Immigration Compliance: A New Year’s Resolution

With 2023 on the horizon, global mobility and immigration professionals are reflecting on a truly remarkable year. In fact, the extraordinary times have extended well beyond the last calendar year and actually go back as far as the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The consequences of this period have left an imprint on Irish immigration policy, as well as the way business is conducted globally.

Using the last three years as an indication, expecting more change to come seems par for the course. The immigration and mobility landscape has shifted so much in the last three months of 2022 alone that it is logical to assume the unexpected in the industry as the new year begins.

Specifically, in Ireland, significant changes are being made to the way the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (DETE) and Immigration Service Delivery (ISD) are managing employment permits, visas and residence cards. The new year promises the long-awaited modernisation of the Employment Permits System with the Employment Permits Bill 2022, which will bring with it the biggest change to the system in many years.

December also brought an announcement that the Irish government has agreed, in principle, to develop a single application procedure for employment permit and immigration permissions which, if followed through, will have unprecedented benefits to both employers and employees, particularly to visa-required nationals that are relocating to Ireland for work purposes.

However, perhaps most interestingly of all, there is an increased focus on immigration compliance, with DETE and ISD engaging with stakeholders in this regard like never before. During the last few months, both Departments have actively responded to practical situations involving remote work, hybrid work and ongoing employment permit and residence card compliance matters such as “implied status” during certain renewals, surrendering of permits and reporting absences from the State.

With the rapid way in which the world of work changed due to the pandemic, employers—understandably—embraced the flexibility given in respect of some practices, without—again, understandably—necessarily thinking about the impact those practices could eventually have from an immigration compliance perspective once the dust settled. However, the anticipated upcoming legislative and policy changes should bring compliance to the forefront of an immigration programme manager’s mind, and Fragomen recommends frequent monitoring as the updates progress.

Need to know more?

For further information on services that will make adaptations to forthcoming changes in policy easier, as well ways to help make compliance a key aspect of an immigration programme, please contact Director Colm Collins at [email protected], Senior Immigration Manager Stephen McCrea at [email protected] or your Fragomen Ireland contact.  

This blog was published on 27 December 2022, and due to the circumstances, there are frequent changes. To keep up to date with all the latest updates on global immigration, please visit our dedicated COVID-19 site, subscribe to our alerts and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.