Outdated Visa rules don't support spouse's career

Bangalore: Imagine your boss calls you with an offer of an international assignment. It's important for the business, it's your dream job and you will be posted for three or four years. But there's a sting in the tail: Your spouse won't be able to get an employment visa to work there.

This is the stark reality that hits many professional staff who are transferred by companies, diplomatic missions and international organizations in support of billions of dollars of international trade, investment and development work. It is rarely the case that governments have consciously decided not to permit spouses to work. More often, it is a historical hangover from a time when spouses were women and women did not work.

The problem is that societal norms have changed. Nowadays, as more women have entered employment, dual careers have become the norm. Increasingly, the spouse deemed as 'dependent' by the host country is a man. And, as is commonplace in the Western world, de facto and registered partners may be recognized legally in the home country, even though not married in the traditional way, reports Wall Street Journal.

Until five to 10 years ago, few countries recognized the employment wishes of an accompanying spouse or partner. For instance in India, once the dependent spouse (who must be married) gets a job offer, he has to go all the way back to his home country, surrender his dependent visa and apply independently for an employment visa, without any concession for the fact that he is already legally a resident in India as a dependent of a highly skilled foreign worker. Recently, a Shell employee of 23 years had to surrender her job to be with her husband when he moved to India and her application for an employment visa with the same company was turned down.

In recent years, the governments of many countries have begun to view business-related transfers differently from long-term immigration. In doing so, they also recognize the importance of dual careers in attracting international trade, investment and talent. They now treat accompanying spouses and partners as a special category that is granted an employment visa.

Given that over 17 countries have unilaterally recognized dual career families, there is a need to ask whether reciprocity should be a stumbling the block at all. Countries that have already enabled dual careers recognize the benefit to themselves of attracting high-skilled talent.

Countries ranging from the UK, U.S., Canada, Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore all recognize a category of highly skilled global employees or intra-company transferees and allow their spouses to seek employment, on certain conditions. Even in India, an application made while in the country to convert the visa to an employee status, or to be self-employed, is simply not entertained.

A recent global survey by Permits Foundation showed how restrictive visa policies hurt destination countries as well as employers and the families concerned. Some 3,300 spouses and partners of 120 nationalities working in 117 countries took part. They accompanied staff working with 200 employers in both the private and public sectors.

The spouses and partners were highly educated. Around 86 percent held a bachelor's degree or higher. The large majority said that their own employment was important in the relocation decision. More than a quarter said that the family had previously turned down an international assignment or terminated an assignment early because of concerns for the partner's career. For employers, assignment refusals and early returns imply significant lost potential and financial cost.

Almost 60 percent of respondents said they would be unlikely to relocate in future to a country where it is difficult to get a work permit. By contrast, countries that enable spouses and partners to work were attractive destinations for 96 percent of respondents. Surely this should be a signal to the government of India to update its visa regulations in line with a modern policy of managing business-related migration.