Bermuda Drops off Top Places to Live in HSBC Expat Survey
Royal Gazette (Bermuda) (01/10/12) Kelly, Lindsay

Bermuda has been cut from HSBC’s global Expat Explorer Survey for 2011, which lists the top places to live as an expat. In 2010, Bermuda was ranked fourth, tied with United Arab Emirates and Singapore. Bermuda was cut from the most recent survey due to lack of participation, as the survey required at least 30 respondents to make it statistically significant. For 2011, HSBC surveyed 3,385 expats from 100 countries on questions related to quality of life, salary, benefits, and the experience of raising children abroad. Only 31 countries met the participant requirement. The survey is administered for HSBC by a research firm that will begin to recruit participants for the 2012 survey within the next few months via their Twitter feed, blog, and website. The 2010 survey showed that Bermuda had the third highest salary for expatriates and 60 percent of expats in Bermuda thought their work/life balance was better compared to their home country.

 

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Expats in Shanghai Face Pension Scheme Delay
IFAonline (01/09/12) Dalton, Rachel

China has recently announced plans to allow foreign workers to pay into the social security and pension system, but the government of Shanghai is delaying the implementation of the rules due to pressure from foreign investors who say the scheme will increase business expenses. So far the Chinese government has not issued specific details about the plan and no payments have begun, but Beijing officials have created guidelines on how the funds will be allocated to expatriates’ pension accounts. Shanghai officials have not yet created guidelines, citing technical difficulties.

 

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Two More Chinese Cities Set to Levy Tax on Expats
MENAFN.com (01/10/12)

The Chinese cities of Tianjin and Suzhou could soon levy a new tax on foreigners as part of a social security scheme for expatriate workers. With the new plan, the foreign workers would be eligible for pension, medical insurance, and other benefits. In the past two weeks, Tianjin and Suzhou have joined Beijing in registering foreigners who work there. Under the new tax regulation, which was meant to take effect three months ago, foreign workers will have to pay up to 11 percent of their monthly salary. Employers will pay up to 37 percent of their expatriate workers' salaries, with a cap of about 11,700 yuan, or US $1,853. Some foreign-based companies say the new tax will increase the cost of doing business in China, and that Chinese authorities have not clearly pointed out how expatriates will benefit. In Suzhou, a foreign executive said that the move to register foreigners does not necessarily mean that they will implement the ruling immediately. Local authorities may fear that doing so would make it difficult to attract or retain foreign investment. Shanghai may stall on the tax to pacify foreign investors, the South China Morning Post reported. The city of Guangzhou recently indicated that it needed more time to study the new ruling.

 

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Hong Kong

Expats Leave Hong Kong Over Lack of Schools
Telegraph.co.uk (01/06/12) Harper, Justin

The number of British expatriates moving to Hong Kong soared by 50 percent in 2010 and 2011 due to a wealth of good jobs in financial services, but that number may slow as expats are having trouble placing their children in international schools. The increase in Brits, who are just half the number of Americans in the city, is putting a strain on international schools, which have a relatively steady 36,000 places available each year. Hong Kong Academy alone has seen a 35 percent increase in applications in 2011. Some expats are considering nearby Singapore as an alternative, as placements at international schools are somewhat easier to find there. Christopher Hammerbeck says the shortage is evidence of Hong Kong’s dramatic success as a trade and financial center, and the government is trying to address the problem by opening 5,000 new spaces this year and next as well as limiting the number of locals that can enroll. The biggest problem is finding available space, as developers are much more interested in building skyscrapers and apartments than schools.

 

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London is Top Global Destination for Foreign Professionals
Migration Expert (12/28/2011) Eliasson, Hanna

According to recent research, London remains the top choice for foreigners looking to work overseas, beating out New York, Paris and Singapore for attracting the highest number of foreign professionals looking for overseas migration in 2011. The survey was recently conducted on 160,000 job seekers in a range of sectors from banking to telecommunications. It found that nearly 50 percent of respondents would consider London as their first choice if they moved overseas for jobs, compared with 28 percent of participants who would like to work in New York, 16 percent in Singapore, 15 percent in Paris and just 10 percent in Sydney. According to the statistics, the majority of the professionals migrating to London are foreign workers from crisis-hit countries. Additionally, nearly half of survey participants cited a higher standard of living of the UK as the main reason to move to and work in London. The findings seem to counter the current grim outlook of the UK economy and reports of UK nationals leaving for other countries. The research also showed that around 63 percent of Britons expressed their desire to move abroad for better job opportunities if they get a chance to do so.

