May 2015

PEREGRINE NEWS
This month we have added 9 new immigration processes to Immiguru, including one new
destination country Gibraltar.
We hope you are able to join us for a webinar on Thursday 11 June 2015 at 3pm (UK time) to look at
the NAFTA agreement and its impact on immigration.

Table of Contents
AUSTRALIA RECENT CHANGES TO THE 457 VISA
2
SWITZERLAND QUOTAS FOR EU/EFTA L PERMITS EXHAUSTED FOR SECOND QUARTER OF 2015
3
IRELAND NEW REQUIREMENTS FOR ACCOUNTANTS; AND NEW STAMP 4 APPLICATION PROCEDURE
3
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES BILATERAL VISA WAIVER SIGNED WITH THE EUROPEAN UNION
4
RUSSIA QUOTA APPLICATION DEADLINES
5
IRELAND TRUSTED PARTNER INITIATIVE LAUNCHED
6
SOUTH AFRICA NEW REQUIREMENTS FOR PARENTS TRAVELLING WITH CHILDREN
7
TURKEY CHANGES TO THE RESIDENCE PERMIT APPLICATION PROCESS
9
SOUTH AFRICA PREMIUM VISA SERVICE FOR QUALIFYING CORPORATE ACCOUNTS
9
UNITED STATES USCIS TO SUSPEND PREMIUM PROCESSING OF H-1B EXTENSION PETITIONS FROM 26 MAY TO
27 JUNE 2015
10
SOUTH AFRICA WORK AND BUSINESS VISA HOLDERS MAY STUDY PART-TIME
11
MORE FROM PEREGRINE
12

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AUSTRALIA Recent
Changes to the 457 Visa
The Australian government has recently
announced changes to some of the rules of
the Subclass 457 Visa, including extended
sponsorship periods, a reduced market salary
threshold, an extended notification period
and more flexible English language testing
requirements.
The changes implement some of the
recommendations of last years independent
review of the 457 Visa, most of which have
been accepted by the government

Business Sponsorship Terms

The period of standard business sponsorship
has been extended from three to five years,
and for start-up businesses the period has
been extended from 12 to 18 months.

Market Salary Exemption Threshold

Applicants earning above A$180,000
(previously A$250,000) are now exempt from
the requirement that their salary is in line
with market salary rates. The threshold has
been adjusted to match the threshold for the
top rate of income tax.

Notification of Changes
The timeframe for approved business
sponsors to notify the Department of
Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) of
any changes in a 457 visa holder's work
duties, or cessation of employment, has been
extended from 10 days to 28 days. This
change has been made to allow sufficient
time for compliance with the notification
requirements, and to align with other
comparable reporting periods that must be
met by businesses.

English Language Testing

The government has slightly relaxed the
English language requirement rules as follows:
Applicants will now need to meet a
minimum overall test score, with a
lower minimum score than previously
in each test component.
Applicants will now be exempted
from the test requirement If they can
demonstrate five cumulative years of
study in English at the secondary or
tertiary levels, rather than five
consecutive years as previously.
The list of acceptable English language
test providers has been expanded. In
addition to the International English
Language Testing System (IELTS) and
the Occupational English Test (OET),
acceptable tests now include the Test
of English as a Foreign Language
Internet-Based Test (TOEFL IBT); the
Pearson Test of English (PTE); and
Cambridge English Advanced (CAE).
The recommendation to extend the
list of nationalities who are exempt
from meeting the English language
requirement has not been supported
by the Australian government.

Action Items

The period of standard business

sponsorship has been extended from
three to five years, and for start-up
businesses the period has been
extended from 12 to 18 months.
The period of standard business
sponsorship has been extended from
three to five years, and for start-up
businesses the period has been
extended from 12 to 18 months.

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SWITZERLAND Quotas for

EU/EFTA L Permits
Exhausted for Second
Quarter of 2015
The quota for L permits for the second
quarter of 2015, for short-term assignees
from European Union (EU)/European Free
Trade Agreement (EFTA) countries, has been
filled.

Who is Affected?
New, incoming EU/EFTA nationals who are
assigned to Switzerland but remain on foreign
employment contracts will not be issued L
permits until the third quarter of 2015. New
short-term L permit quotas for EU/EFTA
nationals will be available from 1 July 2015.
Some cantons may, in exceptional
circumstances, continue to accept new
applications in this category; other cantons
will not. This should be checked on a case-bycase basis.

Who is Not Affected?

