APPLICATIONS FOR WORK PERMITS
Your intended employer must apply for a work permit on your behalf before you take up employment in the United Kingdom. The application must be granted by Work Permits UK before you enter the United Kingdom.
You will normally be granted a first period of 12 months and your employer can, if required, apply for further extensions. The department has the discretion to grant or refuse the extension. This is a time consuming process for your employer and we can draft work permit applications for you on their behalf. Legal assistance with such applications is frequently a vital issue.
There are six separate additional sets of work permit arrangements:
Business and commercial
The business and commercial arrangements allow employers in this country to recruit people from outside the EEA who are going to be filling a vacancy that may otherwise be filled by a 'resident worker'.
Training and work experience
The training and work experience arrangements enable people from outside the EEA to undertake work-based training for a professional or specialist qualification, or a period of work experience.
Sportspeople and entertainers
The sportspeople and entertainers arrangements allow employers in this country to employ established sportspeople, entertainers, cultural artists and some technical/support people from outside the EEA.
Internships
The internship arrangements allow students from outside the EEA studying first or higher degree courses overseas to undertake an internship with an employer in this country.
GATS
The GATS arrangements allow employees of companies that are based outside the European Union to work in the UK on a service contract awarded to their employer by a UK-based organisation. This is a special arrangements within the normal work permit rules made under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS).
BUSINESS VISA APPLICATIONS
If you are interested in setting up a business as a: (1) sole trader; (2) partnership; (3) company registered in the UK, then this is the ideal visa for you to apply for.
Key issues are as follows –
1. When applying you must show an intention to either take over or join as partner or director in an existing business in the UK, or in fact to establish the new business.
2. You must have at least £200,000 under your control and disposable in the UK.
3. You will need to show that you will be actively involved in running the business.
4. In the case of setting up a new business in the UK, you will need to bring sufficient funds to enable you to establish the business and you will need to be able to show that the business will create at least two employment positions for persons who are already settled in the UK.
This category allows you to apply for permanent residence if you can show that you have spent a continuous period of four years in this capacity and that you have engaged in the same business throughout the four years.
HIGHLY SKILLED MIGRANTS PROGRAMME
The (HSMP) allows highly skilled individuals to migrate to the United Kingdom. This is a points based category which allows successful applicants to take employment or self-employment in the United Kingdom without the need for a work permit and for that, being restricted to working for a regular employer.
SEASONAL AGRICULTURAL WORKERS SCHEME
The scheme allows workers from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) to enter the United Kingdom to do seasonal agricultural work for farmers and growers.
This work is low skilled and includes:
- planting and gathering crops;
- on-farm processing and packing of crops (for example, salad vegetables, soft fruit, and flowers); and
- handling livestock (for example, lambing and on-farm poultry processing).
SECTORS BASED SCHEME
This scheme allows workers from outside the EEA to enter the United Kingdom to take short term or casual jobs. A UK employer must apply for a work permit before you travel to the UK. The work is low skilled and jobs are available in limited areas such as hotel and catering work, meat and fish processing. Between 2003 and 2004 there were 20,000 places on the scheme.
WORKING HOLIDAYMAKER'S VISA
If you are under the age of 27 years and above 17 years, and are born in a commonwealth country or are a commonwealth citizen, you may spend a maximum of two years in the United Kingdom and undertake employment at the same time.
WORKERS REGISTRATION SCHEME
From 1 May 2004 nationals from New Member States of the EEA are free to come to the United Kingdom. Nationals from Malta and Cyprus will have full free movement rights and are not required to obtain a workers registration certificate.
Nationals from the following new member states; Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic who find a job in the United Kingdom are required to apply to register with the Home Office under the new 'Worker Registration Scheme'.
The above applications are complicated, and failure can be a devastating situation which can have serious effects with regards to future applications. To achieve a maximum percentage possibility of success we strongly recommend that full legal advice is taken before any application is submitted.