Employment Permits Act 2006

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Regulations governing grant of permits, etc.

14.— (1) The Minister may, having regard to, and only to, the matters specified in section 15 , make regulations specifying, for a period not exceeding 2 years (“the appropriate period”), such one or more of the following as the Minister considers appropriate, namely:

(a) the maximum number of employment permits that may be granted during the appropriate period;

(b) the maximum number of employment permits that may be granted during the appropriate period in respect of a specified economic sector;

(c) categories of employment (by reference to the economic sector or sectors into which they fall) which—

(i) may be the subject of the grant of an employment permit during the appropriate period, or

(ii) shall not be the subject of the grant of an employment permit during that period;

(d) the minimum amount of remuneration (being an amount greater than that referred to in section 12 (1)(j)) that shall be payable in respect of an employment as a condition for the grant of an employment permit in respect of it;

(e) the qualifications or skills that a foreign national, in respect of whom, or by whom, an application for an employment permit is made during the appropriate period, is required to possess in order for a grant of the permit to be made;

(f) for the purposes of section 8 (5), in relation to an employment permit granted during the appropriate period on foot of an application by a foreign national, a period longer than 2 years beginning on the date of the grant of the permit.

(2) To the extent that the Minister considers appropriate, but having regard to, and only to, the matters specified in section 15 , regulations under subsection (1) may also include either or both of the following:

(a) a provision specifying that the limitations or requirements falling under subsection (1)(a), (b), (c), (d) or (e) and provided for in the regulations in relation to the grant of employment permits in the period concerned shall apply, or shall apply with specified modifications, in relation to the renewal under section 20 of employment permits in that period;

(b) a provision specifying, for the purposes of section 20 (3), in relation to an employment permit which is renewed in the period concerned, a period longer than 3 years.

(3) For so long as regulations under subsection (1) remain in force during the appropriate period to which the regulations relate, the relevant powers of the Minister under this Act in relation to employment permits shall be exercised, during that period, subject to, and in accordance with, those regulations.

(4) To avoid doubt, during a period such as is referred to in subsection (3), the preference required to be given by section 2(11) of the Act of 2003 to an application in respect of a foreign national referred to in that provision shall only be given if an employment permit, the subject of the application, could, consistently with the regulations referred to in subsection (3), be granted to the foreign national.