---
id: KB-LE-018
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/legal/permits-for-foreign-workers
idioma: en
categoria: sector-legal
subcategoria: extranjeria
audiencia: usuario
nivel: intermedio
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-NO-013, KB-CR-016]
citadoPor: [KB-LE-032]
---

# Permits for foreign workers

_Documents that belong to the person and not the company, with their own dates, and that stop the work if they lapse._

**Responde a:** tracking employees work permits · an employee's permit is expiring · immigration paperwork at the company · renewing a permit in time

For a company employing foreign staff — or for the firm advising it — this is one of the few expiry dates with no slack: when a permit lapses, the person cannot keep working, and that is not a paperwork problem, it is a staffing problem on Monday morning.

## What makes it different from other expiries

| Aspect | A company certificate | A person's permit |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Whose it is | The company's | The person's: they carry it |
| Who can renew it | You | Only that person, with their own papers |
| How long it takes | Days or weeks | However long the authority takes |
| What happens if it lapses | A finding | They cannot work |

> [!IMPORTANT]
> The second row forces a different way of organising: **you cannot renew it, so the warning has to reach them and you at the same time**. An internal reminder achieves nothing if the person does not gather their papers in time; and warning with a month to go is late for many procedures. This is one of the few dates where a sensible margin is counted in months, and where it is worth asking how it is going rather than assuming it is under way.

## How to manage it without overreaching

1. **Store the validity date, not a copy of everything** — What you need to track is until when, not the personal detail.
2. **A double warning, months ahead** — To the person and to whoever handles staffing.
3. **And a clear contact point for questions** — Many will not ask so as not to expose themselves; make it clear who.

> [!WARNING]
> On what to keep: **this documentation contains sensitive personal data, and not everything the person shows you has to stay in your archive**. Checking and noting validity is not the same as keeping a full copy of everything. Keeping more here does not protect you more: it obliges you to safeguard information you do not need, and that is what gets asked about in a review. **What may be kept, and for how long, is for your adviser to settle.**

## What is worth planning for

**En corto**

- What happens to the role if the process drags: cover, reassignment, or waiting.
- Who tells the client if that person was assigned to their service.
- And that the process runs regardless of the employment relationship: it does not pause for holidays or workload.

> [!NOTE]
> Which permit types exist, what each requires, what deadlines apply and what duties you carry as an employer is determined by immigration and employment law in your country. **Your adviser or a specialist firm handles that**; here it is only about the date not arriving as a surprise.

**Can I ask for a copy of the permit?**

Checking it, yes; which copy you may keep, ask before filing.

**What if the person does not renew in time?**

That is an employment situation, not a documentary one: take advice before it happens.

**Does the same control work for postings abroad?**

No: that is a different matter on a different track.

## Ejemplos

**A company finds three weeks out that a technician's permit expires and the process takes months.**

- Warns the person and HR months ahead and follows up on progress

→ The process starts in time and the role is not left uncovered overnight.

**A permit expires and the person keeps working.**

- Records expiries per person

→ The warning arrives with room to renew.

**Renewal is requested with two weeks to spare.**

- Warns with the lead time the process actually needs

→ The real timeline is respected.

**The documentation sits in the HR file and somewhere else.**

- Gathers everything in the person's file

→ There is one place to check.

**A client asks you to evidence a service's personnel.**

- Checks each person's file

→ It is handed over without reassembling anything.

**Somebody new joins and their documentation is missing.**

- Checks what is missing before assigning them

→ Onboarding is resolved before day one.