Would a Barbadian Computer Services Firm be allowed to service a contract in the EC that doesn’t require staff to relocate to the European country on a permanent basis, but travel there to service the project?

February 09 2012 | Computer and Related Services

 

Yes.  The EPA has provisions for Computer Services suppliers who have a contract with a consumer in EC Member States to travel to these countries to provide services with the following conditions:

Conditions in which these services can be provided

The person from Barbados applying for temporary entry must be supplying a service as employee of a business that has obtained a service contract for a period not exceeding 12 months.

The person must have been an employee of the business for 1 year before applying for entry, and must have at least 3 years professional experience in the relevant sector.

The Barbadian national applying for temporary entry must have a university degree or equivalent qualification, and professional qualifications where required by law.

The person shall not receive remuneration during their stay, other than that paid by their employer.

The temporary entry will be for a cumulative period not exceeding 6 months (or 25 weeks in Luxembourg) during a 12-month period or for the duration of the contract (whichever is less).

The visa permits only the contracted service activity, no other business activities.

The number of persons covered by the services contract shall not be larger than necessary to fulfil the contract.

 

These opportunities to service contracts in EC Member States are subject to the following conditions:

In Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia & Sweden, there are no market access or national treatment restrictions imposed on Barbadian service providers. 

Latvia will apply an economic needs test for contractual service suppliers.

In Belgium, an economic needs test will be applied, except for contractual service suppliers when the annual wage is above the amount defined by the relevant laws and regulations and Demark will apply an economic needs test except for contractual service supplies who wish to stay for up to three months.

In Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia & United Kingdom, economic needs tests will be applied.