Visas & Work Permits

No. Entry, work authorisation and residence are three separate approvals with different subjects and validity. The most common delay comes from treating them as one — the person arrives, then cannot lawfully work.

The list shifts with role, employing entity and length of stay, but several categories are common: identity and qualifications, proof of the employment relationship, company standing, and personal documents requiring attestation. Consistency between them matters more than the list.

They carry a validity period and the attestation step itself takes time. The classic mistake is obtaining one too early and finding it expired at submission. Work backwards from the filing date rather than starting on day one.

Batch planning surfaces inconsistencies before onboarding — once role descriptions, employing entity or intended stay differ between people, applications get returned one by one. Handled individually, the problem only appears at the third or fourth person.

It depends on the length of stay and what the person actually does. A short business visit and taking up a role are different in kind, and the risk of using the wrong category shows up at renewal or inspection rather than at the border.

Work authorisation requires an employing entity, so the entity generally comes first. Document preparation and attestation — the slow parts — can run in parallel with incorporation rather than waiting for it.

Dependant residence is tied to the principal applicant’s permit type and needs its own documentation. Plan it at the same time as the principal’s route; started afterwards, the dependant track falls noticeably behind.

Early enough to re-prepare documents and allow for review, not in the final weeks. Renewal usually requires showing the employment relationship still exists and the company is operating — so any change of role, entity or address must be filed first.