Questions Answers
Multi-National Companies Doing Business Abroad –
Avoiding Common Business Immigration Pitfalls
March 30, 2011
______
Q: can you get paid while attending meetings in your country from your US company while on a visitor visa? UK? Other European countries? China?
Renato Canizares -
A: In Brazil, you cannot get paid while attending meetings or holding a business visa
Sarah Harrop -
A: You can continue to be paid by your overseas employer whilst visiting the UK. However, you must not receive salary from a UK source. You can receive reasonable expenses to cover the cost of your travel and assistance in the UK.
Ellie Dunne -
A: Similar to the position in the UK, if you are in Ireland as a business visitor you can continue to be paid by an overseas employer. However, you should not be paid by an Irish employer.
Emma Higham -
A: Under a business visa an employee can represent his or her company in meetings etc in Qatar as part of his or her employment and will therefore get paid for attending those meetings. E
Vickie Leung -
A: In HK, you can get paid by the US company while attending meetings in HK.
______
Q: is there a time limit you will have to leave the country to be able to reenter the country again on a visitor’s visa? i.e., 1 week 1 month?
Emma Higham -
A: Not for Qatar; you can leave and reenter on the same day. E
Sarah Harrop -
A: In the UK there is no restriction on the number of visits that you may make, or the time that must elapse between visits, but you should not normally visit the UK for more than 6 months out of every 12 months.
Ellie Dunne -
A: In Ireland, there is no time limit during which you must leave the country before you can re-enter. An individual can come to Ireland at any one time as a business visitor for a period of 90 days.
Vickie Leung -
A: No. Technically you can exit and re-enter on the same day, but it's up to the HK Immigration if they will question that.
______
Q: so I can visit the UK intermittently for no more than a total of 6 months. Am I understanding this correctly?
Sarah Harrop -
A: Yes that is correct.
______
Q: Re the US: Does that exception relating to the sale of products include software products?
Robert Divine -
A: It does not appear that the provision mentioned includes software products. See:
9 FAM 41.31 N10.1 Commercial or Industrial Workers
(CT:VISA-701; 02-15-2005)
a. An alien coming to the United States to install, service, or repair commercial or industrial equipment or machinery purchased from a company outside the United States or to train U.S. workers to perform such services. However, in such cases, the contract of sale must specifically require the seller to provide such services or training and the visa applicant must possess specialized knowledge essential to the seller’s contractual obligation to perform the services or training and must receive no remuneration from a U.S. source.
b. These provisions do not apply to an alien seeking to perform building or construction work, whether on-site or in-plant. The exception is for an alien who is applying for a B-1 visa for supervising or training other workers engaged in building or construction work, but not actually performing any such building or construction work.
But a professional software consultant might be able to enter as a visitor for such installation using the B-1 classification under another exception, historically referred to as "B-1 in lieu of H-1." See this:
9 FAM 41.31 N11 ALIENS NORMALLY CLASSIFIABLE H-1 OR H-3
(CT:VISA-1034; 09-24-2008)
There are cases in which aliens who qualify for H-1 or H-3 visas may more appropriately be classified as B-1 visa applicants in certain circumstances; e.g., a qualified H-1 or H-3 visa applicant coming to the United States to perform H-1 services or to participate in a training program. In such a case, the applicant must not receive any salary or other remuneration from a U.S. source other than an expense allowance or other reimbursement for expenses incidental to the alien’s temporary stay. For purposes of this Note, it is essential that the remuneration or source of income for services performed in the United States continue to be provided by the business entity located abroad, and that the alien meets the following criteria:
(1) With regard to foreign-sourced remuneration for services performed by aliens admitted under the provisions of INA 101(a)(15)(B), the Department has maintained that where a U.S. business enterprise or entity has a separate business enterprise abroad, the salary paid by such foreign entity shall not be considered as coming from a "U.S. source;"
(2) In order for an employer to be considered a "foreign firm" the entity must have an office abroad and its payroll must be disbursed abroad. To qualify for a B-1 visa, the employee must customarily be employed by the foreign firm, the employing entity must pay the employee’s salary, and the source of the employee’s salary must be abroad; and
(3) An alien classifiable H-2 shall be classified as such notwithstanding the fact that the salary or other remuneration is being paid by a source outside the United States, or the fact that the alien is working without compensation (other than a voluntary service worker classifiable B-1 in accordance with 9 FAM 41.31 N9.1-5). A nonimmigrant visa petition accompanied by an approved labor certification must be filed on behalf of the alien.
