ICA to take over work permit job

IMMIGRATION and Border Security Minister Westly Nukundj has lauded Parliament’s amendment to the Immigration and Citizenship Authority Act and the Employment of Non-Citizen’s Act to enable the transfer of the work permit processing from the Department of Labour and Industrial Relations to the Immigration and Citizenship Authority (ICA).
“This delivers on the long-standing commitment of successive Governments to establish a true one-stop-shop for the administration and regulation of foreign workers,” Nukundj said.
He noted that the amendments were first proposed as far back as 15 years ago, and that it had always been intended that the ICA took over the task.
“When the Immigration and Citizenship Service Authority (ICSA) was established in 2010, it was envisaged that the work permit task would be taken over by the new entity,” he said.
“Unfortunately, this never happened, with public servants becoming territorial and deliberately blocking attempts by the Government to amend relevant laws.
“But now, the Government has delivered on this reform which will not only provide much needed relief and removal of red tape for the legitimate business community, but significantly improve our border security, compliance and enforcement capacity.”
Implementation of the new arrangements will see the work permit processing become a division of the ICA, and over time, systems, laws and regulations will be aligned to enable a more integrated and streamlined process.
“This does not mean that the Labour Department will no longer play a role.
“The department will continue to administer the legal framework in regard to the classification of occupations and reserved positions, with the Labour secretary joining the ICSA advisory board,” Nukundj said.