Nasscom to get single-work visa deal from EU
By siliconindia   |   Wednesday, 23 June 2010, 15:24 IST   |    1 Comments
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Nasscom to get single-work visa deal from EU
Bangalore: Software lobby Nasscom has started with the European Commission to allow a single-work visa for the EU region. The European Union will discuss giving pan-Europe work permits in the coming session, said an official from Nasscom, which has been lobbying for such a proposal for over a year now. If this comes to pass, it would be a big win for IT companies looking at Europe, which contributes revenues second only to the U.S. for most big IT companies, reports Chandra Ranganathan from The Economic Times. "Europe is becoming more and more important. Today, it constitutes 30 percent of business, out of which 18 percent comes from the UK. But the remaining 12 percent is from the rest of the European region and its becoming a problem to get multiple employment visas. We are not able to service customers as well and at the same time it is very expensive. So, this new proposal has been welcomed by the IT industry and the European Commission," Nasscom president Som Mittal told ET NOW on Tuesday. The proposal discussed between the Nasscom and the European Commission basically involves the approval of "intra-corporate transferees." Nasscom has already put out a discussion paper titled "The need for flexible employment markets in a globalizing world," which discusses the merits and role of intra-corporate transferees as a successful business model in Europe. "This is being formally proposed in the charter and will come up on the EU agenda when the commission meets post-July. So it will be discussed between July and December," said Ameet Nivsarkar, vice-president-global trade development, Nasscom. Industry officials and analysts, too, are positive about the development. It will not only cut down cost and processes involved in applying for multiple visas but it will also enable easier movement of people across Europe. For example, if a software professional working on a SAP implementation project for a client in France, has to attend to the same client's office in Germany for a couple of days, he will be able to use the same visa instead of applying for a fresh permit. "Certain countries in the EU such as Germany and France welcome IT professionals to work there while some others are more resistant. So a single work permit will help in such cases. Also, IT companies need not worry about work visas when they bid for projects in some regions," said Gartner India's Principal Research Analyst Diptarup Chakraborti. At the same time, a senior official from a top IT company said, "The European region is largely under-penetrated apart from UK, France and Germany. So, this proposal can give access to multiple locations. We can also see multiple deployment of applications going forward. So, there is a cost and convenience implication." A change of this nature will, however, require the approval of the European Commission first and then the consent from every member of the EU. Mittal estimates that it may take a year or two before it?s finally implemented.

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