UK Employment Law\ Employee \ Work Permits
Work permits
Work permits are designed to regulate the size of the UK workforce by stopping too many foreign workers entering the country. Permits are regularly the focus of crackdowns carried out by customs and excise officers. Recent campaigns have found many restaurants not complying, or not checking documentation properly before employing someone. It is the responsibility of an employer to examine a work permit before offering work. Failure to so can lead to heavy fines. If you apply for work without the right permit, you can be refused, and sent back home to your country of origin.
If any of the following categories describes you, then you can take up any lawful employment in the UK without needing a Work Permit:
- EEA nationals (Austria , Greece, Luxembourg, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Portugal, Finland, Ireland, Spain, France, Italy, Sweden, Germany, United Kingdom, Norway Liechtenstein, and Iceland);
- If you have ‘Indefinite Leave To Remain’ in the UK;
- If you are the spouse of an EEA national;
- If you are the spouse of a; Work Permit holder; Training Permit Holder; Sole Representative; Investor; Student; or have UK ancestry;
- If you are a Commonwealth citizen with an ‘Ancestry’ visa. These documents can be obtained if a grandparent was born in the UK. Apply through the British High Commission in your home country. The period for the visa is normally 4 years. You could become eligible for permanent residence after that period;
- If you have a pending claim for Asylum in the UK;
- You may also qualify if you come from Bulgaria, The Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, or Slovakia.
You may be able to work for an employer in a freelance capacity (ie: as a consultant). However, applications to enter the UK like this can take several months to sort out. Such visas are usually for people who combine technical and business experience.
If you are not entitled to work in the UK without a work permit, there could be a number of other options worth pursuing:
- Business visit visa (trips of up to 6 months).
- Delivering or receiving training;
- A Sole Representative visa. These are for people if your company does not yet have a UK branch.
- A Student visa (allowing you to work for up to 20 hours per week in term time, and 40 hours per week during vacations).
- A Training/Work Experience permit.
There are a number of exceptions. Thus is could be a good idea to discuss this topic with a solicitor first.
