IMMIGRATION QUESTIONNAIRE

Transcription

1 IMMIGRATION QUESTIONNAIRE COUNTRY: France CITY: Paris DATE: 22 July 2009 Introduction 1 Is this country a member of the EU? Yes 2 Is this country a member of the EEA? (European Economic Area) Yes 3 Is this country a member of the Schengen Agreement? Yes 4 Any other international agreement which affects immigration regulations for certain nationals? (e.g. CIS: Commonwealth of Independent States) If so, please give details. There are a few agreements with various countries (especially in Africa) but they are more relevant to domestic immigration than business immigration

2 2 Documents needed 5 What are the typical immigration documents needed for a US national, management level, intra company transfer, home payroll? (e.g. work permit, work visa, residence permit). Please also provide average government processing time per step to secure these documents. Work permit (from 6 to 10 weeks from the filing of the complete work permit application file with the French local labour authority, to the approval of the work permit and the sending of the file to the relevant French consulate). Processing time is up to the local authorities in charge of the process of the file and increases during French vacation periods, especially in summer Work visa (from 1 day to 2 weeks, depending on the French consulate within which jurisdiction the applicant legally resides outside of France) Residence permit (from 4 to 8 weeks, depending on the local police authority within which jurisdiction the applicant legally resides in France) NB: the above process is only for work assignment in France greater than 3 months 6 Is there any difference in process for a US national, management level, intra company transfer moving to host payroll? 7 Is there any difference in process for a US national, management level new hire (as opposed to intra company transfer)? Assume new hire is on host payroll. Local labour market search prior to the filing of the work permit is required. The main exception is if the position is on the official exception list

3 3 8 Is there any difference in process based on seniority level? (i.e. below management)? When remaining on the home payroll, 3 months seniority with the home company is necessary in order to obtain an intra company permit called salarié en mission. If the 3- month seniority condition is not met, Emigra s position is that the assignee should obtain a classic work permit. Our position is shared by the French ministry of immigration but not by every local labour authority. Some local labour authorities refuse to process the work permit application if the intra company transferee does not have 3 months of seniority When locally hired, French regulations do not mention any seniority condition in order to benefit from the regulations applicable to intra company transferees In both cases, 6 months seniority with the home company may allow the employee to benefit from an accelerated immigration procedure 9 Is there any difference in process based on need for an entry visa (e.g. Indian national)? difference in process for assignment in France greater than 90 days For assignment not exceeding 90 days, a short stay Schengen visa is usually needed for visa nationals in addition to the work permit (unless the employee already holds a valid residence permit issued by another Schengen member state)

4 4 10 Is there any difference in process for EU nationals? EU nationals and assimilated are not required to obtain entry visas, work or residence permits. They may apply for residence permits for commodity reasons but this is optional. We expect for the French government to fully implement a registration process; however a confirmed procedure for EU nationals and assimilated has not come into force yet. There is an exception for EU nationals subject to transition measures (i.e. Romanian and Bulgarian) as they remain subject to requirement for residence permit when performing a professional activity in France for more than 3 months (except if holding a French Master s degree). For EU nationals subject to transition measures, the need of an additional work permit is up to the specifics of the case: a work permit is always needed for local hires except when holding a French master degree. If remaining on home payroll, they can benefit from a work permit exemption, mainly if the home sending company is registered in the EEA or in Switzerland Starting work 11 At what stage in the immigration process as outlined above, in question 5, can a US national start work? Upon arrival in France under cover of the work visa. When remaining on the home payroll, an occupational medical exam should be first arranged by the host company in France with the so-called médecine du travail (this is relevant to employment regulation) 12 Is there any difference for other nationalities? 13 Is there any difference for EU/EEA/Swiss nationals? For 2007 entrant EU nationals requiring a work permit, they can start working upon arrival in France after the work permit was approved (no entry visa is needed)

