CHINA: U.S. & China Reach Agreement to Extend Short-Term Visas
The United States and China reach agreement to extend visas for short-term business travelers, tourists, students, and exchange visitors. During his visit on November 8-10, 2014, to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Beijing, U.S. President Obama announced that the U.S. and China have reached an agreement to extend the visa validity of short-term […]
BRAZIL: New Service Order on Time of Service for a Foreign Company
Brazil issued a new Service Order on time of service for a foreign company. Brazil issued a new Service Order (No. 01/2015) on January 15, 2015, providing that for purposes of proof of experience, when the candidate is, or was in the past, an employee of a company of the same economic group of the […]
Vander Elst Implementation in the European Union
This article provides an overview of Vander Elst implementation in several countries. The Vander Elst process derives from a 1994 ruling by the European Court of Justice regarding the right of a European Union (EU) company to provide services within the EU. It generally allows a non-European Economic Area (EEA) national who is legally employed […]
BELGIUM: Mandatory Fee for Some Residence Requests
The Belgian federal government has introduced a mandatory “contribution to the administrative costs” (mostly referred to in the press as a “foreigners’ tax”) with regard to some requests for residence authorization by foreigners. The government said this measure is in response to the continuing increase in the number of such applications and the resulting workload. […]
MEXICO: New
The new “Temporary Migration Regularization Program” took effect January 13. On January 12, 2015, the Mexican government published an announcement in the Federal Official Gazette about the “Temporary Migration Regularization Program,” which became effective the day after and will expire on December 18, 2015. The program incorporates requirements and procedures temporarily applicable to foreigners who […]
UNITED KINGDOM: ‘Right To Rent’ Checks Take Force for West Midlands
Landlords in the West Midlands must now undertake “right to rent” checks on all prospective tenants. The checks, which took force in the Midlands on December 1, 2014, come as part of a rolling implementation of the government’s latest immigration bill. To adequately perform these checks, private landlords, letting agents, and homeowners who let rooms […]
ITALY: New Quotas for Apprenticeship and Intership Programs
The Italian government has released new quotas for apprenticeship and internship programs. Also, failure to report presence in Italy will now result in fines. 15,000 new quotas have been issued to allow non-EU nationals to come to Italy for apprenticeship and internship programs. This amount includes: 7,500 quotas for those foreigners coming for apprenticeship programs […]
CANADA: Immigrant Investor Venture Capital Pilot Program
In December 2014, CIC announced the anticipated launch in late January 2015 of a new federal investor program, the Immigrant Investor Venture Capital Pilot Program. Pursuant to the Immigrant Investor Venture Capital Pilot Program, applicants will be required to make a non-guaranteed investment of $2 million for a period of 15 years to the Immigrant […]
Short-Term Visas: A Country-by-Country Overview
This article provides an overview of various countries’ short-term visa options for temporary assignments. Belgium Under Belgian law, there are several work permit exemptions for short-term assignments. One is the Vander Elst exemption: if some conditions are met, no work permit is required for non-EEA (European Economic Area = European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway) […]
BELGIUM: Mandatory Fee for Some Residence Requests
The Belgian federal government has introduced a mandatory “contribution to the administrative costs” (mostly referred to in the press as a “foreigners’ tax”) with regard to some requests for residence authorization by foreigners. The government said this measure is in response to the continuing increase in the number of such applications and the resulting workload. […]