UK Work Permit
Information for Employees
There are
many ways by which you can live and work in
the UK. Not all of them need you to have a
job offer before getting a UK Work Permit or
Visa. You are a valuable commodity and rules
are changing all the time to help your move.
Your family are of course also most welcome
and can enjoy the same benefits as you in
the UK.
A UK Work Permit in the UK is usually
obtained by a company sponsoring an
employee. We can assist with this Work
Permit process if you already have a UK
employer that is prepared to make you a job
offer. If you already have a job offer from
a UK employer then please feel free to
contact us for more information about
gaining a UK Work Permit.
The Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (
UK HSMP Visa ) was created where by you
can come to the UK to look for work rather
than having to find it first without being
here. You will need to be highly skilled and
should assess yourself to see if you have
the minimum 65 points required ( with all
associated supporting evidence ) to qualify
for the HSMP visa. You are not tied to a
single sponsoring employer and can also work
for yourself as self employed.
If you are a national of a country belonging
to to the British Commonwealth, the Working
Holiday Maker Scheme may allow you up to 2
years to live and work in the UK. You are
not tied to a single sponsoring employer and
can also work for yourself as self employed.
The Working Holiday Visa does not count
towards UK Residency, whereas the Highly
Skilled Migrant Programme (UK HSMP Visa and
Employer Sponsored UK Work Permit do count
towards UK Residency.
These are major steps forward in allowing
you, the talent, to come to the UK and make
your career happen.
With an Employer sponsored UK Work Permit,
which after all allows the longest time in
the UK (up to 5 years) once you have
successfully found work, your new employer
must apply for your work permit (and not you
as the individual). Although the employer
must do this, the work permit actually
belongs to you, not your employer, but the
work permit is specific to you working only
for that employer. If you want to change
jobs, a new work permit must be obtained.
This transfer process is much easier than
your first application as long as your new
employer can qualify and especially if the
work permit is for a similar job. The
sponsoring process is also much easier if
your skills or occupation are on the
official skills shortage list.
You are wise at this stage to advise your
new employer that we can ensure your UK work
permit is obtained quickly and correctly. It
may be that a better option exists such as
some of the above options. There is no point
risking failure at application. Let us
handle the work permit application process
for you both.
You will also be aware of several Eastern
European countries now becoming part of the
EU.
This means that work permits per se are not
required but
Worker Registration
Applications for nationals of these new
countries is required.
It is also possible that you could take
advantage of the SEGS (The Science and
Engineering Graduate Scheme).The scheme
allows non-EEA nationals who have graduated
from UK higher or further education
establishments in certain physical sciences,
mathematics and engineering subjects with a
2.2 or higher to remain in the UK for 12
months after their studies in order to
pursue a career.
This could save you a fair amount of time.
It needs to be evaluated and applied for
very carefully considering tight guidelines.
You may also be able to apply under the
sectors based Scheme whereby workers from
outside the European Economic Area (EEA) to
enter the United Kingdom to take short-term
or casual jobs.
If potential employers ask you to get your
own work permit before applying for their
jobs, they either do not understand the
processes or would rather you looked at some
of the above options.
HSMP(UK Highly Skilled
Migrant Programme)
is an extremely popular points-based visa,
allowing independent immigration to the UK
for Highly Skilled Migrant Workers.
-
The
Highly Skilled Migrant Programme
was made available to more people as the
qualifying score was lowered to
65 points.
-
Those
under 28 years of age at the time of
application are awarded 5 points towards
their HSMP visa application simply for
being under 28. Also, they do not need
to prove as much work experience or
earnings to qualify for the Highly
Skilled Migrant Program.
-
Those who
are married or living together as if
married can now claim additional points
for the education and work experience of
their partners.
The UK HSMP Visa
is a points based
system now in its third year. There are 6
areas where you can score and you must get a
minimum of 65
points to be considered.
The pass mark is 65 points.
HSMP applications will not be progressed if
65 points cannot be achieved.