What’s new in global immigration?

25.07.2022

This week, the Global Immigration team at Smith Stone Walters would like to highlight the following recent updates from Denmark, New Zealand and Qatar.

Denmark: Upcoming changes to international recruitment rules

The Danish government has announced upcoming changes to the rules for international recruitment.

Pay Limit Scheme:

Effective 1 December 2022, the minimum annual salary for the Pay Limit Scheme (and the pay limit track on the Fast-Track Scheme) will be lowered to DKK 375,000 (currently this is set at DKK 448,000).

A residence and work permit will be valid for 5 years instead of 4 years, but there will be a new requirement that the gross unemployment exceeds 3.75% and that the job has been posted on Jobnet and EURES.

The new conditions will be cancelled if more than 15,000 applicants obtain a residence and work permit on these terms.

The Pay Limit Scheme is for applicants who have an employment contract with or confirmed assignment to a Danish entity which gives them a salary at or above a certain level and are not eligible for the Fast-Track Scheme.

Fast-Track Scheme:

Companies will be able to use the Fast-Track Scheme to sponsor foreign national employers if they employ at least 10 full-time Danish employees (rather than 20 currently).

The Fast-Track Scheme means that the applicant can begin working in Denmark immediately after the submission of the application for a residence and work permit and a brief meeting with the Danish Immigration Authorities.

Positive List:

The “Positive List” of shortage occupations will be expanded and made more predictable, with professions staying on the list for at least 2 years.

A new Positive List was published recently.

New Zealand: Changes to Investor visa

The government has announced changes to New Zealand’s investor visa settings.

The new Active Investor Plus visa category replaces two existing categories which have been running for more than 12 years, and which facilitated passive investments.

In summary:

The new Active Investor Plus visa category replaces the existing Investor 1 and Investor 2 visa categories.
Eligibility criteria includes a minimum $5 million investment if it is a direct investment. It also encourages greater economic benefit to New Zealand companies by capping passive investment in listed equities to 50% and excluding bonds and property.
The visa category will open 19 September 2022.

Applications under the Investor 1 and Investor 2 visas will no longer be accepted after 27 July 2022. All applications in the current pipeline will continue to be processed. Clients with Expressions of Interest (EOI), valid Invitations to Apply (ITA), and applications for Investor categories 1 or 2 will be contacted by us about what they need to do.

The Active Investor Plus visa category will incentivise direct investment in New Zealand firms through a weighting system. Direct investments will receive a 3x weighting per dollar invested. This system has a minimum investment threshold of $15 million NZD or weighted equivalent. This means that applicants who want to make acceptable direct investments will be eligible with $5 million NZD.

This system sets lower weightings for indirect investments, such as private equity or venture capital funds (2x) and listed equities and philanthropy (1x). It also limits the scope for indirect investment by capping investment in listed equities to 50% of total investments. It also excludes bonds and property from being eligible asset classes.

This system will improve flexibility for investors by allowing them to invest over a three-year period. It will also allow investors to maintain their investments up to the end of a fourth year. Investor migrants will need to spend at least 117 days in New Zealand over the four-year investment period.

The new system will also include an English language requirement of an IELTS score of at least 5.0. This will ensure investors are able to share their knowledge and skills, and engage in the New Zealand investment network.

The eligibility criteria for each investment class will be confirmed soon.

Qatar: Entry rules for football fans

The government of Qatar has reminded foreign fans heading to the FIFA World Cup in 2022 that they must register for the Hayya Card. An app is available.

The Hayya Card allows fans to enter the country, to enter the tournament stadiums (with a match ticket) and to use public transport for free on match days.