Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro and Infosys are among the IT majors which have offices in Germany. The commerce department will take up work permit and visa related concerns with its German counterpart during the coming visit of Angela Merkel in September, according to a commerce and industry ministry communiqué.

In Germany, Frankfurt has emerged as a major hub of Indian IT companies. Recently, German IT sector acquisitions by Indian companies have picked up after Tata Interactive bought German company Tertia Edusoft in January 2006 and Sonata Software took over majority share of TUI-InfoTec in September 2006. Indian IT companies are facing difficulties in obtaining work permits for their professionals in Germany, chiefly because of delays in processing of applications, which “results in undue hardship to the Indian companies and delays in project execution”, states the communiqué.

Another worrying factor for these companies is the lack of uniformity in the documentation required for different German states, which often ask for a copy of confidential business information. In case a person holding a multiple-entry business visa applies for a work permit, the existing multi-entry business visa is cancelled while the application for work permit is being processed. This in effect “restricts flexibility, especially when the person would like to visit Germany for a short period.”

In what seems like a clear case of ambiguity in rules, the German authorities require proof of contribution to social security for extension of visa/ work permit. But some German states do not accept social security contributions from foreign nationals when the period of stay is less than six months.

The Indian government is also considering whether to ask for a uniform waiver on social security contributions by Indian companies if the period of stay is less than two years as these companies already contribute towards provident fund in their home country. Moreover, these contributions are not reimbursed to companies. Even after contributing the social security, Indian professionals cannot claim any social security benefits.

However, German officials earlier said that work permit and visa processing would be completed within a maximum timeframe of four weeks through electronic transfer of applications but expressed inability to waive off social security contributions.