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December 2016

PEREGRINE NEWS
Welcome to the Peregrine News digest for December 2016!
In 2016 Peregrine published over 140 immigration alerts about over 50 different countries, with the
help of our local partners across the globe.
Apart from the regular changes to minimum salary requirements, application fees and quota levels,
2016 saw a continuation of the recent trends of online immigration systems and expanding visa
waiver programs.
The EU referendum in the United Kingdom and the presidential election in the United States raised
questions about possible major immigration rule changes on both sides of the Atlantic, but as of
December 2016 nothing concrete had been announced.
European Union member states, meanwhile, have been busy transposing recent EU directives on
intra-company transfers and posted workers into their national legislation, and debating further
changes to the posted worker rules and the Blue Card scheme.
We recently published a round-up of major changes to immigration rules around the world in 2016.
All our immigration alerts, and other news, can be found on our blog here.

Table of Contents
VIETNAM GUIDANCE CIRCULAR CLARIFIES QUARTERLY REPORTING REQUIREMENT
2
ISRAEL CLARIFICATION OF RULES FOR SHORT-TERM WORK TRAVEL AND FOR ISRAEL-CHINA TEN-YEAR MULTIPLEENTRY VISA
3
FINLAND CHANGES TO RESIDENCE PERMIT APPLICATION PROCEDURES; AND NEW POSTED WORKER
NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENT
5
ISRAEL IMMIGRATION EQUALITY FOR SAME-SEX MARRIAGES
7
KAZAKHSTAN NEW VISA WAIVER PROGRAM COVERS 20 MORE COUNTRIES AND LONGER STAYS
7
KAZAKHSTAN UPCOMING CHANGES TO THE WORK PERMIT REGIME
8
SOUTH AFRICA CANCELLATION OF VISA WAIVER FOR NEW ZEALAND NATIONALS
9
CANADA FOUR-YEAR RULE FOR FOREIGN WORKERS CANCELLED
10
NETHERLANDS NEW MINIMUM SALARY LEVELS FOR 2016
10
MORE FROM PEREGRINE
11

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VIETNAM Guidance
Circular Clarifies Quarterly
Reporting Requirement

The Vietnamese authorities have issued

circular 40/2016/TT-BLDTBXH, which provides
guidelines on the implementation of decree
11/ND-CP/2016, and which comes into effect
on 12 December 2016.
The circular clarifies a requirement for
employers to report foreign labour usage
every quarter, rather than yearly, as
previously.

Key Points
Circular 40 introduces a new set of official
forms, and provides detailed guidelines
clarifying the implementation of decree 11 of
April 2016. The main points are as follows:
A new template (Form 14,
replacing Form 16) is provided for
the foreign labour use report, and
companies are required to send
this report to the provincial
labour department every quarter,
before the 5th of the month,
rather than annually, as
previously. This report should
include foreign nationals currently
holding work permits, those
currently holding work permit
exemption certificates and those
who are not required to obtain a
work permit or a work permit
exemption but are currently
working in Vietnam for the
company.
One of the possible qualification
documents accepted for foreign
experts and specialists is a
confirmation letter issued by an

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agency, public/private
organization or public/private
enterprise in oversea confirming
the field of expertise.
The documents accepted to
justify the proof of employment
of at least 12 months within the
sending company for intracompany transferees include the
assignment letter, a former labour
contract or employment decision
letter, or a tax or insurance
certificate of the foreign
employee.
The starting date for the allowed
30 days per stay, not exceeding
90 days per year, for working in
Vietnam without a work permit or
a work permit exemption
certificate, shall be counted from
the first date of entry to Vietnam
of the employee for work
purposes.
For foreign nationals who have
been granted a work permit
which is still valid and assigned to
work at another companys
branch, project or clients location
in another province of Vietnam
for a duration of more than 10
day, a new work permit is not
required but the employer must
report the change of work
location to the labour department
where the foreign employee is
expected to work.
A work permit must be returned
to the labour department within
15 days of termination of the
employment contract or
assignment letter.

Action Items
Employers of foreign nationals in
Vietnam should consult their
immigration provider to ensure
compliance with the new
reporting rules.

