Permits Foundation Petitions Indian Government to Grant Expatriate Spouses Easier Access to Work

India is Losing Out on Talent and Hobbling Global Companies

NEW DELHI, November 30 - Permits Foundation, an international non-profit corporate initiative, has
initiated a campaign directed at changing the existing laws on employment
rights for expatriate spouses through an improved visa regime for those on
intra-corporate transfers. The Foundation promotes access of spouses of
expatriate employees to employment through an improvement of work permit
regulations. The Foundation has made representations to the concerned
ministries and has received the support of the Indian apex industry
associations and the United Nations office in India.

(Photo: www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20091129/PIV368845 )

In India, the rules being applied by the Bureau of Immigration prevents
spouses from taking up employment except through a fresh, home country based
application for an employment visa. Such applications do not receive any
benefit of having a family presence in the country and is treated at par with
any employment visa application. The Bureau of Immigration states that "if
the spouse wishes to take up any employment in India, then he or she will be
required to return to the country of origin and obtain a requisite employment
visa." This results in cost, complexity and stress for spouses who usually
sacrifice their careers to support their partners abroad.

As a first step, the Permits Foundation has proposed to the Ministry of
Home Affairs that spouses of employees on inter-company transfers be
permitted to change their visa status by applying to the FRRO in India.
Subsequently, the Permits Foundation has proposed the creation of a specific
category for applicants who are transferred to India as a part of any
intra-corporate transfer and an equivalent category for applicants who are
spouses or dependents of this category of visa holders as is the case in many
other countries.

According to Kathleen van der Wilk-Carlton, Board Member-Permits
Foundation, "In view of the increasing number of dual careers in families,
international employers find work permit difficulties for spouses to be a
hurdle to mobility. A number of countries today offer access to work for
spouses accompanying trans-national workers. Permits Foundation argues for
change benefiting a small but significant population: those expatriates who
are employed typically with global corporations or global organizations and
governmental foreign services. The issue is of as much concern to Indian
global companies as the Indian Foreign Services, and Permits Foundation is
engaged globally in campaigning for a change to work regimes for spouses.
Today, over two thirds of expatriates surveyed find India an unattractive
destination due to the inability of their spouses to easily access work. With
this initiative Permits Foundation seeks to make India a preferred
destination for the global talent pool. Strengthening both Indian companies
with global operations, and trans-national corporations with large
commitments in India."

Currently Argentina, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Hong
Kong, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, United Kingdom and the United
States (e.g. L/E visa) allow spouses of expatriate employees of all
countries, including India, access to an open work permit by which they can
work for any employer or be self-employed. Further, countries like Belgium,
Germany, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore allow spouses who have a job offer to
work for a specified employer via a simple local process, which does not
require a labour market test.

About Permits Foundation:

Permits Foundation is an international non-profit corporate initiative to
promote access of accompanying spouses and partners of international staff to
employment through an improvement of work permit regulations. More than 40
major international companies like British Airways, Bosch, Ericsson,
GlaxoSmithKline, Schlumberger, Shell, Unilever, AstraZeneca, BMW, TNT amongst
other organisations worldwide support Permits Foundation. These organisations
represent a growing and broad base of support from diverse businesses.
Permits Foundation has been successful in contributing to change in the USA,
France, The Netherlands, Hong Kong and Malaysia. It is currently promoting
improvements throughout the European Union and several countries in Asia and
is working to raise awareness worldwide.

For more information, please contact: Mrs. Kathleen van der Wilk-Carlton, Board Member Permits Foundation, T: +31(0)70-319-19-30, E: PermitsFoundation at shell.com