Have Laptop, Will Travel
Effective Immigration Strategies
For The Global Economic Elite
By David Lesperance
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“The world’s my
home… When I’m mobile”
| - Going Mobile’ by The Who,
1971 |
A glance around the business class
lounge at any airport lounge will bring you face to face with numerous
varieties of that modern day creature, "The Mobile Worker". Logging in
the available workstations, checking email on their BlackBerries, or using
cell phones to speak with their assistant at the home office, these travelers
are the modern incarnation of the "Global Economic Elite" ("GEE").
WHO ARE THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC ELITE?
There are two general archetypes
of GEEs. The first are individuals who bring their universally transferable
skills to various locations around the world. This group includes pilots,
doctors, nurses, financial analysts, management consultants, engineering
and computer consultants, artisans, musicians and actors, and skilled-trades
people.
The second group is individuals who
are able to operate from any location, which has sufficient technological
infrastructure. They include money managers, remote business operators,
and mail order or on-line service providers. This group also includes internationally
orientated lawyers such as the author. A significant number of GEEs are
a hybrid of the two archetypes and find their need to travel varies according
to their personal or professional career life cycle. However it is the
rare GEE who never engages in at least some type of business travel.
In order to be competitive in the
modern global economy, every country must have a critical mass of GEEs
operating within their borders. This truism was explained by Professor
Ian Angell of the London School of Economics in his landmark book, “The
New Barbarian Manifesto” (Kogan Page 2000).
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About
David S. Lesperance
Barrister
& Solicitor
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 Since
being called to the Bar of Ontario, Mr. Lesperance has been practicing
exclusively in the area of immigration and citizenship law. Prior to his
call to the Bar, he worked as both a Canadian Customs and Canadian Immigration
official, which gave him a solid practical knowledge of the issues, which
port-of-entry official face. |
| Mr.
Lesperance has developed a particular expertise in dealing with individuals
who are acquiring residency or citizenship to fulfill tax or estate planning
objectives. This may involve moving to high tax countries on a low tax
basis; acquiring residency in various tax havens; and/ or acquiring a legal
“instant citizenship”. Mr. Lesperance’s specialization includes immigration
and citizenship issues, offshore trust and tax planning issues, and the
introduction of these clients to banking, accounting, and other professionals. |
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GlobalRelocate
Website
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“The income of these owners of intellectual
and financial wealth will increase substantially. They will be made welcome
anywhere in the world, no matter what their age, race, sex, colour or creed.
In an attempt at ‘right-sizing’, companies and countries will be scouring
the globe, competing with each other to attract this top quality ‘people
product’, dragging them off the planes if necessary. Knowledge workers
now have a choice. They can stay with the nations of their birth, providing
of course that the price is right, or they can join the new barbarian hordes
of ‘economic mercenaries’ somewhere else, thereby ransacking the old order.”
(p. 55-56)
Unfortunately while I agree with
the theoretical soundness of Prof. Angell’s statement, I find that the
‘on the ground’ reality is often quite different. GEEs don’t deal with
Finance and Immigration Ministers at the arrival counter of airports. Rather
they deal with front-line bureaucrats who may be ignorant of the economic
benefit that GEEs bring; feel that they are the protectors of the domestic
work force or simply jealous of the obvious prosperity of the GEEs in front
of them. As a result GEEs themselves or the organizations which are seeking
their presence must plan ahead to ensure their smooth and timely access
to all of the jurisdictions in which they hope to reside or operate.
THE PROPER CARE AND FEEDING OF
THE HIGHLY MOBILE ELITE
If you are a GEE or are the Human
Resource Manager responsible for attracting or retaining external and/
or internal mobile workers, then you need to have a proper immigration
strategy in place long before the plane touches down on the tarmac. As
in most effective problem solving exercises there are four basic steps
that should be followed. In short they are:
Step 1 Investigate and Evaluate:
Review the individual professional and personal necessities/preferences
of each particular GEE. This step would include determining the following:
-Existing citizenship(s) and residence
status(es)
-Breakdown of frequency of travel
to various countries (i.e. occasional day visits, short-term assignments,
long-term or permanent relocations);
-Nature of activities during travel
to various countries (i.e. meetings at hotel, site visits for discussions,
‘hands-on’ work or direct involvement with locally based workers, senior
administrative duties);
-Economic impacts if unable to enter
or remain in a given country;
-Local presence requirements (i.e.
operate out of hotel room or customer’s location or need to establish a
permanent physical base of operations);
-Accompanying family members (i.e.
will they be working or attending school);
-Employment/ labor standards
regulation (employee vs. contractor);
-Minimizing global tax burden
(e.g. restricting time in a given location); and
-Medical or minor criminal
complications.
