and processes for employers.
What is the change? Applicants for multiple-entry visas (MEVs) have been experiencing processing delays as Ireland transitions to new smart cards.
What does the change mean? Applications formerly completed in one day now may require more time.
Background: Following the implementation of the new system May 12, smart cards containing biometric data have been issued to foreign nationals registering as residents. The transition is causing delays in MEV processing and the GNIB in Dublin has been experiencing long queues of applicants who have been arriving early in the morning before the office opens and sometimes waiting all day and leaving without being served. Foreign nationals living outside Dublin may apply via mail, but processing sometimes requires 10 days or more.
BAL Analysis: Companies and assignees should be aware of the situation and not leave MEV applications to the last minute.
What is the change? Under new employment permit processes, Ireland is introducing a new smart card for foreign nationals registering as residents.
What does the change mean? Foreign employees should allow more time to register during the rollout of the new scheme, which will require them to appear, give fingerprints and obtain an interim card while the smart card is printed in Dublin.
Background: The Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) will implement the new system on May 12. New smart cards containing biometric data will be issued to foreign nationals registering as residents. Foreign nationals must register in person at the local police station (An Garda Síochána) and give their fingerprints.
BAL Analysis: Foreign registrants should note that it will take approximately 30 minutes to print each smart card, so there will be fewer appointments available per day. Therefore, they should plan to register a few days in advance because they may not get an appointment on the same day; they should also be aware that during the initial stages of this new process, the card may take a few days to issue. During the transition, foreign nationals registering outside Dublin may have to wait two to three weeks to receive their cards, which will be centrally printed in Dublin.
What is the change? On April 23, Ireland published the Employment Permits (Amendment) Bill 2014 that will widen its employment permit legislation.
What does the change mean? The law, when enacted, will put all categories of employment permits on a legislative footing, broaden eligibility for highly-skilled occupations, and reduce processing times. The law will make labor market testing mandatory for work permit applications, aside from IDA clients.
Background: In an effort to make Ireland the “Internet capital of Europe,” the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD, published the Employment Permits (Amendment) Bill.
“The legislation … will make a major contribution to the overall reforms we are delivering in the employment permits area. It codifies and clarifies the law in this area to make the system more transparent and obligations clearer to businesses and other stakeholders,” said Bruton in a statement.
Ireland’s employment permit laws have not been amended since 2006.
The bill legislates for nine categories of employment permits:
The law will also strengthen criteria for obtaining employment permits by:
BAL Analysis: BAL welcomes that this legislation now puts many of the employment permits on a statutory footing. It also supports startup companies in Ireland and will be enormously helpful to employers by offering definitions which previously did not exist.
IMPACT – Medium
What are the changes? The number of employment permits issued to non-European Economic Area (EEA) skilled workers fell 23 percent from 2011 to 2012, and the downward trend continues into 2013.
What does the change mean? The change means that in some sectors of the economy, local workers are filling more skilled jobs, while the engineering and technology fields still have labor shortages filled by non-EEA workers.
Background: According to recent figures, the number of employment permits in the skilled categories fell from 5,200 in 2011 to just over 4,000 in 2012, and stands at 3,276 in 2013 so far.
One reason for the reduced numbers is that Irish workers are better trained than in the past for skilled jobs. Another factor is that Romanian and Bulgarian nationals were granted over 300 work permits in 2012, but are no longer required to obtain work permits in 2013. Those countries are in the final phase of accession to the European Union.
The industries awarded the most employment permits are the information, communication and technology sectors, and a third of the foreign work permits this year were awarded for jobs in the information technology, science and engineering sectors.
BAL analysis: The figures indicate an overall contraction of foreign skilled labor with industry-specific reliance on non-EEA foreign workers, especially in the information technology, science and engineering fields.
This alert has been provided by the BAL Global Practice group. For additional information, please contact GlobalVisaGroup@bal.com.
IMPACT – Low
What is new? Immigration authorities in Ireland and New Zealand are warning foreign nationals about phone scams in which callers pose as immigration officials.
Background: The Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) warned last month that some visa applicants had been contacted by callers purporting to be from the agency, seeking payment of 500 euros. The callers quoted the agency’s helpline number and other official publications. The INIS reminded customers that it does not contact applicants by phone for payment of application fees.
“Applicants are asked to be vigilant. Do not give details of your immigration application to telephone callers unless you are sure who they are. If someone demands payment of a fine, contact INIS and the [police],” the INIS warned on its website.
Also, New Zealand’s immigration agency posted a warning on Oct. 30 on its website about recent scam phone calls. The callers claim that the recipient has a problem with his or her visa or arrival card information and demand monetary payment. The agency noted that the callers can appear to be legitimate because they often have some details about the individual, such as name, date of birth or address, and in some cases the callers reference application numbers that are fake.
BAL analysis: Foreign workers should be aware of the fraudulent calls and should not give out personal information or details to callers unless their identity is certain.
This alert has been provided by the BAL Global Practice group and our network provider located in Ireland. For additional information, please contact GlobalVisaGroup@bal.com.