ISRAEL Clarification of
Rules for Short-Term Work
Travel and for Israel-China
Ten-Year Multiple-Entry
Visa

Short-Term Work Travel to Israel

Recently published articles in the Israeli press
have misleadingly advised that, pursuant to a
new regulation issued by the Population
and Immigration Authority, almost every
business visitor who comes to Israel for
business, even for a short period, is required
to have a work visa rather than a tourist visa.
To avoid further misunderstanding, the
following summarises the regulations relating
to short-term business travel:
There are no new regulations. The
short-term employment
authorisation (SEA) regulations
were published in early 2015 for a
temporary trial period, were
extended to total stays of up to
45 days per calendar year in
October 2015, and become
permanent as of August 2016;
A business visitor who travels to
Israel for business meetings,
negotiations, passive training, and
other activities that are not

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productive, can continue to travel

under a visitor visa.
Any productive work to be done
in Israel (including, but not limited
to: hands on tools, hands on job,
installation work, providing active
guidance, inspections,
management of work, repair
work, supervision or consultancy
etc.), regardless of the length of
stay or location of the payroll,
require a work visa prior to entry.
The SEA program allows for work
activities in Israel for up to 45
days in a calendar year.
Instead of the standard B1 work
visa process (a work permit
application, followed by a work
visa application prior to entry)
successful applicants for an SEA
permit will obtain an expedited
work permit approval allowing
them to enter Israel and work
immediately, with no further
applications.
A separate application, must be
submitted prior to each entry, as
well as in the case of changing
travel dates. The processing time
for SEA applications is 6-10
working days from submission,
approximately 8 weeks faster
than a standard consular B1 visa.
A completed affidavit form,
declaring details of the short-term
employment, to be signed by the
Israeli company representative
and notarized, must be submitted
with the application.
Once in Israel SEA holders can
start work immediately, but
within two working days of entry
they should apply for a B1 work
visa at the MOI, which should be

issued within two working days.

Multiple entry permits are an
available option within the
permitted period.
The SEA permit applies only to
visa waiver nationals. Individuals
who are required to obtain visitor
visas at the Israeli consulate prior
to entry (including Indian, Chinese
and Turkish nationals), cannot
apply for work authorisation
under the SEA programme.

Israel-China Ten-Year Multiple-Entry

Visa
Earlier in 2016, Israel and China signed a tenyear multiple-entry visa agreement. The
agreement came into effect and was
published officially on 1 December 2016.
Previously, both Israeli and Chinese tourists
and business visitors were required to obtain
a single-entry visa. Under the new visa
program, a Chinese national holding an
ordinary passport can request a multipleentry B2 visa for a period of up to ten years at
any Israeli embassy or consulate worldwide.
A Chinese national traveling to Israel with a
ten-year visa will be able to stay in Israel for
up to 90 consecutive days on each visit, and
for no more than 180 days each year, starting
from the day he or she enters Israel. The visa
will be valid for up to ten years, but will expire
six months before the Chinese passport
expires. The visa cannot be transferred to a
new passport.
This new ten-year multiple-entry visa does not
allow any productive work to be done in Israel
(including, but not limited to installation work,
inspections, management of work, repair or
maintenance work, supervision or
consultancy etc.).

Senior officials at the Ministry of Interior have

clarified that unauthorised employment under
this visitor visa, regardless of the duration of
the work and place of salary payment,
constitutes a criminal offence. Applications
must be submitted at the relevant consulate.
Average visa processing time is five working
days from receipt of the application in full at
the consulate. Among other documents, the
individual must provide:
A signed statement
acknowledging the intent to exit
Israel on time and that
employment is prohibited in
Israel;
An original confirmation letter
from the applicants work place;
a bank statement (for at least
three months), unless the
applicants passport contains a
valid visa from the United States
or Schengen countries or if the
applicant is a registered resident
of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou
or Chengdu;
A formal invitation letter from the
Israeli
company/institute/organization.
In the consular publication, it was
also stated that the Consul has
the right to require an interview
with the applicant or ask for
additional materials to make a
comprehensive evaluation of the
application. For complete
guidelines please visit the
consular website by clicking here.

Action Items
Employers sending foreign
nationals to Israel for business or
work should check with their

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immigration provider whether the

applicant requires a visitor visa or
a B1 work visa, or qualifies for the
SEA program;
Employers sending Chinese
nationals to Israel for frequent
business trips should consider
applying for the new ten-year
multiple-entry visa.

