Global Immigration Update
Global Immigration Update Italy Italy Introduces EU Blue Card (August 14, 2012) Italy introduced its version of the European Union Blue Card on August 8. The Blue Card allows highly skilled non-EU nationals to live and work in Italy and ultimately acquire long-term EU residence rights. The Ministry of Interior is now accepting Blue Card applications online. To be eligible for a Blue Card, a nonEU national must have a confirmed job offer or valid work contract with a sponsoring employer in Italy and hold at least a three-year university degree or equivalent work experience. The applicant’s degree must be relevant to the applicant’s proposed occupation in Italy. Applicants are not required to have worked overseas for an affiliate of the sponsoring employer prior to applying, and Blue Card applications are exempt from Italy’s work permit quota system. A foreign national’s sponsoring employer is responsible for submitting the Blue Card application on his or her behalf. Blue Card applications will be adjudicated within 90 days of submission. After the Blue Card is granted, the foreign national must apply for an entry visa at an Italian diplomatic post before they can travel to Italy. Foreign nationals who have held another EU country’s Blue Card for at least 18 months will automatically qualify for the Italian Blue Card and do not require a visa to enter Italy. Within one month of entry, their sponsoring employer must submit the Blue Card application. The Blue Card will be issued within two months of submission. The foreign national is not permitted to begin work until the Blue Card is issued and he or she has executed a Contract of Stay after arriving in Italy. Blue Cards are valid for the length of a foreign national’s employment contract plus three months, or for two years if the foreign national has an indefinite contract. Dependent family members will be issued residence permits that can be renewed for the duration of the principal’s Blue Card. After residing in Italy for 18 months, cardholders may enter other EU countries visa-free and apply for Blue Cards in those countries, subject to local rules.
United Arab Emirates DIFC Free Trade Zone Now Requires Employment Contracts for New Employment Residence Permits (August 16, 2012) Employers in Dubai’s International Financial Center (DIFC) free trade zone will soon be required to submit an employment contract when applying for new employment residence permits on behalf of foreign workers. The new requirement, which takes effect on August 26, 2012, will add to the time required to prepare employment residence permit applications for work in the DIFC. The DIFC Authority has not specified a format or template for the required employment contracts, though they must be drafted in accordance with DIFC employment law. The contract must be signed by both the employer and employee. Until now, the DIFC was the only free trade zone in Dubai that did not require employment contracts for employment residence permit applications.
Spain New Minimum Salary Requirements for Large Business Unit (August 16, 2012) The Spanish government has increased the minimum salary requirements for highly skilled work permit applicants using fast-track processing through the Large Business Unit (Unidad de Grandes Empresas). The new minimum salaries for local hires and intracompany transferees are EUR 28,254.40 for nonmanagement positions (previously EUR 28,079.38) and EUR 56,508.80 for management positions (previously EUR 56,158.76). The new minimum salary requirements for Blue Card applicants depend on the business sector in which the host company is registered with the Spanish government. All minimum salary requirements for Large Business Unit work permit applications have been raised in accordance with the list of average salaries for 2011 published by the National Statistics Institute. The minimum salary required for each applicant is determined based on the average salaries listed for the company’s business sector classification on the
CNAE (Codigo Nacional de Actividades Economicas/National Code of Economic Activities). The salary for an intracompany transferee will need to meet or exceed the average salary in the relevant business sector. For local hire and Blue Card applications, the salary will typically need to be at least 1.5 times the average salary in the relevant business sector, with some exceptions. Because other factors, such as the number of dependents submitting residence permit applications simultaneously with the primary applicant, will also be taken into consideration in order to determine an applicant’s required salary, the minimum salary must be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
France Government Introduces Processing Changes for Foreign Workers and Recent Graduates (August 16, 2012) France is expanding a centralised application pilot programme created for intra-company transferees to additional work permit categories and prefectures and easing work permit options for foreign graduates of French universities. In addition, minimum salary thresholds have increased for intracompany transferees and other foreign workers, and medical insurance registration procedures now require legalised or apostilled documents. Centralised Work Permit Application Programme Expands to Additional Prefectures and Case Types A centralised application pilot programme, under which work permit applications are submitted directly to a migration office that coordinates their adjudication with labour authorities and French consular posts, is being expanded to additional prefectures and case types. The programme will soon be available for the intracompany transferee, Skills and Talents, and EU Blue Card categories in Hauts-de-Seine, Haute-Garonne, Isère, Nord, Paris, Puy-de-Dôme, Rhône, and Yvelines. Previously, the programme only covered the intracompany transferee category in Paris, Hauts-de-Seine, and Rhône. Autumn International HR Adviser
29