The quota for B permits, and permits not
subject to quotas, such as the 120 day permit
and the 4 month short term permit) are not
affected. Quotas for non-EU/EFTA nationals
are also not affected.

Background
The Swiss government has reduced the work
permit quotas for the year 2015. The quotas
are allocated to the cantons on a quarterly
basis.

Action Items
Allow for possible delays with sending
EU/EFTA nationals to Switzerland.
Contact your supplier for any new

EU/EFTA national assignments to

Switzerland, as pending applications
will be treated differently depending
on the canton.

IRELAND New
Requirements for
Accountants; and New
Stamp 4 Application
Procedure
Since the implementation of new
Employment Permit Regulations in October
2014, the Irish Department of Jobs, Enterprise
and Innovation (DJEI) has begun to require
accountants who are applying for
employment permits to provide evidence of a
recognised qualification.
Also, from 1 April 2015, there is a new
procedure for Critical Skills Employment
Permit or Green Card holders applying for
Stamp 4 residence permission.

Accountants
All employment permit applications on behalf
of accountants and chartered accountants
must now provide evidence that their relevant
accountancy qualification is recognised by the
appropriate accountancy body in Ireland.
This is the case whether the qualification is a
Bachelors or Masters degree, or the
employees membership of an Institute of
Certified Public Accounts etc. In many cases
the employee can provide a memorandum of
understanding or a letter from the awarding
institute outlining in which countries their
qualifications are recognised.

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The relevant accountancy qualification must

be recognised by one of the following bodies:
Association of Chartered Certified
Accountants;
Association of International
Accountants;
Chartered Institute of Management
Accountants;
Chartered Institute of Public Finance
and Accountancy;
Institute of Certified Public
Accountants in Ireland;
Institute of Chartered Accountants in
Ireland;
Institute of Chartered Accountants in
England and Wales;
Institute of Chartered Accountants in
Scotland;

Institute of Incorporated Public

Accountants.

Stamp 4
What is the New Procedure?
Effective 1 April 2015, a holder of a Critical
Skills Employment Permit or Green Card
applying for Stamp 4 immigration permission
must submit detailed evidence to the DJEI of
their two years of employment in Ireland. If
the DJEI finds that the evidence is sufficient, it
will issue a letter of support which the
applicant must submit with their application
for Stamp 4 at their local Garda National
Immigration Bureau (GNIB)
The applicant must complete and submit a
new form to the DJEI, accompanied by the
following documents:
A letter from their employer, dated
within the last three months
confirming the applicants
employment and their job title;

Copies of three recent pay slips issued

to the holder of the employment
permit dated within the last four
months;
Copies of P60s issued to the holder of
the employment permit for each year
of employment covering the duration
of the employment permit.
Documentary evidence of Health
Insurance payments.
What is Stamp 4?
Stamp 4 immigration permission allows the
holder to work in Ireland for two years
(renewable) without an employment permit.
To obtain Stamp 4, an applicant must have
met the terms of their previous Critical
Skills/Green Card Employment Permit and
immigration conditions and be of good
character. Previously, there was no
requirement to obtain a letter of support
from the DJEI in support of a Stamp 4
application.

Action Items
Ensure that employment permit
applicants for accountancy roles
submit proof that their accountancy
qualification is recognised by the
appropriate accountancy body in
Ireland;
For Stamp 4 applicants, allow
additional time to obtain the DJEI
letter of support before applying at
the GNIB.

United Arab Emirates

Bilateral Visa Waiver

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Signed with the European

Union

Liechtenstein, which have signed the

Schengen Agreement but are not EU Member
States.

Effective 6 May 2015, United Arab Emirates

(UAE) nationals can travel without a visa to
any European Union (EU) Member States
which participate in the Schengen Area for
stays of up to 90 days (within any 180-day
period).

Action Items

The remaining visa requirements for some EU

nationals travelling to the UAE (also for 90
days in 180) have also been lifted.

Note that UAE nationals travelling to

the EU countries in the Schengen area
for tourism or business (not paid
activities), for up to 90 days in any
180-day period, no longer require a
visa. The same is true for EU nationals
(other than British and Irish nationals)
travelling to UAE.