FINLAND Changes to
Residence Permit
Application Procedures;
and New Posted Worker
Notification Requirement
Effective 10 November 2016, the time limit
for residence permit and EU registration
applicants to prove their identity in person
and submit original documents has increased
from one month to three months.
Also, effective 11 November 2016,
applications for a residence permit on the
basis of family ties can be submitted online.
Effective 1 January 2017, the Finnish
Immigration Service will be responsible for
accepting applications for residence and
citizenship permits, rather than the police, as
currently.
Also from 1 January 2017, any employer in
another country posting employees to work
temporarily in Finland must report the posting
before work begins.

Proving Identity
From 10 November 2016, an applicant will
have to prove their identity in person and
submit original documents within three
months, rather than one month as previously.

The change also applies to applicants who

submitted their online application, before 10
November, but have not yet proved their
identity. As an example, if an application was
submitted on 9 November 2016, the applicant
needs to prove their identity by 9 February
2017 at the latest.
For an application from abroad, the applicant
needs to book an appointment at a Finnish
mission to prove their identity. For an
application in Finland, the applicant needs to
visit a police department until the end of 2016
and a service point of the Finnish Immigration
Service starting from the beginning of 2017.
Applicants have to prove their identity in
person after submitting an application for a
residence permit, EU registration or Finnish
citizenship via the e-service Enter Finland. The
application will be put in in the processing
queue immediately after the applicant has
proved their identity.
The applicant must take their passport to the
appointment, along with a passport photo
and the originals of any documents they
submitted in support of their electronic
application.

Family Residence Permits

From 11 November 2016, applicants for
residence permits on the basis of family ties
can apply online using the e-service Enter
Finland.
Each adult applicant must create their own
user account. An application for a minor must
be submitted through their parent's or
guardians user account.
Paper applications can still be made, in case of
technical or language-related issues.

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Change of Authority
All permit matters for foreign nationals will be
handled by the Finnish Immigration Service
starting from 1 January 2017. Until now, the
police has been in charge of in-country initial
applications and extension applications for
residence permits, permanent residence
permits, EU registration and Finnish
citizenship.
Visa extension applications and decisions
remain the responsibility of the police.
Applications must be submitted to the police
until the end of 2016. From 1 January 2017,
applicants can submit applications online
using the e-service Enter Finland, and book an
appointment at a service point of the Finnish
Immigration Service to prove their identity.

Posted Worker Notification

From 1 January 2017, any employer, based
either within or outside the EU, posting
employees to Finland to perform work under
a service contract, as an internal transfer
within the same group of companies or as a
temporary agency worker, must notify the
Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSH) in Finland.
The notification must be given immediately
before the work agreed upon in the contract
starts. Reporting is not needed when workers
are transferred within the same group of
companies for a maximum of five days, except
when the company operates in the
construction sector.
The means by which the notification must be
made have not yet been announced, but the
notification must contain:
Identifying details of the
company, contact information,
foreign tax identification number

and information on the

responsible persons of the posting
company in the country where
the company is established;
Identifying details and contact
information of the contractor;
Identifying details and contact
information of the builder and the
main contractor for companies in
the construction sector;
Estimated number of posted
workers
Identifying details and contact
information of the postings
companys representative in
Finland or information indicating
why a representative must not be
selected;
Starting date of the posting of
workers and the estimated
duration of the posting;
Place where the work will be
carried out;
Branch in which the worker will
work.

The posting company must immediately

report any significant changes to this
information during the posting.
Should the posting company not fulfil its
reporting duty, it will be required to pay a
penalty fee for negligence.

Action Items
Expect some delays in residence
permit and EU registration
processing as the Finnish
Immigration Service takes on new
responsibilities from 1 January
2017.
Employers posting workers to
Finland from 1 January 2017 must

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ensure they notify the

Occupational Safety and Health
Administration before the work
starts.

ISRAEL Immigration
Equality for Same-Sex
Marriages
Following a historic directive issued 8
December 2016 by the Israeli Attorney
General, the immigration rights of legally
married same-sex couples will be equal to
those of heterosexual couples.
According to the new directive, the Ministry
of Interior is expected to issue new or
amended regulations, which provide the right
of naturalisation in Israel to all married
foreign partners regardless of
gender. However, same-sex marriages cannot
be legally performed in Israel.
Until now, same-sex married partners have
been recognised as non-married couples,
entitling them to residency rather than
citizenship.
The new process will allow a foreign national
same-sex married spouse the same rights as a
heterosexual spouse, to become a resident
after six months and an Israeli Citizen after
four and a half years. This will allow the
foreign spouse to benefit from the State
Health Plan, obtain an Israeli ID and exercise
voting rights. During the process, the couple
will have to provide evidence of a valid
marital relationship, including co-habitation,
and that their centre of life is in Israel. The
couple will be required to re-apply for
resident status yearly to the Ministry of
Interior. After four and a half years the foreign

national spouse will be eligible to apply for

Israeli citizenship.

