Foreigners working in Papua New Guinea will no longer need to lodge separate applications for employment visa and work permits.

Immigrations and Citizenship Service Authority has announced the creation of an online Sponsor Portal that merges work permit and working resident visa into a single digital application.

Acting Chief Immigration Officer, Wellington Navasivu said the Sponsor Portal provides businesses with streamlined process to lodge the combined work permit and employment visa online with a system that directly interfaces with the immigration’s Border Management System.

“Users of the system can input data and pay the necessary Migration Services Fee online at the convenience of their office anytime instead of physically visiting the Immigration office.”

The portal aims to also improve processing time and enhance customer service through the interface which allows sponsors to see the status of application and interact with ICSA.

“The Sponsor Portal will slowly phase out work permit and the end result will be a working resident visa. This means that the users of the portal will no longer get a work permit letter and ID card, instead they will receive a working resident visa which gives them the lawful permission to enter the country and work.

The portal can be accessed on the ICSA’s website with a one-time new registration of USD25 and USD75 for online administration fee per application.

The standard Migration Service Fee of US$380 is charged on each application.