Agreement and Exceptions

The EU and the UAE signed the Agreement
between the European Union and the United
Arab Emirates on the short-stay visa waiver
on 6 May 2015 and it will be provisionally
applied until it is ratified.
The reciprocal visa waiver is good for short
visits including tourism, business and
journalism, sports, artistic performances and
intra-corporate training. It does not apply to
those employed in the destination country, or
to those providing paid services.
The 90-day period is calculated for stays in the
territory of the EU Member States which are
already fully part of the Schengen Area.
Separate 90-day periods are calculated for
stays in any of the four Member States which
are not yet full participants in the Schengen
Area (Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus and Romania).
The visa waiver does not apply to the United
Kingdom and Ireland which have opted out of
the Schengen area. The United Kingdom has
since last year offered UAE (and Qatar and
Oman) nationals an electronic visa waiver for
up to 180 days of tourism, business or study.

RUSSIA Quota
Application Deadlines
The final deadlines for companies submitting
standard work permit quota applications are 1
July 2015 for 2016 quota applications, and 1
September 2015 for 2015 quota corrections.

Quota Application Procedure

Quota applications are submitted online via
Migrakvota, and then supporting documents
are submitted manually at the Moscow
Centre for Labour Exchange.
Manual submission of documents can be
made on the following dates:
17-22 May and 15-30 June for
standard work permit quota slots for
applications in 2016;
13-24 July and 10-31 August for
standard work permit quota
corrections for 2015.

The visa waiver agreement also does not yet

apply to Switzerland, Iceland, Norway and

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Background on Standard Work

Permit Applications
In the last twelve months the Russian
authorities have made significant changes to
the standard work permit system, making it
an onerous and complex immigration
category.
Since last year, Russian employers must
provide a letter guaranteeing medical
insurance and accommodation for all foreign
national employees, which is now also
required at the time of the quota filing.
In addition, standard work permit applicants
must travel to Russia prior to their work
permit application to take tests on basic
Russian language, history and legal system,
and to obtain a medical certificate from an
approved clinic.
Since these requirements do not affect the
quota-free Highly Qualified Specialists (HQS)
work permit process, it is expected that more
and more employers will consider engaging
exclusively HQS Work Permit holders.
At the same time (since January 2015)
Commonwealth of independent States (CIS)
nationals must apply for quota-free, regionspecific work patents instead of employerspecific work permits in Russia and so it is
anticipated that the requested number of
quotas in 2015 will be greatly reduced.

Action Items
Note the latest deadlines for
submitting quota applications;
Consider the HQS category if the
applicant salary can be raised to
2,000,000 RUB (1,000,000 RUB for IT
companies).

IRELAND Trusted Partner

Initiative Launched
On 12 May 2015 the Department of Jobs,
Enterprise and Immigration (DJEI) launched
the Trusted Partner Initiative, which is
intended to reduce the paperwork required
from employers and European Economic Area
(EEA) contractors applying for employment
permits for foreign nationals.
Applicants granted Trusted Partner status will
have access to a unique set of employment
permit application forms where they must
provide their Trusted Partner Registration
number in lieu of a number of their employer
details. Applications should also be processed
faster.

Who Qualifies?
Qualifying companies must be registered in
Ireland, and must not have been convicted of
any offence under Irelands immigration or
employment permits laws.

What are the Benefits?

Faster turnaround of Trusted Partner
employment permit applications, as
fewer company details have to be
checked;
Shorter application forms (no need to
provide company contact details,
registered address, signature and
latest P30 with every permit
application);

What Remains the Same?

The eligibility for each permit type;
Personal documents required from
the employee;

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 The government processing fee paid

by the employer;
Some corporate documents are still
required, such as the job description
and letter of support.

How to Apply for and Renew Trusted

Partner Status
An application to register as a Trusted Partner
must be made on the official form which is
available on the DJEI website. The application
form for Trusted Partner registration must be
signed by the Company Secretary, the Person
of Compliance or Person of Process or the
business owner. There is no fee for this
application. Processing of this applications is
supposed to take only two days.
Trusted Partner status is valid for two years,
and a reminder to complete renewal will be
sent two months before expiry.

Action Items
Irish-registered employers who
employ foreign nationals should
consider applying for Trusted Partner
status to take advantage of the
reduced processing times and
paperwork requirements;
Note that the announced faster
processing times may not become
established until processing offices
are used to the new system.

SOUTH AFRICA New

Requirements for Parents
Travelling with Children

Effective 1 June 2015, parents or legal

guardians travelling to or from South Africa
with their child will have to produce the
childs unabridged birth certificate(s) along
with other relevant documents. This change
has been much anticipated over the past
months and is being implemented to reduce
human trafficking.
Without the required documents, airlines may
not allow a child to board flights into or out of
South Africa, and immigration officials at the
border of South Africa might refuse to allow a
child to enter or depart from South Africa.

