JAFZA has announced that all Freezone-to-Freezone employment sponsorship transfers to JAFZA will now require pre-approval at JAFZA. Furthermore, all immigration transfer applications will then be typed by the JAFZA Government Services Office (GSO) directly.

Previously, an application for employment sponsorship transfer to JAFZA was typed by an authorised typing centre and submitted to the JAFZA GSO office, along with supporting documents and approval from the previous Freezone. Under the new process, pre-approval must first be obtained from JAFZA, following which an application is prepared by JAFZA. No other changes to the Freezone-to-Freezone employment sponsorship transfer process have been specified. Changes in processing times are anticipated, given the need for additional pre-approval and reliance on the Freezone to prepare the immigration transfer application.

What This Means for Employers