peregrine news april 2015

peregrine: GLOBAL IMMIGRATION MADE SIMPLE VAT registration number: 111 7916 32

Peregrine Immigration Management Ltd, Registered in England and Wales: 7569415

This month we have added 15 new immigration processes to Immiguru, including one new

destination country - Jamaica and a group of processes for short-term assignments to

several countries in Europe and Asia.

We are also very proud that Peregrine has again been shortlisted for the Re:locate Award in

the category of Technological Innovation in Relocation, for our new global immigration case

management system, Immigo. (Peregrine won a Re:locate award in the same category in

2013 for Immiguru, and was shortlisted in 2014.)

The full shortlist appears here, and the winners of all categories will be announced on

Thursday 14 May wish us luck!

Table of Contents

SOUTH AFRICA BRICS NATIONALS RECEIVE LONG-TERM MULTIPLE-ENTRY VISAS 2

MALAYSIA UPDATED DOCUMENT REQUIREMENTS FOR EMPLOYMENT AND DEPENDANT PASS APPLICATIONS FOR

MSC MALAYSIA STATUS COMPANIES AT MDEC 3

JAPAN RESIDENCE STATUSES REORGANISED 4

MORE FROM PEREGRINE 5

PEREGRINE NEWS

April 2015



SOUTH AFRICA BRICS Nationals Receive Long-term Multiple-entry Visas

On 26 February 2015, the Minister of the

Department of Home Affairs announced that,

effective retroactively on 23 December 2014,

business travellers from BRICS countries

would be issued long-term, multiple-entry

visas.

Who Qualifies? This new measure extends to business visitors

from BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India and

China), holding diplomatic, official/services

and ordinary passports, who apply for visas to

visit South Africa for short-term business

purposes.

What Visa is Issued? Qualifying business travellers will receive a

Port of Entry Visa (see below) valid for up to

ten years (but not exceeding the passport

validity), to allow for visits of up to 30 days at

a time.

What are Port of Entry Visas? Port of Entry Visas are issued by South African

consulates abroad, but are subject to the

decision of the immigration authorities at the

port of entry, who may issue an entry visa or

not.

What is BRICS? BRICS is the acronym for an association of five

major emerging economies. The leaders of

Brazil, Russia, India and China held their first

formal summit in 2009, and South Africa

joined the group in 2010. As of 2014, the five

BRICS countries represent almost 3 billion

people, or approximately 40% of the world

population.

Further Details Companies should note that this does not

constitute an actual visa exemption or waiver,

as Russian, Indian and Chinese nationals will

still be required to apply for the initial visa

prior to travel; however, once in possession of

the visa, the holder can make multiple trips to

South Africa within the validity period, for

stays of up to 30 days at a time.

Brazilian passport holders are already part of

the Department of Home Affairs visa

waiver/exemption program and do not

require visas prior to travel for business visits

of up to 90 days.

The Department of Home Affairs believes that

this significant step will tremendously

enhance South Africas efforts to increase

trade and investment between BRICS

countries.

Action Items

Review your workforce mobility plans

to take into account these new

benefits for BRICS nationals.



MALAYSIA Updated Document Requirements for Employment and Dependant Pass Applications for MSC Malaysia Status companies at MDeC

Effective 13 April 2015, the Multimedia

Development Corporation (MDeC) has

updated its application process and

supporting document requirements for

Employment and Dependant Pass

Applications for Multimedia Super Corridor

(MSC) Status companies.

What Has Changed? There are changes to the order of submission

and whether originals or copies are required,

for both the Stage 1 (approval) and Stage 2

(endorsement) applications. Updated

document checklists are available here.

Most documents must now be uploaded to

the e-Xpats system, with only original

passports, passport photographs and release

letters from previous employers (if applicable)

submitted manually at Stage 2.

Under the previous requirements, the original

signed employment contract was submitted

at Stage 1, and MDeC would have It stamped

at the Malaysian stamping office.