Who is affected?
These new requirements apply equally to all
foreign and South African national parents,
travelling with all children under the age of
18, into or out of South Africa, via any port of
entry.

Grace Period
There will be a four month grace period,
starting 1 June, for children who are already in
South Africa, having entered the country for
an intended return trip prior to 1 June, and
who are departing to complete their journey.
Please note that this grace period does not
apply to children who are already resident in
South Africa with their parents, nor to any
children entering the country after 1 June.

Documents Required
Parents and legal guardians travelling with
children under the age of 18 must produce
the unabridged (full form) birth certificate of
the child which clearly states the names of
both parents. Any certificate which is not in
English must be accompanied by an official
translation by a legally recognised/sworn
translator.

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Child travelling with one parent

The parent must also produce:

consent in the form of an affidavit
from the other parent registered as a
parent on the birth certificate of the
child, authorising him or her to enter
into or depart from South Africa with
the child he or she is travelling with;
a court order granting full parental
responsibilities and rights or legal
guardianship in respect of the child, if
he or she is the parent or legal
guardian of the child;
where applicable, a death certificate
of the other parent registered as a
parent of the child on the birth
certificate; and/or
legally separated parents should also
provide a court order when the other
parent refuses to give consent for the
child to travel.
Child travelling with a person who is not a
biological parent

The guardian must also produce:

an affidavit from the parents or legal
guardian of the child confirming that
he or she has permission to travel
with the child;
copies of the identity documents or
passports of the parents or legal
guardian of the child;
the contact details of the parents or
legal guardian of the child.
An unaccompanied minor child
The child must carry:

proof of consent for the child to travel

into or out of South Africa, from one
or both of his or her parents or legal
guardian, in the form of a letter or
affidavit; along with a court order
granting full parental responsibilities
and rights in respect of the child, if
the proof of consent is provided by
only one parent;
a letter from the person who is to
receive the child in South Africa,
including his or her residential
address and contact details in South
Africa where the child will be residing;
a copy of the identity document or
valid passport and visa or permanent
residence permit of the person who is
to receive the child in South Africa;
and
the contact details of the parents or
legal guardian of the child.
Please note:
Any document which is not in English
must be accompanied by an official
translation by a legally
recognised/sworn translator;
Sworn/notarized affidavits must not
be older than three months at the
time they are presented to the
authorities at the time of travel;
All documents must be originals or
copies certified/notarized as a true
copy of the original by a
Commissioner of Oaths, Notary Public
or the equivalent commissioning
authority empowered by law do so in
the country concerned.

Action Items
Ensure that any children travelling
into or out of South Africa after 1 June

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2015 have the required documents

readily available, translated and
notarised/certified if necessary.

TURKEY Changes to the

Residence Permit
Application Process
Effective 18 May 2015 residence permit
applications in all Turkish cities must be made
to the offices of the Migration Department,
rather than to the local Foreigners
Department (Police Authority) in the area of
residence.

Application Process
Under the new system, residence permit
applicants must make an appointment using
the online system of the Migration
Department, and then submit their
application at the main office of the Migration
Office (in Istanbul, this is on Vatan Street) at
the appointed time and date.
Applicants with pending residence permit
application appointments made via their local
Foreigners Department will now have to
submit their applications at the main office of
the Migration Department at the appointed
time and date.

Action Items
Note that there may be delays in
issuing residence permit application
appointments at the main office of
the Migration Department, as all
processing is transferred there from
the local Foreigners Department
offices.

SOUTH AFRICA Premium

Visa Service for Qualifying
Corporate Accounts
On 14 May 2015 a new Corporate Account
Visa Facilitation Services (VFS) Centre was
opened in Johannesburg as a one-stop shop
for quicker and more efficient visa
applications for foreign nationals employed by
qualifying companies.
The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has
invited interested companies to apply for
Corporate Account status by 25 May 2015. It
is not clear at present whether the application
window may be extended after this date.

What are the Benefits?

The Corporate Account VFS Centre will only
serve foreign nationals attached to companies
which have been given Corporate Account
status, and will expedite applications and
provide support and advisory services. It is
likely, therefore, that applications submitted
at the new Corporate Account VFS Centre will
be processed much quicker.

Who is Likely to Qualify?

