INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Policy Issues with Germany

Work Permit and Visa:

1. The long term and short term WP is difficult to get in Germany without the representative office.
   
2. Long processing time for work permit on an average of 3 months to get the necessary approvals is very long period for the need to immediately address the problem of customers.
   
3. Lots of documentation is required for the WP and for Spouse visa. Spouse visa for the onsite software professional is again a problem faced by Indian IT organizations.
   
4. There are only 50 odd Indian IT organizations operating in Germany and getting visa for their software engineers is difficult. But to get into a new market it is actually the sales, business developments, analysts etc needed to go and explore the market; where Indian IT organization find it difficult to get visa.
   
5. The written law for non-immigration visas is not readily available. This leads to confusion and difficulty in very lengthy & cumbersome processes of documentation.

Documents Required for Registration of company:

When Indian organizations have to open office in Germany they have to submit documents related to company registration all translated in German and attested by the concerned authority. The English version of the document is not part of the official accepted document that creates problem to Indian representative in understanding. FICCI Survey finds that 70% respondents finds language and cultural a barrier.
Submission: Both the English & German translation should be together part of official document not German alone.

Taxation and Social Security Payments:

1. The local German government and city level administration authority have different tax structure in Germany other than Federal and state bodies. The clarity and availability of information is a problem faced by the Indian IT industry.
   Submission: Web based information portals as a hub for all local government and authorities. It should be managed in distributed environment by different authorized bodies.
   
   
2. All Indian IT professionals don't stay for long at the project implementation so the Social Security Payments though is of high financial liability but does not result in benefiting them in short run. This makes the project 15-20% costlier. There should be stipulation of a minimum period of stay in a particular country to be liable for the Social Security Payments.
   Submission: Indian Social Security norms are very reasonable through PF, ESI etc. Germany should accept and respect the Social security system of India and should not impose their format under EU. Indian organization can have additional insurance covers for the employee and will be able to deliver quality services at reasonable cost.

Recommendations:

1. Simplification of the movement of software professionals by sanctioning visas within a shorter time to serve German customers better.
   
2. Reduce the documentation needs within the security framework for IT professionals.
   
3. Avoid double taxation, and social security taxes through bilateral arrangements.
   
4. Issuance of separate visas for short term work up to 180 days in shorter time to meet the German customer's requirement.
   
5. The concession should be given to renowned IT companies or member of the local chambers to shorten the issuance duration for visa.