Foreign nationals can now apply for a long-stay visa for local employment within 180 days of when their employer obtains their work permit, up from 60 days. Furthermore, foreign nationals who obtained their long-stay visas prior to this rule change on May 5, 2022 are retroactively eligible to follow the new rule and use their visa to obtain a work permit within 180 days of issuance. Further, visas are now being issued by the National Visa Center within 20 days of application submission, up from 10 days. These changes only apply to local employment; deadlines and processing times for secondments and other categories have not changed.
This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen or send an email to [email protected].
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