Work Visas: Don’t Put Your Employees At Risk

If you or your employees are traveling overseas on business, make sure you know that country’s work visa rules.

Take the case of Joe, who does equipment installations for his company around the world.  The installs usually take a couple of weeks.  Joe and his company have never bothered about work visas.   Joe asked about it once, but his manager told him they needed to be respond quickly to their customer’s request.  “Once the product arrives, you need to hop right on a plane and help them get it installed right away,” his manager told him.  “Just tell the immigration people you’re there for a vacation.  They’ll never find out.”

All went well, until a government inspector happened to show up during the installation in a Middle East country.  When the inspector asked to see Joe’s work visa, of course he couldn’t produce it.  Joe was summarily deported, and the installation came to a screeching halt.  The company was unable to get a work visa for Joe to return, or for any of its employees to return.  They ended up eventually outsourcing to a third party, which cost them a lot more.  The customer was unhappy, and Joe ended up with an “undesirable alien” stamp in his passport.  He and his wife had to cancel their vacation to Brazil because Joe was unable to get a tourist visa to travel there, due to the stamp in his passport.   Joe left the company shortly thereafter.

Joe’s manager was right in one sense — you probably won’t get caught.  But, as a manger, is it fair to ask your employees to play immigration roulette?  As an employee, do you get paid enough to take that risk for your company?  And if you do get caught, how will your customers perceive you and your company?

All too often, employees hop on planes to foreign locations without thinking.   You may not realize when you do so that you are essentially traveling on a tourist visa, unless you take other actions.   Some countries do require a visa (a special application to your destination country’s consulate) even for a tourist visit.   Airlines won’t even let you get on the plane unless you at least meet the tourist travel guidelines.

But the airlines don’t ask about the purpose of your visit, and many business travelers don’t realize that their activities locally may require a work visa.

But I’m not going there to actually WORK, many people will say.  They think of work as where their office is.  Many countries, though, take a much broader view of “working.”

If you’re traveling to attend a conference or sales meeting, or a couple-day business review, you’re probably fine.

But if you are doing a project installation, or will be traveling several times to the same location, or are consulting or helping with repair services, you need to look into whether you need to apply for a work visa or some other specialized visa.   Even if you are just attending a trade show, you need to check.   The U.S., for example, requires trade show attendees to apply for a special visa.

What’s the harm? you ask.  And I’ve never had any problems before.

It’s true you may speed on the highway many times before you’re caught.  But the consequences might be much worse.  And you might get caught sooner than later.

What happens to people who have a work visa, but don’t?  Like many things, it depends on the country and the circumstances.

The best outcome is that the employee is sent home summarily.  You’re out an expensive plane ticket, the project goals aren’t accomplished, and the situation is embarrassing.

But much worse things can happen.  After all, that country considers this person to be there unlawfully.  The employee may be detained, fined, or even jailed.  The individual may be prohibited from entering that country again — EVER.  In some cases, the country placed an “undesirable person” stamp in their passport, making it much more difficult to travel internationally to other locations.

For the company, there’s the inconvenience and fines.  You also now have employees who see their employer isn’t looking out for them at all.  And you may lose the right to obtain future visas for employees in that country — meaning you could lose the business you were hoping to land or grow.

So don’t put the company or your employees at risk.  Take the time to clarify the visa rules, and get the work visa, even if it means more expense and time to get the right documents.   And while you’re at it, check on the local withholding tax laws in this country — some countries have very low thresholds — the last thing you want is for this to compound your immigration problems.

How can you tell what the work visa requirements are?  For those traveling on U.S. passports, the U.S. Department of State website on foreign country travel requirements is a good place to start.  It is focused on tourist travel, but generally has country-specific links for non-tourist travel.   There is a similar website for Canadians, and you may be able to find one for your nationality with a little poking on the internet.

What are you seeing out there?  Any good war stories to share?