Torque Takes The Platform On Work Rights For Expatriate Spouses

On the 10th anniversary symposium of Permits Foundation on Tuesday 22nd November at the BT Tower, London, Torque was a part of a panel discussion on the Challenges and Successes of the efforts of the Foundation.

Excerpts from a report in Re:Locate: This highly commendably not-for-profit organisation has been fighting the corner for expatriate spouses and partners to work since 2001. At Re:locate, we have been following its progress since the early days, and Fiona Murchie was delighted to take the opportunity to catch up on developments by attending a celebratory symposium, held at the BT Tower, in London, on 22 November.

There were some heavyweight speakers, including Andrew Gould, chairman of Schlumberger, and Doug Baillie, chief HR Officer of Unilever, putting the business case.

Government challenges were highlighted by Professor David Metcalf, Chair of the UK Migration Advisory Committee, Kristina Lindahl von Sydow,  Member of the Cabinet of Commissioner Malstrom, representing the European Commissioner responsible for Home Affairs, and David Wilden, Minister-Counsellor (immigration), Australian High Commission, and Anne Arnott, Minister (immigration), Canadian High Commission.


According to major surveys from organisations such as Brookfield, ECA, Mercer and PwC, concern about partner employment is one of the main reasons for an employee to turn down an international assignment.

The Permits Foundation’s 2008 global survey of 3,300 partners revealed that 25% of international staff had turned down or terminated because of concerns about the partner’s employment or career. 70% of partners said that their own employment was important in the decision to relocate, with almost 60% stating they would be unlikely to relocate to a country where it was difficult to get a work permit.

A powerful case study given at the conference by Supriyo Gupta, adviser to the India steering committee, of how the Permits Foundation had worked within India with local partners clearly illustrated the effectiveness of this approach. 

The Permits Foundation is currently working via local sponsor networks in Brazil, India, Japan, Indonesia and Russia to bring about visa changes. Contact them via contacts@permitsfoundation.com to lend your support.

Recent achievements
India – Representation to the Government of India resulted in a change of regulation, permitting spouses of intra-company transferees to apply for an employment visa in India.

UK – Successfully argued against a tightening of regulations for dependants of intra-company transferees.

European Union – Provisions for non-European family members to work were included in the Blue Card Directive due for adoption by Member States in December 2011.

USA – Supports an extension of employment authorisation to all skilled work-permit holders, as well as recognition of unmarried partners

The legal expertise behind the Permits Foundation is of the highest calibre. Julia Onslow-Cole, Partner and Head of Global Immigration at PwC, is a founding board member. Answering questions at the event, she emphasised the importance of focusing on the right countries where the Permits Foundation could have most success.

Sponsors obviously want to see the organisation getting to more countries more quickly. The way forward is possibly developing the notion of a global immigration treaty – apparently, project work is afoot in the immigration world over the next 12 months. As Ms Onslow-Cole pointed out, once you get to a global level and attach to human rights, this makes everything much easier.