Work Permits For Expatriate Partners

Hi Everyone, Items of note in today's Permits Foundation newsletter:

(1) Ireland: Employment Permit Regulations for Spouse and Dependants Tightened

"The Irish Department of Enterprise,Trade and Employment has announced new tighter measures for green card and work permit workers. They have also announced that with effect from 1st June, spouses of intra-company transferees and work permit holders will no longer be eligible for the special arrangements that previously allowed them to apply for a work permit for all occupations without a labour market test and application fee. The spouses of Green Card holders are not affected by the change. This means that it is worth using the Green Card scheme where possible (employee salary over euro 60,000 or shortage occupations with salary euro 30,000-59,999). Full details of the changes are published here. Details of the revised spouse and dependant regulations are given here. We are disappointed to report this change particularly in the light of the current review in the UK."

(2) Ireland: De Facto Partners Recognised

"On a positive note, the DETE recently announced that recognised facto partners may apply for an Employment Permit. Details here and here."

(3) Japan: Permits Foundation Steering Group Makes Initial Proposals to Cabinet Committee on “promoting highly skilled foreign nationals in Japan.’’

"We are pleased to report that our Japanese steering group has met with a high level committee of the Prime Minister’s Cabinet, which is conducting an investigation into “promoting highly skilled foreign nationals into Japan.”

This was an excellent first step to advocate a relaxation of spouse work permit regulations in Japan and was followed up by a brief written submission to the committee, which will conclude its investigations in June.

http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/index-e.html (Prime Minister’s Cabinet Office in English)
http://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/singi/jinzai/jitsumu/dai4/sankou.pdf (Permits Foundation submission in Japanese.)"

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On a side note, the following is a great resource on the Permits Foundation site: Work Permits for Expatriate Partners - Country Summary (last updated January 2009) if you would like to know the current stance on this issue by each of the following entities:

• Argentina
• Australia
• Belgium
• Canada
• Denmark
• European Union
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Hong Kong
• Ireland
• Japan
• Malaysia
• The Netherlands
• Sweden
• United Kingdom
• United States

Thanks go to the Permits Foundation for all of their ongoing lobbying for expatriate partners!