related documents
see also...
Work permits
UK Work Permits - important information for employers
UK work permit arrangements allow employers based in England, Scotland and Wales to employ people who are not nationals of a European Economic Area (EEA) country and are not entitled to work in Great Britain.
It is the employer's responsibility to apply for a work permit on the employee's behalf. A work permit is issued for only one employment, normally on a full time basis. It is not transferable to a different job or to a different employer.
Important update: charging for work permits
Work Permits (UK) introduced charging for the consideration of work permit applicants from 1 April 2003.
The reason for this charge is the expansion of the use of the work permit arrangements. By charging a fee to those employers who use the service, Work Permits (UK) are able to establish a funding mechanism for administering the work permit arrangements.
The charge for initial Work Permits, Work Permit Extensions, Change of Employment and Appeals under the BC and TWES categories is £1531.
The charge for work permits has been calculated on the overall cost of processing work permit applications divided by the number of applications received. Work Permits (UK) will charge for the consideration of initial Work Permits, Work Permit Extensions, Change of Employment and Appeals.
The cost of applications will reflect the cost of providing this service. The charge will be reviewed on an annual basis to ensure that no profit is made from the service.
Work permit forms
For more information on work permits please visit the Home Office website.
1. Prospective employers based in the UK making applications to recruit overseas nationals, will have to pay for the consideration of the application, unless the case clearly falls into the deferred or exempt category, as outlined below. Making an application under the wrong payment category may delay the consideration of the application.
Under European Law, Work Permits (UK) are obliged to exempt prospective employers of overseas nationals from countries who have signed and ratified the Council of Europe Charter or the European Social Charter (revised)
Therefore, employers making work permit applications to employ nationals of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Estonia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovenia, Poland, Turkey, Cyprus, Malta, Latvia and Moldova will be exempt from the charge.
Details of further countries who sign and ratify the Council of Europe Social Charter (revised) and subsequently become exempt, will be included in Work Permit (UK) website.
ACCA has developed an orientation guide for students coming to the UK, which includes information on obtaining visas and work permits. The guide can be found in the related documents on the left hand menu
Unable to open a PDF document? To open a PDF you need Adobe Acrobat Reader, which can be downloaded for free from the Adobe website.