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Aug 22, 2023
In a globalised economy, growth tends to come from new market entry overseas. But any global expansion effort relies on compliance with local regulations, including visas and work permits. An excellent global mobility programme can help.
Introduction to Global Mobility for Businesses
Global mobility allows businesses to deploy top talent anywhere, quickly, to support global expansion efforts. With global mobility, it’s simple and fast to relocate employees to more than 170 countries or onboard local talent that can generate new market growth.
But global mobility isn’t just about new market entry. Global mobility also allows companies to give employees more freedom to work abroad — a key ‘want’ for younger, high-potential candidates. In short, global mobility underpins corporate growth and individual development.
So how do businesses achieve global mobility?
They need access to up-to-date information and simple, effective procedures to comply with local regulations, including visa and work permit requirements. These requirements differ from state to state and often change fast. Failure to adhere to local regulations and your people could work illegally or disobey immigration laws. Personal and corporate tax complications, including fines, are another potential pitfall.
Why Visa and Work Permit Knowledge is Crucial for Global Business Expansion
Serious about global expansion? Then you must comply with local visa and work permit regulations. Non-compliance can lead to dire consequences for both employees and employers. For example:
- Employees without a valid work permit could be fined, deported, or even imprisoned, depending on the country they are in. They may also become liable for local taxes if they work ‘in-country’ for a certain period (typically, but not always, 183 days in a single calendar year).
- Businesses may inadvertently hire someone without the ‘right to work’, which could lead to substantial fines or even criminal prosecution. If UK companies employ a worker overseas, they may – without realising it – become liable for local corporation tax. Immigration status, data protection, employment laws and insurance considerations could also become issues.
Even the slightest complication over visas or work permits will eat into productivity for both employee and employer. It may mean hesitating on deployment, and being slower to deploy workers may mean missing growth opportunities. Local financial penalties will hit profits, while misdemeanours will impact trust and corporate reputation.
The bottom line? Businesses that cannot understand, process or comply with employee relocation procedures are immediately on the back foot regarding global expansion. Conversely, a business with confidence over these matters has greater freedom and impetus to break new markets.
Overview of Visa and Work Permit Types
Here’s a brief overview of global business mobility visa and work permit types.
Business Visas
Business visas typically enable an individual to enter a country for a short period to conduct business. A list of permitted activities may stipulate the business visa; for example, these activities are OK with a Mauritius business visa. Business visas are typically temporary but may include multiple entries into that country. These visas tend to allow business management or sales activities, for example, attending conferences rather than direct employment or labour. Visa regulations differ country-to-country on permitted activities, length of stay, and particular stipulations – for example, health insurance requirements.
Work Permits
Generally, work permits are granted longer than business visas and direct employment. Employees might need a work permit for full or part-time work or work under contract. They may also need a local, native ‘sponsor company’ to obtain a work permit. Work permit durations differ substantially country-to-country.
Other Relevant Visas
There are many other types of global mobility visas. Sweden, for example, offers an investor visa, while the UK has a Senior or Specialist Worker visa that allows skilled workers to work in an eligible job in the UK for up to five years. The UK also offers global talent visas for arts, culture and technology leaders. Most countries offer a variety of visa types, each with its costs and conditions, to meet different scenarios.
Key Considerations When Applying for Visas and Work Permits
Going for a global mobility visa? Time, cost, and appropriateness must all be evaluated.
Documentation Requirements
Documentation requirements vary depending on the type of visa or permit required and the country you wish to deploy an employee in. In the USA, for example, documentation required for a petition-based visa for a UK citizen includes a passport, a recent photograph, evidence of previous US visas and any prior convictions, plus details of medical history, if appropriate. A German business visa will require proof of funds and relevant health insurance elsewhere. Our blog contains updates on some essential visa rule changes from the past few months.
Processing Times
The UK guides visa processing times, as does the USA, but this is not the case in every country. It’s important to remember that visa and work permit processing times will vary depending on:
- The country processing the visa
- The home country of the employee
- Whether or not the employee is applying from within the target country
- The volume of visa and work permit applications
- Periods of strikes or other technical disruption
Costs and Fees
Visa fees, skilled worker visa fees and work permit fees vary. Additional costs can include expedited processing fees, legal or tax consultation and advice commissioned before applications are made. Other unforeseen global mobility costs can include creating local employer-of-record arrangements or setting up a local business entity.
Our recent post on Digital Nomad Visas shows how costs can vary country-to-country. Costs can also increase at short notice, as this article shows.
Centuro Global’s Centuro Connect platform has accurate, up-to-date costs-per-visa on 170 countries and everything else you might need to understand and action visa and work permit requests.
Navigating Common Challenges
Stay on top of the intricacies of visa and work permit applications.
Changes in Immigration Policies
Changes in Government, administrative attitudes and even global healthcare considerations can swiftly shift the goalposts on immigration, work visa and work permit requirements. For example, Donald Trump unexpectedly prevented immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries in 2017. Many countries, including the UK, are reviewing immigration policies, although these changes mainly focus on asylum applications.
Businesses should remain watchful and informed on changing rules for every country where their employees operate.
Cultural and Language Barriers
Regulation is one thing. Reputation is another. Businesses looking at global expansion should respect the societies they seek to serve. Both they and their employees should get to grips with cultural nuances. These nuances might relate to manners – for example, following dress codes and ensuring promptness in Japan – or wider cultural differences such as which days of the week are working days.
Language is another crucial concern and potential barrier to doing business. Globally-ambitious companies should consider personal development budgets or coaching to ensure their people can conduct business and converse appropriately.
Case Study: Successful Global Expansion Through Proper Visa Management
Ensuring compliance with visa and work permit requirements is crucial to expand globally or hire top talent abroad. Example scenarios requiring a visa or a work permit include, but are not limited to:
- You wish to redeploy UK-based workers to the Middle East to oversee a long-term (six months plus) engineering or construction project
- You wish to explore a potential business or import/export partnership in the Caribbean
- You’d like a foreign expert to work for you in the UK for a short period
- You’d like to employ several workers from an EU country for seasonal work
- You have an employee who wishes to work remotely from abroad for longer than 90 days
Visit our case studies page to see how companies have grown faster by simplifying the work permit and visa process.
Conclusion and Next Steps for Businesses
A fast-changing world creates many global growth opportunities; companies must be agile and sure enough to grab them. New systems and intelligent infrastructure can help by improving, easing and actioning the path to compliance on immigration, tax and work permissions. This creates a competitive advantage in both speed-to-market and talent recruitment.
Speak to our team if you want to stay proactive and informed on global mobility. Our AI-powered SaaS platform delivers immediate insights on everything you need to deploy top talent in more than 170 countries. We’ll guide you through the process, and even action applications on your behalf, leaving you free to concentrate on just one thing — growth. Contact us to find out more.
Additional Resources and Links
Thinking of going global? The following web pages may be of use.
