When it’s time to expand a business or extend a branch in India, Kolkata in eastern side of India can be a strategic location. The rich culture of kolkata along with the talent hub for the growing IT industry makes it a good location in eastern India. IT sectors like Salt Lake Sec V and New Town is growing rapidly because of this IT industry, as the cost of living in kolkata is less than western Indian states like Karnataka.
But it also has complex legal challenges. Corporate immigration to Kolkata has its own compliances to be adhere off. Kolkata or anywhere else in India has a complex laws and regulations for immigration which may sometimes varies based on the state. When companies often try to expand their branches in India to hire global talents, even small mistakes in the application process can cost penalties and their application can be halted. Acquiring a lawyer who can streamline the process, reduce the risk of penalties and operational disputes is the best solution.
Visa & Work Permit
The most important part of the complete process is to get a clearance for the foreign person. People in India can have different category of visa based on their education or designation, role, salary, nationality and the duration of stay. A corporate immigration lawyer can easily handle the process.
A lawyer will help the company in the following way:
- Identify the appropriate visa type: The lawyer will identify the most appropriate visa for the employee.
- Preparation of supporting docs for visa application: Visa application process requires a lot of documents, missing any of the document can make the application rejected or halted, so the lawyer prepares everything eg:
- Detailed contract of employement or joining letter with exact payroll, duration, salary breakdown.
- The company’s corporate credentials like PAN, TAN, GST registration
- Educational qualification of the applicant either self attested or attested by any Govt body
- An undertaking from the company which will include the responsibilty of the employee’s conduct during the stay.
- Adhere with FRRO(Foreigners Regional Registration Office): The lawyer can also help with the high level policies
- MHA: Ministry of Home affairs determines the rule for visa and these can be changed anytime. The lawyer will always in touch of MHA to get every notice of change on time, so they can comply with the regulation.
- FEMA: Foregin Exchange Management Act is governed by the Reserve Bank of India(RBI) which is also responsible for foriegn exchange transactions. The lawyer will help to prepare a detailed salary structure which are full compliant with FEMA to prevent financial penalties.
Involving a lawyer through the process will help the company to avoid delays and rejections or prevent them from getting blacklisted.
Seemless Onboarding
After visa approval the half process is done but the rest is left. The next most important thing is local tax obligations. After arrival in kolkata India there are multiple rules which are need to be followed. Many companies has failed at this process. Mistakes in tax obligations can cause penalties.A corporate immigration lawyer can help with the following ways:
- FRRO registration for long term employees: One of the mot urgent work after arrival. Any foreigner who has a visa in India for more than 180 days or any kind of visa regardless of the duration they must have to register with the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) within 14 days of arrival.
- The lawyer will manage the complete process which need new documents to be prepared such as Form-C (A type of declaration from the landlord), proof of address and the employement contract.
- If the deadline is missed by a single day it can cost penalties and fines, and a black mark over the employee record which can affect future visa cancelation or delay. The lawyer understand required timeline and documents need to be presented within that time duration.
- Application of PAN card for tax deductions: To get a legal employement in India the employee must have a PAN card (Permanent Account Number)
- The lawyer will start the application for the Form 49AA for foreign nationals to get a PAN card which will help the company to deduct tax (TDS) and report the employees income. Without PAN card employee can not open a bank account, file taxes.
- Adhering with Indian labour laws: The employer need to comply with the Indian labour laws which is a complex process. A lawyer will:
- Review the employment agreement to make sure it complies with the state laws as well as central laws, such as it should comply with the Shops and Establishments Act in kolkata West Bengal
- Comply with the Maternity Benifit Act and Payment of Wages Act and prevention of PoSH Act which requires an internal complience team.
- Application for EPF(Employee Provident Fund) and ESI(Employee State Insurance):
- EPF is mendatory for Indian employee for social security so international worker should also need to contribute to this fund.
- India has social security agreement with multiple countries which makes it foreigners to get an exemption, but first the lawyer needs to confirmation from the origin country or the employee to get a Certificate of Coverage which will help the employee to save some money.
All of these are required for seemless onboarding can be done by a lawyer from the day one.
Legal Advisor & Risk Management
A corporate immigration lawyer can not only help with docs and onboarding, they can also help with internal policies for hiring, advisory and risk manager for the company. The immigration lawyer can help by:
- Drafting corporate immigration policy: A company which want to expand more branches will need the lawyer to draft a internal policy to make the process work without problem.
- Eligibility Criteria to get the visa approved
- Clear declaration of future cost what the company needs to pay
- Application renewal and termination
- Regular Visa Inspection: This is the most basic but most important work to do. A lawyer will regularly monitor to track all the visa’s expiry date so they can initiate renewal process in advance, because the renewal process is more complicated than the first time application which requires continuation of employment. Making mistakes can lead to visa overstay or blacklisted by the embassy.
- Audit compliances: The lawyer will prepare the documents before the audit dates, along with internal audits to identify and fix and complience gap so the company can avoid penalties. During the audit the lawyer will be the SPOC of the company. A single point of contact will help to manage the audit and managing everyting easily along with defending the company from penalties.
- Drafting Global Expansion policy: If the company wants to expand globally it is need to be handled by the lawyer by drafting a global expansion policy for which the lawyer need to work with the HR and fincance department to determine cost of expansion and make sure it is not disadvantaged by Indian tax structure. The lawyer can help by drafting some checklist for compliance:
- Pre Arrival Checklist
- On Arrival Checklist
- Ongoing Compliane Checklist
- Departure Checklist
These are an extra unfair advantage to manage immigration effectively reducing legal risk.
Conclusion
Incorporation in Kolkata India can be complex without an lawyer, so they plays an important role ensuring global talents can contribute to the company keeping every compliances adhered off. By doing all the task by own can lead to serious compliances issues to the company which can blacklist them from getting new visa application or renewal.
A immigration lawyer will act as an advisor, legal defence system and can take steps in advance to comply with the Indian laws. As the lawyer will be the SPOC (Single Point of Contact) it will be easier for both the comapny and Govt bodies to communicate in a proper way. They are professional specialist who has already the knowledge of MHA policies and FRRO policies and RBI guidelines, West Bengal state laws and much more.
The legal partnership with immigration lawyer will help the company in every way ensuring them a good global presence without legal issues and penalties from Government.
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