UK Work Permit & Residence Requirements

United States citizens need work permits if they are to be employed in the United Kingdom. Permits must be secured before arrival; failure to comply with this requirement may result in refusal of entry to the country. The responsibility for securing work permits rests with the prospective employer. Applications take a minimum of eight weeks to process. Note: The Embassy cannot intervene with any application.

Employment which requires permits

Permits are issued only for work requiring people in the following categories: senior executive staff; highly qualified technicians with specialized experience; senior employees of multi-national companies which require an employee to transfer abroad, or for a post designed to develop the career of an existing employee; a post at board level or equivalent for which there is no other suitable candidate; a post essential to an inward investment project; key-workers, defined as those having technical or specialized skills essential to the operation of a company and whose specialist knowledge is not available in the United Kingdom or European Community. This may also include experienced workers for senior posts in the hotel and catering industry.

Permits will not be issued for jobs at manual, craft, clerical, secretarial or similar levels, or for resident domestic work, such as nannies and housekeepers.

Permit free employment

Some categories of employment are "permit free". Those seeking entry in the following groups do not require work permits. They must, however, secure appropriate entry clearance from the nearest British diplomatic mission before arriving in the United Kingdom. Failure to do so will result in refusal of entry to the country. Permit free categories include those seeking to establish themselves in business or self employment; ministers of religion; journalists; sole representatives of overseas firms; employees of overseas governments; seamen under contract to join a ship in British waters; operational ground staff of overseas airlines; doctors and dentists.

Note: Only under exceptional circumstances will work permit applications be accepted on behalf of persons already admitted to the United Kingdom in a temporary capacity (students or trainees) and only if the position to be filled requires extremely scarce skills and high qualifications.

Dependents

Dependents of work permit holders must secure permission to enter the United Kingdom in advance of arrival. Entry clearance must be obtained from a British diplomatic mission overseas. Work permit holders and dependents are required to register with British police on arrival. The decision to issue work permits or entry clearance certificates rests with the appropriate British government agency.

Further information

The Department for Education and Employment (DEE) is the office that a) decides applications for overseas nationals who are abroad, b) issues work permits to work in England, Wales and Scotland, c) decides whether an application meets the criteria and not whether the person needs a permit, and d) makes a recommendation to the Home Office for overseas aplicants who are already working there. For further information, contact the Department for Education and Employment, Overseas Labor Service, Level West 5, Moorfoot, Sheffield, S1 4PQ. General Enquiries: Tel: (0114) 259-4074; Fax: (0114) 259-3728. If you require advice about completing an application form or further information, please contact the team who will consider your application.

Main Scheme Work Permit Enquries

U.K. Immigration Information

In the United States, contact the nearest British diplomatic mission. In the United Kingdom, contact the UK Border and Immigration Agency Public Caller Unit, Block C, Whitgift Centre, Croydon CR9 2AR, Phone No: 0870-606-7766.

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