Do I need a work permit?

If you are an overseas national who is not settled in the UK and you intend to work in the UK, you must have a work permit unless you are:

• an EEA national
• a Swiss national
• a family member of an EEA or Swiss national who is in the UK exercising their treaty rights or a family member of an EEA or Swiss national who intends to join them in the UK, or is travelling with them to the UK
• a citizen of Gibraltar
• a Commonwealth citizen with permission to stay in the UK on the basis of UK Ancestry
• a seaman under contract to join a ship due to leave British waters
• a person employed as a civilian in NATO Forces
• a person given permission to stay as the dependant of a person settled in the UK
• a dependant under another category (in some cases), or
• a student (in some cases).

What is a work permit?

Work permits are issued by Work Permits (UK), part of the Home Office's Border and Immigration Agency. A work permit relates to a specific person and a specific job. The work permit scheme lets UK employers recruit or transfer people from outside the European Economic Area (EEA), while still protecting the interests of resident workers in the UK. Work permits also allow overseas nationals to come to the UK for training or work experience.

There are six types of work permit.

1. Business and commercial.
   These allow UK employers to recruit people from outside the EEA who will fill a vacancy that the employer has not been able to fill with a resident worker.
2. Sportspeople and entertainers
   These allow UK employers to employ established sportspeople, entertainers, cultural artists and some technical and support people from outside the EEA.
3. GATS (Global Agreement on Trade in Services)
   This allows 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.
4. Sectors Based Scheme (SBS)
   From 1 January 2007, this scheme only allows workers from Romania and Bulgaria to enter the UK for up to 12 months to take low-skilled work in the food manufacturing industry. 
5. Training and Work Experience Scheme (TWES)
   This scheme allows people from outside the EEA to carry out work-based training for a professional or specialist qualification, or a short period of work experience as an extra member of staff. To qualify for TWES, you must:
• hold a valid TWES work permit and be able to carry out the training or work experience it applies to
• intend to leave the UK after the training or work experience
• be aged over 16
• not intend to take employment except as set out on the permit, and
• be able to support yourself and your dependants, without needing any help from public funds.

If you have been in the UK on a TWES permit for more than 12 months, you will not normally be eligible for another TWES permit until you have spent 24 months outside the UK. If you have been in the UK on a TWES permit for less than 12 months, you will not normally be eligible for another TWES permit until you have spent 12 months outside the UK.