 

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Most Expats Trust Banks Abroad, Except in Spain
PRNewswire (01/10/12)

The financial crisis has not dimmed expatriates’ trust in foreign banks, according to the new Expat Banking Poll sponsored by Lloyds TSB International. According to the poll, posted on the expat site Just Landed, about 59 percent of expatriates said they trust their banks and just 22 percent said they do not trust them “at all,” though those in Spain had less trust. There, 64 percent said they had no trust in local banks, with many citing unfair charges, language barrier problems, and unexplained deductions. The best reputations, in contrast, were in the Middle East, where 74 percent of expats in the UAE said they trust their banks and 83 percent for Kuwait. For Germany the number was 68 percent, compared to 52 percent in the UK. "While the poll demonstrated a lot of positivity, there are also some issues to be addressed,” said Daniel Tschentscher, managing partner at Just Landed. “But in general, it seems expats feel quite safe banking abroad."

 

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Migrants’ New Paths Reshaping Latin America
New York Times (01/05/12) Cave, Damien

Throughout Mexico and much of Latin America, the old migratory patterns are changing. The mobile and restless are now casting themselves across a wider range of cities and countries in the region, pitting old residents against new, increasing pressure to create jobs and prompting nations to rewrite their immigration laws. The United States is simply not the magnet it once was, and arrests at the United States’ southwest border in 2011 fell to their lowest level since 1972, confirming that illegal immigration, especially from Mexico, has reached what experts now describe as either a significant pause or the end of an era. This is not a shift in volume as much as direction, as the migrants are just not always going where they used to go. All of this movement is reshaping Latin America, making it less like a compass pointing north and more like a hub with many spokes. “It’s like a river changing course,” said Gabino Cué Monteagudo, the governor of Oaxaca, Mexico. “It’s the process of development — it’s inevitable.” For the United States, the collective shift means fewer migrants crossing the border illegally and possibly more debate over whether the expanded budgets for immigration enforcement still make sense. Still, the greatest impacts are being felt in fast-growing towns like Santa María Atzompa, where thousands of mostly poor, rural families have chosen to seek their fortunes. Other regional poles are experiencing similar growth, particularly Mexico’s coastal and exurban areas have expanded. This is partly because of the Mexican government’s efforts to decentralize development, often with incentives for international businesses. Likewise in South America, free trade agreements have contributed to more regional movement, as have steadily growing economies and new laws encouraging migration or protecting migrants’ rights in several countries. Improvements in technology and infrastructure have also made it easier to discover and reach jobs in new places.

 

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Record Number of New Zealanders Emigrating to Australia
WorkPermit.com (01/06/12)

The number of New Zealanders emigrating to Australia has hit record levels, but many New Zealanders face a difficult time once they arrive in Australia as they often underestimate the challenges they might encounter. Figures show a record-breaking 50,115 New Zealanders made the trip to Australia on a permanent or long-term basis in the year to November. In the same period only 14,357 people immigrated to New Zealand, meaning a net loss of 35,758 people to New Zealand. Since the introduction of the Trans-Tasman Travel Agreement in 1973, Australians and New Zealanders have been able to travel to and live in each other's country without visas. However, since February 2001, New Zealand immigrants to Australia no longer have access to most welfare benefits. Logan Youth and Family Services Centre CEO Cath Bartolow said the number of New Zealand immigrants requiring assistance was growing. "They aren't aware of the difficulties they face when they don't have access to support and assistance," she said. "When they find themselves out of work, it is just so difficult to stay on their feet when the bills keep coming in."

 

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Saudi Arabia

Thailand

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High Court Rules Immigrant Spouses Must Speak English Before Moving to UK
WorkPermit.com (01/12/12)

The UK's High Court has dismissed challenges that the immigration rule that requires individuals be able to speak English prior to moving to the UK to live with their spouse are unfair and racist. The law was originally introduced in hopes of reducing the cost of hiring translators for public services like National Health Service (NHS). The Immigration Minister notes that it was reasonable to expect immigrants to understand English so that they can integrate into UK society.

 

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United States

Expats in U.S. Pay High Price
China Daily (China) (01/10/12) Yangpeng, Zheng

New requirements from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for the 2011 tax year will add another headache for Chinese citizens hoping to get U.S. permanent resident permits. The new rules require U.S. citizens and permanent residents to disclose detailed information about their foreign assets, including stock holdings and life insurance policies. This policy directly affects Chinese immigrant investors. The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act was implemented to prevent overseas tax evasion, with harsh punitive measures for individuals who do not report foreign assets. The law also requires foreign financial institutions to register with the IRS by 2013, release account holder information, and annually declare compliance. Those who are noncompliant could be punished with up to 30 percent on income and capital payments the company gets from the United States. This could make U.S. residents and citizens less desirable customers to some foreign financial institutions. U.S. expatriate advocacy groups have criticized the new rules, claiming they will cause foreign financial institutions to view them as "pariahs." Those who would seek U.S. green cards may end up considering other destinations for emigration.

 

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