Latest updates in global immigration

02.08.2022

This week, the Global Immigration team at Smith Stone Walters would like to highlight the following recent updates from Ireland, Israel, Romania and the United States.

Ireland: Employment permit processing dates

The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment has published its current processing dates for employment permits.

Applications for employment permits are processed in date order of receipt of the fully completed application form and fee, if applicable.

The Department notes that, due to the number of refunds on hand, it is currently taking 8 weeks (from date of receipt of completed mandate) to process a refund.

As of 27 July 2022, the Department is processing applications received on the following dates for the specific types of applications:

Critical Skills Employment Permit Applications
- Standard: 20 June 2022
- Trusted Partner: 29 June 2022
New Applications (All permit types excluding Critical Skills Employment Permits)
- Standard: 26 May 2022
- Trusted Partner: 16 June 2022
Intra-Company Transfer Employment Permit Applications
- Standard: 27 July 2022
- Trusted Partner: 20 July 2022
Renewal Applications (All renewable permit types included)
- Standard: 2 June 2022
- Trusted Partner: 16 June 2022
Reviews for Trusted Partner and Standard employment permit applications
- Reviews received: 26 March 2022
Requests for Support Letters for a Stamp 4
- Requests received: 31 May 2022.

Israel: HIT 365 visa

Effective 26 July 2022, Israeli Hi-Tech companies are permitted to submit an application for visa-required nationals (including nationals of China and India) under the B-1 visa process for Hi-Tech Companies (HIT 365).

Previously, the HIT 365 visa was only available to visa waiver nationals. The HIT 365 offers faster processing of up to 10 business days.

Romania: Employment permit update

Effective May 2022, employers can now apply for employment or secondment permits from any local office of the General Inspectorate for Immigration, rather than only at the office with jurisdiction over the employer’s headquarters.

In addition, foreign nationals are now permitted to apply for a long-stay visa within 180 days of the date that their employer obtains their work permit, rather than within 60 days as previously.

United States: O-1A non-immigrants

US Citizenship and Immigration Services has updated its Policy Manual to provide further guidance on evidence that can be used to support a petition for an O-1A non-immigrant of extraordinary ability with a focus on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.

USCIS clarified that being named on a competitive government grant for STEM research can be a positive factor toward demonstrating that a beneficiary is at the top of their field. This evidence is added to the listed examples of evidence that may be submitted to show that an applicant has extraordinary ability in the STEM fields. The full list is available in the USCIS Policy Manual.

O-1 non-immigrant status is available to people with extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, business, education, and athletics, and those with a record of extraordinary achievement in the motion picture or television industry.