A significant issue facing global corporations is the potential for liability created by “accidental expatriates” — employees who travel overseas on what are intended to be brief business trips or short assignments. They are usually not included in their organization’s global mobility expatriate programs, and whose time overseas is extended long enough or cumulates over time to bring about potential violations of host country immigration, tax and Social Security laws. Recently, the instances of accidental expatriates are on the rise. There are several reasons for the increase in these types of employees.
First, some overseas business trips or assignments initially intended to be short term may, through unforeseen business circumstances, be extended (sometimes indefinitely). The managers for these employees and/or employees who travel overseas on a regular basis may not realize the point at which extensions of these overseas stays trigger violations of immigration laws and obligations under personal and corporate tax laws and Social Security regulations.
