Eligibility to Work, Permission to Work in the UK

Some people are automatically entitled to work in the UK. Others may have restrictions on whether they can work, how long they can stay and the type of work they can do. Hales Group have a set of procedures to ascertain whether or not a person is eligible to work in the UK before assigning them to our clients.

Who Doesn't Need Permission to Work?

The main groups not subject to immigration control and who are employable without restriction are:

British citizens
Commonwealth citizens with the right of abode in the UK
European Economic Area (EEA) and Swiss nationals - although some will need to register with the Home Office. * NB - It's important to contact the Home Office to establish if a potential employee comes from one of the permitted countries in the EEA.
Family members of nationals from EEA countries and Switzerland, providing that the EEA national is lawfully residing in the UK.

What if you don’t meet that criteria?

If you want to come to the UK for to work full details of the documents you require is available at http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/workingintheuk/

For highly skilled workers, investors, entrepreneurs and recent graduates from UK universities

You do not need a job offer when you apply to enter or stay in the UK in these categories, but you will need to pass a points-based assessment.

For skilled workers

If you have been offered a skilled job in the UK and your prospective employer is willing to sponsor you, you can apply to come or stay here to do that job.

For temporary workers

If an employer in the UK is willing to sponsor you, or if you are a national of a country that participates in the youth mobility scheme, you may be eligible for temporary entry permitting various types of work here.

Other categories

You can also apply to work in the UK as a domestic worker; as the sole representative of an overseas firm; or as a representative of an overseas newspaper, news agency or broadcasting organisation.

For workers from the European Economic Area and Switzerland

Most European nationals are free to come to and work in the UK - but if you are a national of a country that has recently joined the European Union, you may need to register with the UK Border Agency or apply for their permission before you begin work.

For workers and business persons from Turkey

Turkish citizens can benefit from a European agreement with Turkey if they want to establish themselves in business in the UK, or if they are already working here legally.

For Commonwealth citizens with UK ancestry

If you are a Commonwealth citizen and at least one of your grandparents was born in the UK, you can apply to come here to work.

We will take all reasonable steps to ensure that you are the rightful owner of the presented documents. Any specific information within a passport or other travel document should indicate that you are permitted to undertake the kind of work we are offering.

Original documents should be scanned and emailed to us in the first instance. We will then require sight of the original documents upon your arrival in the UK prior to you commencing work.

Other Employment Routes

In addition to the eligibility criteria already mentioned, there are also managed migration routes available to allow overseas nationals to work in the UK without work permits. These include those entering under the 'Highly Skilled Migrant Programme' which is an individual migration route for highly skilled people to come to the UK for work or self-employment opportunities. Other routes include the 'Working Holidaymaker Scheme' whereby Commonwealth citizens between the ages of 17 and 30 can come to the UK for an extended holiday of up to 2 years and are entitled to work for up to 12 months during their stay under the scheme.

Students from outside the EEA membership countries who are over 16 are also allowed to take some work in the UK, providing they adhere to the conditions of entry and are given leave as a student. However, there are conditions. We can only register a student for up to 20 hours per week during term-time, except where the placement is to meet the definition of their sandwich course or internship. We can assign you full-time outside term-time as long as you still have valid leave. A student from outside the EEA must neither work outside their valid leave, engage in business or self-employment, provide services as a professional sportsperson or entertainer nor must they fill a permanent, full-time vacancy.