Work permit
If you are an employer interested in hiring someone who is subject to immigration control you may have to get a Work Permit for them.
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A Work Permit is a document issued by Work Permits (UK), which is part of the Home Office Border & Immigration Agency. This document gives an employer the right to employ a named person in a specific job.
For this reason the Home Office has established two tiers of work permit application; these are:
Tier 1
Usually for so-called " intra-company transfer" type work permit applications , ie where an employee is being transferred from an overseas company branch to a UK branch. For established and reputable employers these applications require a minimal amount of paperwork and have a high success rate.
Tier 2
For "new hire" type applications. An employer must provide evidence of having advertised the vacancy and of the candidate's skills and experience.
A work permit cannot be automatically transferred. If you want to recruit somebody who already has a work permit you will need to make a new application for them.
Finally, please note that it is a legal requirement for employers to ensure that their staff have permission to work. Failure to undertake this responsibility can result in prosecution.
Points Based System (PBS)
The new Points Based System will be implemented around the third quarter of 2008.
All migrants except those coming to the UK through family based immigration or Tier 1 immigration require a UK sponsor before they can apply to live and work in the UK. Non-EU nationals staying in the UK longer than six months also require a biometric identity card.
All sponsors of non-EU workers, students and even ministers of religion have to be licensed as a sponsor if they wish to bring a person to the UK.
The Border and Immigration Agency is responsible for issuing of sponsorship licences, qualifying sponsors as A or B grade ( depending on their credibility ) and monitoring and enforcing the UK immigration regulations.
Sponsorship procedure:
- A prospective sponsor will apply to the Border and Immigration Agency to obtain a licence;
- If successfully licensed, a sponsor can apply for a number of certificates of sponsorship for the candidates they intend to sponsor;
- A prospective employee will be eligible to apply for UK entry clearance once obtains a certificate of sponsorship;
- The sponsor will take responsibility for his employee during the whole period of stay in the UK.
Our specialists will be able provisionally assess whether your company or organisation might be qualified as a sponsor.
A Work Permit itself does not automatically allow the overseas worker to take up the job. Once issued, the worker must usually then either apply for a visa (if they are overseas) or, if in the UK, apply to have their immigration status changed - known as "switching". In many cases,"switching" is not permitted so it is vital that you know the rules about this before embarking on the application process.
In general terms, work permits are only available for jobs requiring high levels of experience and skills. For example, somebody working as a qualified engineer or accountant would qualify for a work permit whereas somebody doing bar work or low - level clerical work would not. Skilled tradesmen would not normally qualify for a work permit either.
Crucially, an employer applying for a work permit is required to satisfy the "resident labour" test. This generally means that they must have advertised the vacancy and show that no other qualified British or European candidate applied for the job. Not all employers need to advertise the vacancy though; the advertising rule is not applied when an employee is being transferred within a multi-national organisation.