The politics and mechanics of this provision can be tricky, especially if the installation period might be protracted. Other visa classifications might turn out to be necessary.
______
Q: is there a time limit they will have to be out of the UK before reapplying for a new visa?
Sarah Harrop -
A: Which visa are you referring to? If it is the intra company transfer visa the individual will need to leave the UK for 12 months before coming back to the country.
______
Q: How long is the Schengen visa valid for?
-Sasha Stepanova
A: The Schengen visa allows the Schengen visa holder to travel freely within the Schengen countries for a maximum stay of up to 90 days in a 6-month period. This means that once a Schengen visa holder has been in one or more Schengen visa countries for 90 days, then he or she must remain outside ALL the Schengen member states for at least 90 days.
Q: How long can one use the Schengen visa (if one stays 90 days and leaves the Schengen member states for six months, can they re-enter multiple times in this manner)? Or is there an overall time limit of 10 years (example)?
-Sasha Stepanova
A: It is just the calendar 6 months that it is issued for - i.e. if you only spend 60 days, you cannot "use up" your final 30 days e.g. one year later.
______
Q: Is there such a thing as a Schengen "work " permit that would allow you to actually do work in multiple Schengen countries?
-Sasha Stepanova
A: Unfortunately not, work permits are specific to the individual countries
______
Q: Can you define CASA? We don't operate within that region and am not familiar with that acronym. [waiting for a response]
______
Q: Are there differences in work permit requirements for non-profit organizations? Specific rules for faculty or students in higher education?
Sarah Harrop -
A: Employees of non-profit organisations require the same work visas as employees of other entities in the UK. There is a separate student visa scheme and students can work for short periods of time during term time.
Ellie Dunne -
A: Similar to the UK, in Ireland employees of non-profit organisations must comply with the same work permit requirements as other organisations. A separate student visa scheme also exists for higher education.
-Robert Divine
A: USA requirements for work authorizing visa classifications generally apply to nonprofits the same as for profits. A few classifications have some special options unique to certain kinds of nonprofits, particularly universities and research institutions.
-Emma Higham
A: Strictly speaking anyone entering Qatar to work must have a work permit and any student will need to obtain entry, study. and residencerights from the educational facility they will be studying at.
______
Q: For Hong Kong and Shang Hai, is there a defined timeframe (certain # of years) after which an ex-pat from US or European country may be required to be localized? Any risks/issues if the ex-pat continues assignment for more than 10 or 15 years?
jeffrey wilson - 3:18 PM
A: For China, there is no requirement to be localized. The risk is income tax. If a foreign national is resient for 5 straight years, then the foreign national may be taxed on a world wide income.A 30-day break will break the residency.
-Vickie Leung
A: For Hong Kong, there is no requirement for localization after a specified period. As long as the person holds the valid permit for working in Hong Kong, there would be no issue from the immigration perspective. Also, if a person has continuous ordinary residence in Hong Kong for 7 years, one may be eligible to apply for permanent resident status and such status is granted, the person does not need to apply for further work permit.
______
Q: Do other countries have a similar number of individuals that are in their countries without legal documentation as does the United States?
jeffrey wilson - 3:30 PM
A: China likely has millions of foreigners without proper documentation.
-Sarah Harrop
A: In the UK, whilst we do have a problem with illegal immigrants, and probably more than some other European countries, it is not as much of a difficulty as in the US.
-Emma Higham
A: The main loophole that allows people to work in Qatar without the proper documentation, i.e., work permit,is the on-arrival visa, which can be issued to 33 nationalities at the airport. In addition many people work in breach of the Immigration Law, which states that an individual must work only for the person sponsoring him or her; many Indian and Philippine nationals pay Qatari nationals to sponsor them and then undertake domestic, driver, etc.,duties. Given the population of Qatar (nationals and ex-pats) isapproximately 1.2m to 1.8m (depending on who you speak to), between 10% and 20% Qatari,the proportion of the work force workingin breach of Qatar laws and regulations may be quite high.
______
-5-