New proicesses

December 2015

PEREGRINE NEWS
We wish all our friends, clients and partners a Happy New Year!
Last month we added three new immigration processes to Immiguru:

Indonesia Temporary Work Permit (1 to 6 Months);

Indonesia Urgent or Temporary Work Permit (Up To 1 Month);
Norway Temporary Assignments (Under 90 Days).

Immiguru now contains over 1200 immigration processes to more than 90 destination
countries, which our 200+ partners help us to keep up-to-date to reflect changes to rules
and procedures around the world.

Table of Contents
CANADA NEW EMPLOYER PORTAL FOR INTERNATIONAL MOBILITY PROGRAM
SPAIN RESIDENCE RIGHTS EXTENDED FOR DEPENDENTS OF EU NATIONALS
ISRAEL NEW REGULATIONS FOR FOREIGN EXPERTS
AUSTRALIA LABOUR MARKET TEST EXEMPTIONS FOR CHINESE NATIONALS
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CANADA New Employer

Portal for International
Mobility Program
From 21 November 2015, all employers
submitting offers of employment for the
International Mobility Program (IMP) must do
so via the new Employer Portal. Submissions
via the Employer Portal were compulsory
from 26 October 2015 for all employers under
the IMP other than those exempt from the
employer compliance fee.

What is the new procedure?

An employer wishing to submit an offer of
employment must now first register with the
employer portal. A representative may be
added by the company as a secondary user,
and can then submit offers of employment on
the employers behalf. The employer
compliance fee (currently $CAN 230) must
also be paid via the Employer Portal.
Previously, the fee was paid online and then
an online form completed (including the fee
receipt number) and submitted by email. A
representative submitting the form on behalf
of the employer had to submit a scanned Use
of Representative form.
On successful submission of the offer of
employment via the Employer Portal, an offer
of employment ID number is assigned to the
information submitted. The employer should
provide this offer of employment ID number
to the foreign national for inclusion in their
work permit application form.

What is the International Mobility

Program?
The International Mobility Program (IMP)
allows employers to hire or bring in foreign

workers without the need of a Labour Market

Impact Assessment (LMIA).
Exemptions from the LMIA process are
available for people authorised to work in
Canada temporarily due to free trade
agreements, such as NAFTA, intra-company
transferees, International Experience Canada
participants, spouses of highly-skilled foreign
workers and some other categories.

Action Items
Employers hiring LMIA-exempt
foreign nationals should ensure that
they register with the Employer
Portal, and then use the portal to pay
the compliance fee and submit the
offer of employment.

SPAIN Residence Rights

Extended for Dependents
of EU Nationals
Effective 9 December 2015, a new regulation
(Real Decreto 987/2015 of 30 October 2015)
extends the definition of dependents of
European Union (EU) nationals who qualify for
an EU residence card in Spain, to include nonU national common-law partners in a steady
relationship, as well as any financially or
physically dependent family members.

Who is Affected?
The non-EU national common-law
partner of an EU national will now
qualify for a five-year EU family
residence card if they can show
evidence of a steady relationship.
This should include evidence either of
continuous cohabitation of at least

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one year, or of children they have had

together.
Other non-EU national family
members will now also qualify if they
can prove financial dependence on
the principal applicant, or are
physically dependent on the principal
on health or disability grounds.
Previously in Spain, these non-EU
national family members of EU
nationals were only granted one-year
(renewable) Spanish residence cards,
according to the general regulations
for non-EU nationals.

Action Items
EU nationals can now plan to bring
their non-EU national common-law
partners, and financially or physically
dependent family members, to Spain
for longer periods.

ISRAEL New Regulations

for Foreign Experts
Effective immediately, new regulations for the
employment of foreign nationals have been
announced. The new regulations significantly
tighten the qualifying criteria for work visas,
especially for professionals who do not
require an academic qualification.
However only a first edition of the regulations
has been published, so further amendments
and clarifications are to be expected.

What has Changed?

1. The new regulation distinguishes
between expert professions that require
academic qualifications, and those that do
not. For both categories there is a
requirement to pay double the average salary.