Action Items
Expect new or amended
immigration regulations to
implement the new same-sex
marriage equality.

KAZAKHSTAN New Visa

Waiver Program Covers 20
More Countries and Longer
Stays
Effective 1 January 2017, nationals of 39
countries (up from 19) will be able to enter,
leave and transit through Kazakhstan without
a visa, and stay for up to 30 days (up from 15
days), for business, tourism or private trips.

Who Does This Apply To?

The visa waiver will be extended to nationals
of Austria, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic,
Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Iceland,
Ireland, Israel, Latvia, Luxembourg, Mexico,
New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia,
Slovenia, and Turkey.
Currently, the visa waiver applies to nationals
of only 19 countries: Australia, Belgium,
France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan,
Malaysia, Monaco, the Netherlands, Norway,
Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United
Arab Emirates and the United States.
Note that nationals of these 39 countries
travelling to Kazakhstan for work purposes
will still require work visas.

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Action Items
Note the upcoming extended visa
waiver regime effective, which
applies to business, tourist and
private trips by nationals of 39
countries for up to 30 days.

KAZAKHSTAN Upcoming
Changes to the Work
Permit Regime
Effective 1 January 2017, new rules for the
issuance of work permits for Kazakhstan
include the removal of the current labour
market test for locally-hired applicants and
the introduction of a state fee, among other
changes.
An announced change to the exemption list
whereby category 1 employees (directors and
executives) employed as heads of branches
and representative offices of foreign entities
in Kazakhstan would no longer be exempt
from having to obtain a work permit, has been
cancelled.

Key Changes
The changes to the work permit rules from 1
January 2017 include the following:
The Kazakh employer will no
longer need to apply to the
Regional Department of Labour
and Social Protection to verify
whether there are specialists for
this position on the local market,
except for intra-company
transfers.
The Kazakh employer will no
longer need to arrange a bank
guarantee and deposit to cover
the cost of repatriation.

The Kazakh employer will no

longer be required to carry out
one of the special conditions
(i.e. training or creating additional
jobs for Kazakh nationals.
Category 1 employees (e.g.
directors, managers, heads of
branches, etc.) will be able to
apply an unlimited number of
times to renew their work permit
for another year.
Category 2 and 3 employees (e.g.
specialists and highly-qualified
personnel) will be able to apply
three times (rather than twice as
currently) to renew their work
permit for another year.
The three-year maximum term for
ICT Work Permit holders remains
in place, and a new cap of one
permissible extension for up to an
additional three years is
introduced.
Applicants for a work permit in
the intra-company transfer
category must pass an
elementary-level Kazakh language
exam.
The Kazakh employer of an intracompany transferee will need to
advertise the position for thirty
days prior to submission of the
required documents.
Nationals of the Eurasian
Economic Union (i.e. Russia,
Belorussia, Armenia and
Kyrgyzstan) will be counted as
Kazakh nationals for the purposes
of the calculation of the ratio of
local to foreign employees.
New government fees for work
permit issuance and extension
will be introduced. The fee
amount will vary depending on

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the type of economic activity of

the employer and the category of
the foreign national employee.
The labour authorities will have
seven business days (rather than
fifteen as currently) to decide to
issue or refuse a work permit.

Action Items
Companies hiring foreign
nationals in Kazakhstan should
plan for the new state fees and
streamlined application process
from 1 January 2017;
Employers intending to send
employees to Kazakhstan on an
intra-company transfer basis
should bear in mind the new
requirements for local job
advertisement and language skills.

However, on 19 September 2016, the New

Zealand High Commission officially informed
the South African Government of a decision
by the New Zealand Government to introduce
visa requirements for all South African
nationals wishing to travel to New Zealand
with effect from 21 November 21 2016. The
New Zealand Government cited exploitation
of the visa waiver by many South African
citizens, as well as increased incidents of
counterfeit or fraudulently-obtained South
African passports as its main concerns.

Visa Requirement
The Department of Home Affairs in South
Africa has announced that it will reciprocate
by imposing visa requirements for all New
Zealand passport holders with effect from 16
January 2017.

