|
|
|
Your phone shrills, and you pick it up to hear the news every HR professional dreads. The talented expat whom your company has spent so many hours and resources recruiting and relocating has announced that he hates being in Hungary and he and his family are going home.
It could be that there's a problem with the job. But more often, the reason an overseas assignment fails is that the transferee and family never feel at home in the new place.
Maybe the transferee hates the new house and the children miss their pets. Or the transferee's partner never feels at home in Budapest - especially because he or she didn't know where to get an Internet hook-up or a haircut, or where to find English-language church services or French books.
When you work with expats, you may feel like a rubber band being pulled in all directions. The needs of expats are many and varied. But if you know how to meet them, the chances of an overseas assignment succeeding skyrocket.
That's why ERC was born. We're a relocation company staffed with both expats and locals, so we provide the expat's perspective and the local's eye for hidden treasures and resources.
We know how to do everything from finding a home with a clothes dryer and an American-sized walk-in closet to importing the family pet to registering a U.K.-standard car in Hungary. Not to mention work and residence permits, school searches, and city orientation tours with advice for everyday living.
And we can assist with your Hungarian employees who are moving overseas. With our other offices across Central and Eastern Europe, Southern Europe/the Balkans, and Central Asia, as well as our trusted network of partners, we can help them get work and residence permits, find insurance policies and banks, and fill many other needs in countries such as Poland, the Czech Republic, and the United States.
"Expat" is a short word for "expatriate", which the dictionary defines as anyone who leaves his or her native country to live somewhere else.
|
There's nothing like the satisfaction of a job well done, when you help an expat family settle into life in a strange country. Or you see transferees working happily and productively in their new assignments at your company or overseas, and know you've played a part in that success.
We enjoy that feeling as much as you do. So we want to work together with you, building strong relationships with HR professionals all over the city. This monthly newsletter will keep you informed about the services we provide and all the ways in which we can help you help your expats.
Feel free to contact us at any time, at editor@erceurope.com with questions and stories about expats living in Hungary and overseas.
As in other countries, immigration law in Hungary is always in flux. Laws are passed, regulations change, and new policies come into practice.
The year 2002 has been a banner year for law changes, which means we've been busy. One of the most important roles that ERC plays is that of an educator. We monitor the political arena and work to keep our clients up-to-date on developments that might affect their cases.
Here are some of the most important changes that came into effect at the beginning of the year:
- Previously, a full medical examination was only needed for foreign citizens seeking a second-year residence permit. Now the exam is required for citizens of the United Kingdom in their first year of legal residence in Hungary, and other citizens in their second year.
- Formerly, a residence visa could be obtained in a day. Now a visa can take up to three months to procure, but it can also serve as a residence permit for the first year of residence in Hungary (except for citizens of the U.K.). This eliminates the need to apply for a separate residence permit.
- Many citizens used to be able to obtain visas at Hungarian embassies in nearby countries, such as Austria. Now they must apply in their home country or country of last legal residence. (U.K. citizens may apply while in Hungary if the last entry stamp in their passport is not older than 30 days.)
- Citizens of the U.K. still have to obtain a separate residence permit in the first year. That process used to take about a week. Now it usually takes at least a month.
- In the past, applicants were not required to be present when permit applications were submitted and permits were picked up, but now applicants must be there in person.
In many cases, these changes have delayed clients' cases or forced applicants who were already in Hungary to return to their home countries to wait for their visas. One man from India waited for several months there until he could fly back to Budapest.
|
| Along with other offices in Prague and Budapest, ERC has many other locations across Central and Eastern Europe. So we can help your employees settle into life in Warsaw, Belgrade, Ljubljana, Zagreb, Pristina, Skopje and a multitude of other cities. We've even relocated people to Afghanistan!
|
At ERC, we work hard to save precious time for our clients even under these new laws. For instance, we wait in long lines at government offices so they don't have to, and tell them the opening hours of the Hungarian embassies in their countries, so they know when they can go. We also keep track of the expiration dates of our clients' permits and notify them well in advance. In addition, we keep track of all document, visa, and permit requirements for all nationalities in all different working and living scenarios.
Just to make sure we were paying attention, Hungarian authorities enacted a new regulation that came into effect on June 15.