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Step 2 Analyze
and Strategize: Work with qualified immigration counsel to determine
‘best practices’ for travel for business meetings; determine means of acquiring
required ‘work permits’ (also study permits for children); review advantages
and means of securing ‘permanent residence’ and citizenship (including
reviewing related tax and dual citizenship issues).
Step 3 Execute: Work with
qualified immigration counsel to determine what elements of the strategy
can be completed directly by either the GEE or the Human Resource Manager;
and what elements are so complicated or important that outside counsel
should be involved.
Step 4 Monitor: The immigration
counsel should monitor and advise as to on-going changes to immigration
laws and administrative practices which may present difficulties or opportunities
to GEEs or the organizations that they deal with. As the immigration counsel
is dealing with a number of cases, across a variety of situations and over
an extended period of time, they should have a more accurate understanding
of current trends than a given GEE who may have had a single negative (i.e.
refusal) or positive (i.e. no questions asked) experience. |
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Given the cost of a missed business
meeting or the ability to operate in a chosen market, proper immigration
strategies are a ‘mission critical’ requirement for GEEs. Furthermore increased
scrutiny in a post-September 11th world, which is also struggling with
the shift of economic power away for fixed local workers to mobile GEEs
means that it is even more important for individuals to not rely solely
on their ability ‘to talk their way in’. This is especially true
when claiming that you are just here ‘visiting friends’, could result in
a long-term bar for misrepresentation.
The turn of the millennium is a time
for unbounded potential for the Global Economic Elites. However that potential
can be frustrated or even severely curtailed if you believe the myth that
the world has no borders.
Copyright © David S. Lesperance
Barrister & Solicitor
84 King Street West, Suite 202
Dundas, Ontario, Canada L9H 1T9
Tel: 905-627-3037
Fax: 905-627-9868
email: information@globalrelocate.com
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About
David S. Lesperance - Barrister & Solicitor
Since being called to the Bar of
Ontario, Mr. Lesperance has been practicing exclusively in the area of
immigration and citizenship law. Prior to his call to the Bar, he worked
as both a Canadian Customs and Canadian Immigration official, which gave
him a solid practical knowledge of the issues, which port-of-entry official
face.
Mr. Lesperance has developed a particular
expertise in dealing with individuals who are acquiring residency or citizenship
to fulfill tax or estate planning objectives. This may involve moving to
high tax countries on a low tax basis; acquiring residency in various tax
havens; and/ or acquiring a legal “instant citizenship”. Mr. Lesperance’s
specialization
includes immigration and citizenship
issues, offshore trust and tax planning issues, and the introduction of
these clients to banking, accounting, and other professionals.
Mr. Lesperance has also attained
particular expertise in assisting multi-national corporations secure immigration
and citizenship status for their key employees who operate in multiple
jurisdictions. |
Mr. Lesperance is a member of the Law
Society of Upper Canada; the Canadian Bar Association; the International
Bar Association; the American Immigration Lawyers Association; the Organization
of Professional Immigration Consultants; the Offshore Institute; and the
International Tax Planning Association. He has appeared before the Canadian
Parliamentary Committee reviewing the Immigrant Investor Program and has
made submissions on the North American Free Trade Agreement to the Canadian
Negotiating Team.
Mr. Lesperance has given speeches
and written numerous articles on offshore strategies to deal with U.S.
tax liabilities and U.S. expatriation.
Mr. Lesperance is currently contributing
author for the publication, International Living and a member of the advisory
board of the Sovereign Society. In addition, he is a featured columnist
for The Wealthy Boomer, which is published by The National Post in Canada.
Recently, Mr. Lesperance was appointed
Legal Counsel to Global Relocation Consultants S.A. where he is responsible
for all client citizenship and residence matters and advises various governments
on the establishment of citizenship and residence programs.
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