However, the new regulations determine the

following for professionals who do not
require an academic education:
The employer must pay the salary to
an Israeli Bank in the name of the
employee;
The employer must provide a contract
issued by an Israeli lawyer confirming
that the employee's contract of
employment in the home country
complies with Israeli labor law, and
with he employer's obligations under
the regulations;
Upon extension of the permit in this
sub category, copies of wire transfers
to the Israeli bank account of the
employee must be provided by the
employer, as well as bank
confirmation that no-one except the
employee can transfer or withdraw
sums from the account.
Where the employment is beyond
three months, only professionals who
require academic qualifications can be
accompanied by family members with
dependent immigration status.
For professionals who do not require
academic qualifications, the decision
to allow dependents to accompany
the employee is discretionary. For
duration of stay below three months,
dependents will not be allowed to
stay in Israel.
2. The Ministry of Interior may require a salary
higher than double the average salary, for
professions in which the average salary is
higher than double the general average
salary.
3. Application for a work permit extension
should be submitted at least 60 days before

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the expiration of the current employee's work

visa.
4. Extraordinary well-justified applications for
work beyond five years and three months
from the first day of employment in Israel
must be submitted at least six months prior to
the start date of the assignment or expiration
of the current visa. Otherwise the employee,
if already working in Israel, will need to depart
from Israel upon expiration of the current
visa, and return only after approval of the
extension.
5. The foreign expert will have to depart from
Israel no later than 30 days after the
termination of employment (if applicable) and
provided their work visa is still valid.
6. The regulation sets a time frame for the
process: the application will be initially
checked within 21 days to verify that all
documents are provided, and a decision will
be made within an additional 30 days.
7. Any significant change in the work of an
employee should be reported to the Ministry
of Interior within seven work days. The
regulations do not specify what amounts to a
significant change, but it will certainly include,
inter alia, changes of salary (decrease or
increase), work location, job description or
management structure, as well as resignation,
layoff or early completion of the assignment.
8. Passports of employees and dependents
must be valid for at least one year and three
months from the beginning of the process.
Previously, the regulation required two years
and three months validity.
9. The Ministry of Interior is now instructed to
check the visa applicants entries and
departures from Israel, especially in the 12
months prior to the submission of the
application.

The aim of this measure is to eliminate the

issuance of visas to those who stayed and
worked in Israel prior to the visa process. It is
therefore recommended that visits to Israel
prior to the work visa process will be limited
to those employees expected to work.
10. Applications sponsored by a foreign
company must provide a notarised Power of
Attorney that has been certified by the Israeli
Consulate abroad, authorising the Israeli
representative (lawyer) to act on the
company's behalf for the submission of the
work permit and visa.
11. The regulation sets out the committee
structure and personnel, and holds that
decisions can be made by email or telephone,
apart from normal committee meetings. The
committee has the discretion to forward the
application to other government Ministries or
bodies, to obtain their opinion on a specific
application.
12. Upon visa processing at the Consulate, the
applicant will have to provide a Police
Clearance issued in the last 12 months, as well
as medical clearance conducted at a local
clinic or hospital accredited by the relevant
Israeli Consulate. The Consulate is authorised
to ask for any additional documents as they
see fit.
13. Entry into Israel following consular
processing will have to be done through BenGurion Airport.

Action Items
Ensure that new and extension work
visa applications adhere to the new
regulations;
Be prepared for further amendments
to and clarifications of the new
regulations in the coming weeks.

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AUSTRALIA Labour
Market Test Exemptions for
Chinese Nationals
Certain Chinese nationals applying for work
visas to Australia will no longer require Labour
Market Testing (LMT) under the terms of the
China Australia Free Trade Agreement
(ChAFTA), which is due to come into effect on
20 December 2015.

Exemptions from Labour Market

Testing under ChAFTA
A new Ministerial Determination has been
made to honour Australias commitments
under the China-Australia Free Trade
Agreement (ChAFTA).
The Determination specifies that Labour
Market Testing is inconsistent with the terms
of the ChAFTA and will therefore not need to
be conducted for the following individuals:
Executives, Senior managers and
Managers as Intra-Corporate
transferees;
Specialists as Intra-Corporate
transferees;
Independent Executives;
Contractual Service Suppliers.
Labour market testing is not required where it
would be inconsistent with Australias
international trade obligations (see here.
Nationals of China, Japan or Thailand, and
nationals and permanent residents of Chile,
Korea or New Zealand, among others, are
thereby exempt.

Labour Market Testing

457 Visa
Standard business sponsors for a Temporary
Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457) are required

to provide information with their nomination

about their attempts to recruit Australian
workers during the last twelve months.
Labour Market Testing for the 457 visa is
normally required for nurses and engineers,
trade and technical occupations (see the list
of non-exempt occupations here.
400 Visa
For Temporary Work (Short Stay Activity) visa
(subclass 400) applications, a letter of job
offer or contract must be submitted, which
states that the applicant has knowledge
and/or experience which cannot be
reasonably found in the Australian labour
market.

Action Items
Check whether Chinese national
applicants for Australian work visas
qualify for a labour market testing
exemption under the new China
Australia Free Trade Agreement.

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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 2015 Peregrine
Immigration Management Ltd.

peregrine: GLOBAL IMMIGRATION MADE SIMPLE

VAT registration number: 111 7916 32
Peregrine Immigration Management Ltd, Registered in England and Wales: 7569415