5 5 14 Is change of status possible i.e. can a US national arrive as a business visitor and convert to work status without leaving the country? A change of status from business visitor to worker is not possible if the assignment is greater than 90 days. A classic immigration process will need to be launched (work permit, work entry visa, etc.) Yes if the total duration of the assignment is for less than 90 consecutive days 15 Other nationalities is change of status possible for those requiring visas to enter? Same as Q Change of status for students what options are there for students, who have completed courses in-country, to convert to work status without leaving the country? Important note: the student permit which is usually valid for 1 year (and renewable) already allows its holder to work 964 hours during the validity of the permit. Regarding French master s degree holders, if the student residence permit (RP) has 4 months validity left, the student may first obtain, under certain conditions, a 6 month RP extension with the right to work. Then, the employer may sponsor a change of status application. The position should be advertised first unless it is on the official exception list OR if the position will lead, directly or indirectly, to a contribution to the economic development of France and of the student s country of citizenship. If the student residence permit has less than 4 months validity left and/or the student does not hold a French master s degree, the employer must sponsor the application from the beginning and demonstrate that no candidate in France can fill the position (unless the position is mentioned on the official exception list).

6 6 Dependants Please answer the questions below for a standard, intra company transfer case (please specify any conditions which apply. e.g. employee would need to be high level; payroll must be host country, etc) The below comments are only valid when the planned stay in France is greater than 90 days Important note: the application for family dependants must be submitted at the same time as the principal s work permit application 17 Can dependants accompany the principal assignee? Yes and the dependant s (spouse and children) entry visa should be issued at the same time as the principal s under certain conditions: For Intra Company transferees, when the principal qualifies for the salarié en mission For other categories, when the principal s monthly gross salary amounts to at least 4,303 Euro (this amount is linked to a French cost of living index) Otherwise, a separate immigration procedure should be launched for the dependant (whose entry visa would be issued at a later stage) 18 n married partner? 19 Same sex partner? 20 Children up to what age? Parents?

7 7 22 Domestic helpers nannies/au-pairs? OK if the stay in France is for less than 3 months (a work permit is needed but the state of the labour market is not set against the employee) For stays greater than 3 months, a separate immigration procedure should be launched and local labour search is usually needed Issues 23 Please list any potential issues or red flags. (e.g. NL: register with Knowledge Migrant Programme; Russia: provide labour forecast; France & others: local labour search for new Hires) Local labour search is the principle for local hires but there are many exceptions (intra company transferees, specific listed positions, etc) 24 Penalties for non compliance If the employer is a company, the fine can be up to 75,000 per illegal employee + following additional main penalties: Debarment from carrying on the involved business for a maximum duration of 5 years Judicial control of the company for a maximum duration of 5 years Permanent closure of the company or up to a maximum duration of 5 years Permanent debarment to challenge in order to win a public business or for a maximum duration of 5 years Publication of the court of justice s decision Debarment from sponsorship of foreign workers

8 Contact Details: PO Box Diss - IP22 1NS - UK Phone +44(0) Renewals 25 For a standard, intra company transfer case, how long in advance should the renewal be started? From a legal standpoint, the renewal application must be filed within 2 months from the expiry of the current permit (in theory, it could be the day the permit expires this is still legally compliant but may lead to some issues in practice) We therefore recommend to start working on the renewal approximately 3 months in advance, sometimes even earlier depending on the local authority we are dealing with 26 Any exceptions? Other comments? 27 Other comments? This information was provided by Emigra France SARL The information contained in this document is correct as of the date of issue noted above. Whilst every effort has been made by Emigra to ensure accuracy and completeness throughout this document, Emigra cannot and will not be held responsible for damage caused by errors, and/or omissions or otherwise caused by using and/or relying solely on the information contained herein. Please note that immigration regulations and requirements can change without advance notice and as such Emigra cannot guarantee that the information contained within this document is 100% error free. THANK YOU FOR FILLING IN THE QUESTIONNAIRE This immigration questionnaire has been designed by the Marketing liaison officer Nathalie Bourdin Gazal with the useful & professional help of Sophy KING Emigra