Immigration and Global Mobility Update / February 2023

The Displaced Persons Ordinance was implemented in March 2022 based on a European Commission council implementing decision and initially granted a right of residence for people from Ukraine until
3 March 2023.

After the European Commission announced in October 2022 that it would not propose a termination of the council implementing decision, the Austrian regulation will now be adapted. The right to temporary stay (without specific permission), including in cases of residence permits that have already expired, will thus be extended until

4 March 2024 without the need for a formal extension procedure. Through this measure the Austrian government aims to create legal certainty for displaced Ukrainian citizens and reduce administrative and cost burdens. The simplified access to the Austrian labour market for displaced Ukrainians will also be extended until 4 March 2024.

The General Coordination of Labour Immigration has issued the following technical notes concerning applications for work residence permits:

• Because of a change in legislation that prevents the National Civil Aviation Agency from issuing confirmation of the appointment of a Brazilian representative for foreign air companies, this document is no longer required for the representative’s application for a residence permit.
• When a foreigner with a residence permit for a definite term based on an employment agreement with a Brazilian company changes employers, the general rule is that a new application must be made during the initial definite term. However, once the initial residence permit is changed to one for an indefinite term, all that is required is a communication to CGIL and the Federal Police informing who the new employer is.

Following the European Union’s decision, the Czech Republic has extended temporary protection and the tolerance visa issued in relation to the war in Ukraine. This amendment extends the validity of temporary protection and tolerance visas until 31 March 31 2024.

To qualify for temporary protection extension, two steps need to be taken: (i) an online registration, which must be done before 31 March 2023 and (ii) a personal visit to the Ministry of Interior to get a new visa stamp, which must be done before 30 September 2023.

The tolerance visas are extended automatically; no action is necessary for persons with these visas. However, it is possible to get a new visa stamp, subject to prior appointment (e.g. for the purpose of travelling).

Students, researchers, employees in managerial positions and family members of these individuals can receive a long-term D visa in connection with a favourable residence permit decision; they no longer have to wait for their residence permit card abroad. A D visa can also be granted to residence permit holders residing abroad if their permit card has been lost, stolen or expired. In addition, young people from diplomatic families arriving in Finland are granted a temporary residence permit that is valid until they reach the age of 20, instead of the former age of 18.

These amendments entered into force on 22 December 2022. However, the application of the changes starts in two stages: a D visa can be granted i) to employees in managerial positions and their family members starting from 22 December 2022 and ii) to the other groups starting from 1 April 2023.

The Irish Government has agreed, in principle, that a single application procedure for employment permits and immigration permissions should be developed and that an Inter Departmental Working Group should be established to develop an implementation plan for consideration by the Government.

On 26 January 2023 the Italian Government published a decree that was approved on 29 December 2022, setting out the quotas for 2022 for non-EU workers to enter Italy.

44,000 slots are reserved for seasonal employees and 38,705 are reserved for non-seasonal employees and self-employed workers of certain countries detailed in the decree. Of the latter category, the vast majority of the slots (30,105) are for workers in the road transport, construction, hotel tourism, mechanics, telecommunications, food and shipbuilding industries.

The quota requests may be filed online starting from 9:00 CET on 27 March 2023. All requests must be filed before 31 December 2023.

The popular ‘Poland. Business Harbour’ visa program is once again undergoing changes.

The new rules cover citizens of Ukraine and Belarus who cannot return to their home country due to humanitarian reasons. The solution enables them to apply for a type D humanitarian visa with a PBH annotation from Poland. This provision applies only to those who already have a PBH visa in their passports and officially live in Poland.

Applications are being accepted in Warsaw, Lublin and Poznan until 31 March 2023.

Foreigners employed based on a work permit, except for seasonal workers, may take up a new job with the same or another employer at any time during the period of validity of the single permit or the EU Blue Card. In such cases, the employer must obtain a new work permit for the foreign employee under the conditions of the law. Those conditions vary depending on whether it is a new job at the same employer or a new employer.

If no more than one year has passed since the registration of the individual employment contract with the previous employer, a new employment with another employer can be concluded only with the written consent of the previous employer. The written consent must be submitted by the new employer to the General Inspectorate for Immigration.

However, the previous employer’s consent is not required if the termination of the previous employment was at the initiative of the employer, by agreement of the parties, or by the foreign employee’s resignation due to the employer’s failure to fulfil the obligations of the employment contract under the conditions provided for by the Labour Code.

Slovakia has adopted an amendment to its employment services legislation, which changed several rules regarding employment of employees from third countries in Slovakia. As of 1 January 2023:

• The employer can employ a third-country citizen for training purposes before a residence permit is granted for a period of 8 consecutive weeks in a calendar year (rather than the prior period of 6 weeks). This applies so long as the employee has submitted an application for temporary residence for employment in a job for which he or she is trained, and other compulsory conditions are met (e.g. employment in a region with a labour shortage).
• The employer can employ a third-country citizen who has applied for a renewal of temporary residence during the time from expiration of the validity of temporary residence until the final decision about the renewal application. This applies assuming that the application for renewal was filed in a reasonable time before the expiry of the temporary residence permit (90 or 30 days depending on circumstances).

The changes should bring a solution to practical problems, which were i) frequent inability to issue a residence permit during the shorter (6 week) training period and ii) situations where an employee who submitted a request for renewal of residence was allowed to stay but could not work.

As of 1 January 2023, foreign press members who have been assigned to Turkey are required to apply for a work permit (for those working for an entity located in Turkey) or a work permit exemption (for those working for a foreign entity) in addition to a press card. The work permit and work permit exemption applications are submitted to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security (‘Ministry’).

Foreign press members who were previously accredited for the year of 2023 are likewise required to apply for a work permit or work permit exemption.

Previously, foreign press members obtained a press visa through the relevant Turkish Consular Post. Because a press visa did not confer lawful residence, they had to apply for a residence permit upon entering Turkey based on their press visas. However, as the work permit card now replaces residence permits for members of the foreign press working for a domestic entity, they do not need to obtain a separate residence permit after the law change. Those granted a work permit exemption must still apply for a residence permit if their assignment is longer than 90 days.

For both categories, after a visa application is filed at the consular post, the consular post will issue a reference number which must be used to file a domestic application with the Ministry. Upon issuance of the work visa or exemption and entry into Turkey, a Press Card application must be filed.

Starting from 5 January 2023, foreign diplomatic institutions of Ukraine are obliged:

• to keep military records of conscripts, persons liable for military service and reservists who are currently on temporary consular registration abroad (TCR);
• to inform about the start of a new conscription for military service of people who are on TCR;
• to facilitate the return of people who are on TCR to Ukraine in the case of mobilization and in wartime; and
• to inform the relevant military offices and other responsible governmental bodies about the registration or de-registration of conscripts from TCR.