Based on the selection criteria in the points
system outlined below, companies most likely
to qualify for Corporate Account status are
those which have, or which are planning to
have, large numbers of foreign national
employees.
Those with a relatively low number of foreign
national employees (i.e. 10-20) might not
meet the selection criteria, but are welcome
to apply.
As the new Corporate Account VFS Centre has
been opened in Johannesburg, it will mainly

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benefit those businesses located in the

Gauteng Province and neighboring provinces.

Selection Criteria
The DHA will make use of the following points
system in evaluating applications:
The number of visas required in key
positions - this will be counted in
man-years over the coming three
years (20 Points);
Size of the incremental capital
expenditure (capex) over the coming
three years (20 Points);
National priority/relevance of the visa
requested to the development of
national infrastructure (20 Points);
Critical skills component - percentage
of visas contained in the notice
contemplated in section 19(4) of the
Immigration Act, 2002 (Act No. 13 of
2002) (20 Points);
Efforts by the corporate applicant to
transfer imported skills to locals (20
Points);
Proof that at least 60% of the total
staff employed by the business are
permanently employed South African
nationals or permanent residents (20
Points).

Action Items
Interested employers in South Africa
should apply for Corporate Account
status before Monday 25 May 2015.

UNITED STATES USCIS to

Suspend Premium
Processing of H-1B
Extension Petitions from 26
May to 27 June 2015
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
(USCIS) announced on 19 May that it will
temporarily suspend premium processing of
all H-1B extension of status petitions effective
26 May 2015 until 27 July 2015.

What is Premium Processing?

Premium Processing service permits
employers to request USCIS to adjudicate
(approve, deny or request additional
evidence) petitions within 15 calendar days by
submitting Form I-907, a Request for Premium
Processing Service and an additional filing fee
of $1,225.00.

What Petitions are Affected?

During the suspension, petitions for H-1B
extensions of stay via premium processing will
not be accepted.
USCIS has stated that if an H-1B extension of
status petition is submitted prior to 26 May
2015 via premium processing and USCIS does
not act on the petition within the 15-day
calendar period, it will refund the premium
processing fee.
Premium processing requests will be accepted
for H-1B cap petitions and for H-1B petitions
requesting change of status or consular
notification.
What is not entirely clear from the
announcement is whether H-1B petitions
requesting an amendment without an
extension of H-1B status will be affected. An
amended H-1B petition is filed with USCIS

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when there is a change in a term of

employment, such as a change in position or
worksite, or even a change in employer, but
no request to extend the validity of the
current H-1B expiration date.

Why Suspend Premium Processing?

USCIS is being "proactive" in anticipation of
thousands of applications for employment
authorization documents that may be
submitted by H-4 spouses beginning 26 May
2015 based on a regulation published earlier
this year. USCIS states that this temporary
suspension will permit them to adjudicate the
applications for employment authorization for
H-4 spouses who are married to H-1B
employees that are in a certain stage of the
permanent resident process.
It is important to note that this regulation
could be negatively impacted if the court
grants a preliminary injunction as the result of
a lawsuit filed by a group of former Southern
California Edison employees against the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security this past
April. If the court grants the preliminary
injunction, USCIS will not be permitted to
process the employment authorization
documents applications to be filed by H-4
spouses, making the announced suspension of
premium processing unnecessary.

Action Items
H-1B extension petitions via premium
processing should be made as soon as
possible, and at any rate before 26
May 2015.
Note that, even if submitted before
26 May, these petitions may not be
processed within the usual 15-day
period.

SOUTH AFRICA Work and

Business Visa Holders May
Study Part-Time
Effective 1 May 2015, holders of business
visas and all categories of work visa are
allowed to register and undertake part-time
studies with appropriately
registered/established higher learning
institutions.

Who Benefits?
This is relevant to all foreign nationals holding
work visas (Intra-Company Transfer, Critical
Skills & General categories) or business visas,
wishing to further their studies part-time at a
South African university or college. These
foreign nationals now no longer require
additional permission to study part-time, and
may do so under the auspices of their existing
visas.
It is important to note that full-time study is
strictly prohibited for work and business visa
holders in South Africa. Note also that the
duration of the course of studies must not
exceed the validity of the foreign nationals
existing work or business visa.

Action Items
Inform work and business visa holders
and applicants of their new
permission to study part-time while in
South Africa.

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DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this immigration newsletter has been
abridged from laws, court decisions, and administrative rulings and should not be
construed or relied upon as legal advice. If you have specific questions regarding the
applicability of this information, please contact Peregrine 2014 Peregrine
Immigration Management Ltd.

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