SOUTH AFRICA
Cancellation of Visa Waiver
for New Zealand Nationals

This means that all New Zealand passport

holders (including diplomatic, official and
ordinary passports) who intend to travel to
South Africa for business, tourism or family
visits will be required to apply for Port of
Entry Visas in advance of their travel to South
Africa.

Effective 16 January 2017, all New Zealand

passport holders wishing to travel to South
Africa will no longer qualify for the currentlyavailable visa waiver, and will instead be
required to apply for Port of Entry Visas
before travelling to South Africa.

The application process will need to be done

in person, at the South African High
Commission in Wellington. Any New Zealand
national who arrives in South Africa on or
after 16 January 2017 without an appropriate
visa will be refused entry.

Background
A reciprocal visa waiver has been in place
since 1996 and New Zealand passport holders
have enjoyed visa-free travel to South Africa
for business, tourism or family visits of up to
90 days; equally, South African passport
holders enjoyed visa-free travel to New
Zealand for the same purposes.

It is important to note that this does not

directly impact foreign nationals requiring
Visitor Visas with a Section 11(2) work
authorisation. This is because the Section
11(2) visa already requires a Port of Entry
Visa, which is applied for at the respective
South African High Commission, prior to any
travel.

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Action Items
Employers should ensure that any
New Zealand national employees
travelling to South Africa for
business on or after 16 January
2017 have obtained an
appropriate visa.

CANADA Four-Year Rule

for Foreign Workers
Cancelled
The Canadian government has cancelled a
regulation that restricted most temporary
foreign workers from staying in Canada for
more than four years.

Background
In April 2011, the previous Conservative
government implemented a regulation that
required many foreign workers to leave
Canada for a four-year period if they had
worked in Canada for four years. The
regulation became enforceable in April 2015
and meant that many hundreds of foreign
workers had to leave Canada at that
time. The only way to remain in Canada was
to obtain permanent residence status.

Impact of New Regulation

Foreign workers who are reaching the fouryear limit and who have an application for an
extension to remain in Canada currently in
process will be advised that the four-year rule
no longer applies to them. Their applications
will be considered based on all the other
regulatory requirements that relate to their
situation.
Applicants who left Canada because of the
four-year rule can now apply to return to
Canada without having to wait for four

years. They will still be required to satisfy

other immigration requirements.

Action Items
Canadian employers should
review their personnel files to see
if there are former employees
who left because of the four-year
rule. It may now be possible to
invite these employees to return
to Canada.

NETHERLANDS New
Minimum Salary Levels for
2016
Effective 1 January 2017, the Dutch
immigration authorities have announced new
minimum salary levels for knowledge migrant
workers (aka Highly Skilled Migrants) and Blue
Card applicants coming to the Netherlands.

Affected Applications
It is not necessary to adjust salaries of existing
Knowledge Migrants in the Netherlands
unless applying for a renewal of the residence
permit. The new levels apply only where an
application, either for a new residence permit
or a renewal of an existing residence permit,
is made.

Minimum Salaries for 2017

The new minimum gross monthly salary levels
are as follows:
Knowledge Migrants aged over
30: EUR 4240 (up from EUR 4324);
Knowledge Migrants aged under
30: EUR 3170 (up from EUR 3108);
Persons who have graduated in
the Netherlands within the last 12

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months: EUR 2272 (up from EUR

2228)
Blue Card Holders: EUR 5066 (up
from EUR 4968).

Details
Note that amounts listed above
do not include the mandatory 8%
holiday pay. Payments must be
made monthly, directly into the
bank account of the foreign
national, and the onus is on the
employer to prove that such
payments have been made and
meet monthly requirements.
Failure to be compliant with these
rules may result in fines.
Per diems and allowances may
only be included if they are
guaranteed and stated in the
employment contract.
It should be noted that salaries
must also meet the market salary
rate for the specific position. If
the Immigration and
Naturalisation Service (the IND)
consider the suggested salary to
be less than sufficient, they can
ask the UWV Werkbedrijf (the
body that provides opinions on
behalf of the Dutch Ministry of
Social Affairs and Employment
(SZW) for an opinion. Additional
justification for the salary level
would likely be requested from
the prospective employer.
Applications which do not meet
market conditions as adjudicated
by the UWV Werkbedrijf will be
rejected.

Action Items
Note new minimum salary levels
for 2017 and ensure that
upcoming applications meet the
new criteria.

MORE FROM PEREGRINE

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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
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