Until recently, our relocation specialists accompanied clients to immigration offices to help submit and obtain documents. The new regulation states that only lawyers are permitted to come with foreign citizens to immigration offices.
That change forced us to pass on the added cost of the attorney fees to our clients. Fortunately, we can offer our own in-house lawyer who is a specialist in immigration issues and knows how to deal with the immigration office.
There were also some law changes this year relating to importing vehicles:
- As of January 1, 2003, only vehicles less that seven years old will be approved for importation into Hungary.
- It is now possible to import more than one V-plate vehicle uncer one person's name.
Rest assured that we continue to keep a close eye on Hungary's new laws throughout 2003.
Contact us if you have any other questions or would like a copy of a law.
It takes more than a residence visa to live legally in Hungary. First-year foreign residents shouldn't forget to to register their address with Hungarian authorities.
That sounds simple, but it often means waiting in line for hours at the appropriate government office.
If that prospect doesn't sound appealing to your expats, consider the alternative: send an ERC team member to wait in line at the appropriate office instead. We can also find out whether the expat's presence is required at the office. In many cases, it isn't, which means we can take care of the address registration for them.
|
Are your expats looking for a home in Budapest? Applying for residence permits? Concerned about having a baby in Hungary? Registering a vehicle?
Imagine a variety of expat situations, and chances are that ERC's managing director, Erika Clements, has experienced them herself.
Erika, who is American, came to this region six years ago and just like other expats faced a blur of unfamiliarity in her new home and work environment. She struggled with the Hungarian language, sought out friends, and worked to become accustomed to a new way of life.
Today, she is married with a young son (her husband Curt Clements is the managing director of ERC's sister companies, Move One and AES Cargo), and has a second baby on the way. And she finds her work extremely enriching.
"I often run into people long after we relocated them here, and I am happy to see that they are surrounded by friends and their children are thriving," she said. "I've never felt that feeling of satisfaction in any other line of work."
Erika sees her own experiences as an expat as the best kind of on-the-job training for the relocation industry. She can anticipate the needs and wants of other expats, particularly expat women and mothers. She can also relate to expats working in Hungary due to her own work experience here.
In addition, many female foreign citizens are comforted by the fact that they find a fellow expat at ERC who has gone through the same things they have, whether it's Erika or one of the other expat women working there.
'I've never felt this feeling of satisfaction in any other line of work.'
- Erika Clements, ERC's managing director
|
Expat women who are interested in having a baby in Eastern Europe but are concerned about the quality of care often come to Erika for advice. Erika gave birth last year in Budapest, and reassures everyone that she received excellent care.
Erika also knows that accompanying spouses and partners have special needs that the transferees may not be able to understand. Even nowadays, transferees tend to be male, while accompanying partners are female. And those partners want to know about everything from child care and house cleaners to health clinics, schools, job opportunities, and shopping and fitness centers. Erika and her staff provide that guidance both in person and with the help of ERC's informative CD-ROM that contains images and information about life in Budapest.
There is also an ERC guide to life in Budapest, including answers to many important questions about living here.
ERC also introduces partners to opportunities here such as volunteer work, book clubs, horseback riding, and other activities.
"The simple truth is that if the spouse or partner and the family aren't happy, or if they feel like they're just wasting time overseas, it's going to affect the transferee and the assignment," Erika said.
|
Established in Hungary, the
Expat Relocation Center is the first full-service relocation company in Central and Eastern Europe. With our sister companies, Move One International Movers and AES Cargo (freight forwarding), we also service Central Asia, including Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan. Our professionals help expatriate families settle into their new homes with services such as home and school search, work and residence permits, vehicle registration, and local driver's licenses. ERC is the only relocation company in Central and Eastern Europe co-owned and operated by expatriates.
|
Expat Success is published monthly by the Expat Relocation Center for human resources professionals in the Budapest area.
Send comments, questions, and ideas for this publication to editor@erceurope.com
for other assistance, contact the ERC headquarters at: Millennium Center Building Pesti Barnabás u. 4, 3rd floor
1052 Budapest Tel.: 266-0181 Fax: 266-3280 info@erceurope.com www.erceurope.com
|
|
|
