The Impact of the Petroleum commission on Immigration Processes in Ghana

NEWS | THE IMPACT OF THE PETROLEUM COMMISSION ON IMMIGRATION PROCESSES IN GHANA

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As such, Ghana has taken important steps to ensure its oil and gas industry continues to be successful and well-regulated after the discovery of oil and gas for commercial use in 2007. The unique space of the oil and gas industry, however, indicates a necessity to bring in specialised skill sets in the areas of welding, pipefitting, electrical and NDT technicians, and drilling. The knowledge and experience required to operate in such areas are not always readily available in the local workforce. As such, many international companies seek to employ highly qualified and experienced individuals from abroad to undertake specialized tasks and work in their oil and gas operations in Ghana.

How does one qualify for a Work Permit in Ghana?

A successful application for a work permit, whether short-term or long-term, includes sufficient motivation that members of the local Ghanian workforce were not able to meet the qualification criteria and/or experience required for the relevant position. Companies, therefore, must ensure positions are adequately advertised, and the labour market-tested, in order to provide sufficient proof thereon. The evidence is used to build a substantial case that is presented to the Petroleum Commission as motivation that an expatriate is indeed required and the skill is deemed critical for the projects at hand for the successful running of the oil and gas operations.

What is the petroleum commission?

The Petroleum Commission in Ghana was established in 2011 to regulate the activities within the oil and gas sector which is inclusive of local content and local participation regulations, as well as playing a role in the job creation and protection of the local Ghanaian workforce in the sector. Although the Petroleum Commission has a wide array of responsibilities in the oil and gas sector, it plays an integral role in the immigration processes for companies in Ghana that are registered under this sector and looking into employing key expatriate skillsets in-country.

What is the role of the petroleum commission?

As such, where an expatriate is required to conduct work in Ghana for a period between 6 months or more, the Petroleum Commission regulates through an additional layer, that includes assessing and evaluating applications to on-send to the Ghana Immigration Services. Upon finalisation of the application, the Petroleum Commission issues a recommendation on the duration of the permit for successful applications. The Petroleum Commission also reserves the right to request for additional information from the Ghanaian employer or to refuse an application.

Skills Transfer

Furthermore, in the case of long-term applications, Ghanaian understudies must be identified along with detailed succession plans to satisfy the Petroleum Commission’s mandate to protect the local workforce and job creation for Ghanaian nationals. Nevertheless, companies under the oil and gas sector must not be daunted by the additional requirements as set forth by the Petroleum Commission, however, they must bear in mind and ensure they comply with the requirements and seek forth to develop and train Ghanaians as part of their development plans when setting up its oil and gas operations in Ghana.

In conclusion, through companies ensuring compliance with the Petroleum Commission’s requirements for successful work permit applications in the oil and gas sector, they can promote the training and development of the local workforce and enable the sector to acquire the necessary skills needed for oil and gas operations.
AUTHOR
Tarissa Wareley - Immigration Specialist
Tarissa Wareley
Immigration Consultant

Limitations on visa exempt nationalities in Namibia

NEWS | LIMITATIONS ON VISA-EXEMPT NATIONALITIES IN NAMIBIA

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This is due to a restriction on visa-exempt nationalities on the number of days they can be in-country for either tourist or business purposes.

South Africans and other visa-exempt nationalities must ensure that they do not exceed 90 days per calendar year for tourism or business-related activities. Those that frequently travel may exhaust their number of days allowed in country and as such would encounter challenges when entering Namibia thereafter.

Those that are certain they have exceeded their number of days allowable under the visa-exemption can still travel to Namibia to attend their meetings through applying for a business visa at the Namibian High Commission nearest to their country of residence.

Business travellers should be wary of their activities exceeding those allowable under a business visa. Any activity that exceeds that of business such as, meetings, seminars, and conferences, foreign nationals must obtain a short-term work visa prior to travel.
AUTHOR
Tarissa Wareley - Immigration Specialist

Tarissa Wareley
Immigration Specialist

Mozambique Improves Immigration Processes Oil & Gas Sector to benefit

NEWS | MOZAMBIQUE IMPROVES IMMIGRATION PROCESSES OIL & GAS SECTOR TO BENEFIT

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The expected influx of expatriates and investments into the exploration of LNG has forced government departments to implement various measures to monitor as well as facilitate entry into Mozambique.  The Rovuma Basin Decree 2/2014, although approved about six years ago, its various measures and concessions for immigration-related matters were not implemented until recently. This has been timeous in the booming projects in the oil and gas sector in Pemba, Coral Sul, and others.

From an immigration perspective, this decree relaxes requirements, improves processing times, and removes layered processes.

Sub-contractors and companies in the Mozambique LNG Project are expected to benefit greatly from its measures. These companies and their approved sub-contractors, together with a plan of development approved by the Government of Mozambique, will receive access to an online portal for submissions and processing of applications. The Ministry of Labour introduced this online portal to process applications related to the Rovuma Basin and for adjudication of any expatriate skillset that is required as part of the approved projects for the region.