Now, a signed copy of the employment

contract is to be uploaded at Stage 1, and a

stamped copy must be uploaded at Stage 2.

Therefore, MSC Malaysia status companies

are now required to arrange for the

employment contract to be stamped before

the Stage 2 endorsement application.

Background The Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) is a

Special Economic Zone in Malaysia designed

to promote development of the Malaysian ICT

industry. The Multimedia Development

Corporation (MDeC) administers Employment

Passes for MSC status Companies and other

ICT companies.

Other Employment Passes and expatriate

services are managed by the Expatriate

Services Division (ESD), which launched its

online application services in 2014.

Action Items

MSC Malaysia status companies

submitting Employment Pass and

Dependant Pass applications via

MDeC must ensure that they refer to

the new document checklists.

Arrange for the employment contract

to be stamped with an RM10.00

Revenue Stamp a the Malaysian

stamping office before online

submission at Stage 2.



JAPAN Residence Statuses Reorganised

On 1 April 2015 Japans Immigration Bureau

introduced some amendments to the

Immigration Control Act, partially reorganising

the residence categories available to foreign

nationals, with some benefits to highly skilled

foreign workers, managers and

entrepreneurs.

Business Manager

As of 1 April 2015, foreign nationals

engaged in the management of

companies are eligible to apply for the

Business Manager residence status,

previously known as

Investor/Business Manager,

regardless of any investment in a

company registered in Japan.

This residence status was previously

only available to foreign nationals

occupied in the management of at

least partially foreign-owned

companies, but has now been opened

to managers of Japanese-owned

companies as well.

Also as of 1 April 2015, foreign

nationals planning to establish a

business in Japan can apply for

Business Manager residence status

before their company has been

registered in Japan.

In this case, they must apply for and

submit the company's Articles of

Incorporation (and other relevant

documents) instead of the Certificate

of Company Registration. If successful

they will receive temporary residence

status for four months, which can be

extended once they have completed

the company registration in Japan.

Highly Skilled Professional

As of 1 April 2015 a new residence

category of Highly Skilled

Professional has been introduced for

foreign nationals with advanced and

specialised skills who would

previously have been given

Designated Activities status.

Qualifying activities include academic

research, advanced technical activities

and business management.

As previously, highly skilled

professionals who score more than 70

points for their skills, experience and

salary get preferential immigration

treatment, such as a longer,

extendable duration of stay, work

permission for a spouse, a fast track

to permanent residence and the right

to sponsor parents and domestic

workers as dependents.

Foreign nationals with the status of

residence of Highly Skilled

Professional (i), or those holding the

status of "Designated Activities", who

have been engaging in the activities

coming under this status of residence

for three years or more, are eligible

for the status of residence of Highly

Skilled Professional (ii). This allows an

indefinite period of stay and

permission to engage in certain other

professional activities alongside those

that come under the Highly Skilled

Professional (i) status.



Other Amendments

The previous division between

Engineer and Specialist in

Humanities/International Services has

been removed and the two categories

have been consolidated into one

status of residence called

Engineer/Specialist in

Humanities/International Services.

The Student status of residence has

been extended to international

students at Japanese elementary and

junior high schools.

Action items

Note that managers employed by

wholly Japanese-owned businesses

now also qualify for the Business

Manager status of residence, and

that founders of as-yet unregistered

new businesses may qualify for a four-

month stay under this status while

arranging the registration of their

company.

Note that highly skilled foreign

professionals with the previous

Designated Activities status may

qualify for Highly Skilled Professional

(ii) status if they meet certain

criteria, without first converting to

Highly Skilled Professional (i).o be

ready for filing on 26 May 2015.

MORE FROM PEREGRINE

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For more information about Immiguru,

Immigo and our other services, please visit

www.peregrine.im.

For any enquiries please contact

[email protected] or +44 (0)20 7993 6860.

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.

peregrine news april 2015

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