With the repealed Immigration Act 2015 in place, certain responsibilities have now been clearly defined as it pertains to the role of the Nigeria Immigration Service and the Federal Ministry of Interior.
Inspite of the changes and reviews what appears to be topmost on the minds of would –be- investors and companies, is the procedure or steps to consider in the engagement of expatriate employees on a long term basis or possibly short term as well. We will attempt to highlight in this edition, the areas for consideration for the long term engagement.
The preliminary stages for a company to engage an expatriate is to obtain from the Federal Ministry of Interior, an Expatriate Quota Approval. This approval allows a company registered in Nigeria to employ expatriates to occupy specifically approved positions/designations with specific validity period subject to conditions of the grant of the expatriate quota approval.
Expatriate Quota is often granted to cover a period of 2-3 years at the discretion of the Honorable Minister for Interior and is subject to renewal upon expiry. The positions/designations granted in the quota approval are issued to the company not the individual expatriate and as such the positions reverts to the company when the expatriate leaves or concludes his assignment in Nigeria. The company is at liberty to place another expatriate on that position subject to its validity.
Prior to approaching the Federal Ministry of Interior, a company is to first determine their expatriate needs, positions and number of expatriates required. The positions so determined are to be verified for legibility as not all positions would be granted. Organisations often begin with the process of engaging expatriates only to discover an approval is required to engage expatriates in the first instance.
The process of obtaining an approval for Expatriate Quota from the Federal Ministry of Interior may take up to 3 months and as such organisations are encouraged to commence the process in consideration of this timeline. The requirements for expatriate quota application can be obtained from the Federal Ministry of Interior or through a consultant.
Having satisfied all relevant requirements and approval granted, the company is now ready to engage expatriate employees who will occupy the approved positions/designations. It is important to mantain the integrity of the the nomenclature of positions/designation so stated as it must be consistent with the title/position the expatriate is to assume. For instance an expatriate cannot be given the title Project Manager when the approval states Project Coordinator.
Expatriate Quota are of two kinds; the Temporary Expatriate Quota and the Permanent Until Reviewed (PUR) Quota. The Temporary Quota is usually for positions that would be occupied on temporary basis and are specifically stated on the quota approval. It typically has a lifespan of 10 years, renewable at least every 2 years until it attains its full lifespan by becoming unrenewable. This period is to ensure adequate transfer of knowledge to trained Nigerian employees within the company. It is also expected to note that for every expatriate position occupied, the company is expected to engaged/have at least two Nigerian employees to understudy the expatriate employee.
The Permanent Until Review (PUR) Quota as the name implies is granted at the discretion of the Honorable Minister for certain top executive positions upon request and remains valid until such a time as the government deems it fit to withdraw. The quota assures the foreign company of the protection of their investment as well as save the expatriate employee the typical hassles associated with periodic renewals. Positions such as Chairman of the company’s Board of Directors, Managing Director, General Manager, Finance Director and other top executive level positions maybe considered for an upgrade to PUR.
Watch out for the next edition!