Overall Improvements to Mozambique’s Visa System

Since access to the online portal is exclusive to companies and sub-contractors related to the approved projects in the Rovuma Basin, all other companies must continue to follow standard processing and requirements. Quicker processing times were included in the implementation of these measures.

Short-term work permits can be expected to be processed in about 3 – 5 working days as opposed to the standard processing time of 3 – 4 weeks for companies in the non-oil gas sector. Additionally, companies, as part of their approved plan of development, receive a number of quotas allocated to them facilitating the long-term work permit process.

Long-term work permits applied through available quota positions are also processed through the online portal in shorter timeframes of approximately 5 – 7 working days. Standard processing for such applications has generally been 3 – 4 weeks.

Allowing for online processing of the applications streamlines the application for a long-term work permit avoiding additional bureaucratic tasks as part of the application process.  Certain requirements such as Certificate of Equivalences issued by the Ministry of Education, similar to the South African SAQA evaluation, have been removed, which usually results in an additional 4 weeks to the end-to-end processing of long-term work permit processes.

Gateway to Residency in Mozambique

Candidates with approved work permits under the online system may qualify to obtain a residence permit upon arrival instead of previously obtaining a work visa at a Mozambican High Commission abroad and an additional residence permit at the immigration department in the province they are expecting to work. Although this may be beneficial to all expatriates arriving into Mozambique for the LNG project, it is a process exclusive to companies with an approved plan of development with the Government of Mozambique.

Overall, the changes have been timeous to the upcoming Mozambique LNG projects.
AUTHOR
Tarissa Wareley - Immigration Specialist

Tarissa Wareley
Immigration Specialist

Seafarers to benefit from changes to the schengen visa-XP website

NEWS | SEAFARERS TO BENEFIT FROM CHANGES TO THE SCHENGEN VISA

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Frequent travellers, including seafarers, who travelled to EU Member states and returned to their home countries without any infringements of visa conditions and/or overstays may qualify for multiple-entry visas with a validity of 5 years.

Such applications, however, must be submitted with enough proof that the applicant will return to their home country and the intention to leave the EU after the prescribed 5-year period. In addition, seafarers may apply for a Schengen visa nine months prior to the intended travel date, while other travellers can apply six months prior. This should prove to be a great benefit to seafarers that are awaiting final schedule of their first port of call.

The effected changes also include a requirement by EU member states whereby each state must have a representative of their respective country in each country abroad to ensure travellers are not required to visit a neighbouring country for the sole purpose of applying for a Schengen visa.

The numerous benefits of the changes to the Schengen visa, however, comes at a cost. The visa fee for the Schengen visa is expected to increase from €60 (R962) to €80 (R1,282) per application. Children, over the age of 6, will now have to pay €40 (R640) instead of the previous lower fee of €35 (R560) per application.

The new Schengen Visa Code will also allow for a mechanism to review the visa fees every three years and determine should these remain the same or increase. The same may compel non-Schengen countries in cooperating with the EU for the readmission of their illegal migrants. Nevertheless, the Schengen area may see a substantial increase of travellers and seafarers as a result of these positive visa changes.

AUTHOR
Tarissa Wareley - Immigration Specialist

Tarissa Wareley
Immigration Specialist

SOUTH-AFRICA’S-NEW-EXPAT-TAX-‘A-SCARE-TACTIC’-EXPERT-xp

NEWS | SOUTH AFRICA’S NEW EXPAT TAX ‘A SCARE TACTIC – EXPERT’

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Speaking in an interview with 702, Botha said that South African tax residents who render services outside the country on behalf of an employer for longer than 183 full days in any 12-month period can be granted an exemption on their income tax.

However, under the new rules set to be introduced in March, these South African will only receive a break on the first R1 million earned abroad. After this you can be taxed according to South Africa’s own income tax system, he said.

Botha said that the majority of clients his firm deals with sit within this R1 million-plus bracket, especially as the calculation considers additional benefits such as housing allowances and education.

“Treasury cross-referenced South African experts and immigration stats and compared them to compliance with tax returns.

“What they noticed was that there was a vast difference between these immigration stats and people being compliant, so it was almost a bit of a scare tactic to wake up South Africans to correct their returns and get compliant.

“Obviously they are also under-budget, and experts earn a lot, so they perhaps want a piece of that pie as well.” Understandably, some expats are aggrieved by this change.

Concerns have been raised that limiting this exemption may increase permanent emigrations from South Africa and have a negative impact on remittances to country, particularly for those with lower incomes working abroad.

National Treasury is, however, firm in its view that the R1 million threshold is already a compromise, and that from a policy perspective the abuse of the exemption by some expats unfairly benefitting from “double non-taxation” (i.e. not paying tax in either South Africa or the foreign country in which they work) must be stopped.

Source: BusinessTech
AUTHOR
Nicolas XP

Nicolas Botha
Senior Financial Emigration Specialist