Immigration Considerations for Business Continuity During a Crisis

Maintaining accurate data is critical – at a minimum, companies need to understand the nationality of their employees and their employees’ families. Short-term considerations include working out where people can go if they need to flee a particular area as quickly as possible. Certain nationalities are easier to move than others.

Questions to consider in the longer term include where can relocated persons live and work in the long run, and where is good for the company as well? This may not be the same place as the employees were able to travel to for short-term purposes, due to restrictions.

Companies should interact with governments where possible, and at least monitor their responses in crisis situations. Foreign nationals should be encouraged to register with their local embassies in the countries where they are based, and companies should assess which concessions for entry and stay different governments will allow for foreign nationals.

Whatever a crisis brings, companies have to remain flexible because no two crises are the same. Having information to benchmark against for each unique situation is critical.