Case Study

Europe

Situation

Our client, a U.S. law firm, contacted GMP requesting an in-depth consultation for one of their corporate clients. Their corporate client wanted to send a U.S. employee to Europe for work and requested advice on which countries would be plausible from an immigration perspective. The destination country was flexible, so long as it was an EU member country.

Need

This company stressed that they needed their employee on the ground working within the next six weeks to begin marketing their business to the EU market. They asked GMP to provide a list of the countries that were accessible within such a timeline. GMP learned in our analysis that the company had operations in the UK and Spain. This was relevant because a local affiliate company would be needed in the destination country to serve as sponsor for a work permit (a requirement in the majority of EU member countries).

Implication

With our global knowledge and multi-jurisdictional coordination capabilities, GMP was well suited to assist with such a complex analysis. Alternatively, the client would have needed to inquire with dozens of providers in each EU country on the plausibility of their jurisdiction. Coordinating such a task themselves would have been very difficult and time consuming for the company. Without receiving clear and accurate advice in a timely manner they would have had to further delay expansion into the EU.

Benefits & Challenges

GMP reviewed all 28 countries in the EU to determine which country(s) would be an option. Unfortunately, we ruled out the UK and Spain (where the company had offices) as certain criteria could not be met by the company/employee.

GMP reviewed which other EU countries offered a work permit category that did not require local company sponsorship. We were able to provide the client with three options.

Key Points & Analysis

As part of our analysis, GMP advised the client which activities could be conducted as a business visitor for up to 90 days (within a 180-day period) without the need for work authorization.

After GMP had provided a list of country options to the company, the client then decided to take advantage of the 90-day exemption. This would allow them to immediately begin testing the EU market with their services. The company later utilized our advice to pursue work authorization for their employee so that he could remain in the EU without limitations on his scope of work.