Work
Permits for Expatriate Partners in the UK
By Patricia
Keener, UK Career Advisor
The PERMITS Foundation is an
international corporate initiative that promotes the improvement of
work permit regulations for spouses of expatriate employees. It is
made up of more than thirty five international companies such as:
Shell, British Airways, PricewaterhouseCoopers, UBS, GlaxoSmithKline,
Sclumberger and Diageo. Together, these organizations encourage
governments to relax work permit regulations that currently make it
difficult for spouses of internationally-assigned executives to work
outside their home countries.
In view of the
increasing number of dual career couples, work permit barriers are a
hurdle to employee diversity and mobility. By raising awareness of
this issue, PERMITS reaches out to national governments and
international organizations with an interest in overseas investment
and employee mobility. Governments have already responded to this
issue in the diplomatic world, through special concessions which
allow the spouses of diplomats to work around the globe.
Kathleen van der Wilk-Carlton, a
PERMITS board member, showcased the United Kingdom as a model of
best practice at the recent Permits Foundation Conference in London.
In the UK, once a spouse has received his/her resident spouse visa,
they have an open work permit which allows them to pursue the
employment market for either full or part time work. One of the main
objectives of PERMITS is to advocate similar models in other parts
of the world.
This is good news if you are spouse
of an employee of a multinational company being re-located to the
UK. What happens if you are not? How does it work if you have to
come up with a work permit on your own? Jon Harris-Gibbins of
Willans Solicitors provides further insight on the topic.
- What nationalities require a
visa and work permit to legally work in the UK?
All nationalities except EC
countries
- What are some of the penalties
if you are caught working illegally in the UK?
The employee will be removed from
the country and the employer can be fined up to £2000
- In the example of a 28 year old
American woman with a background in financial services who has
come to the UK with her boyfriend/fiancé and wants to work, how
does she go about it?
If your boyfriend or fiancé has
a valid visa for the UK on the basis of a work permit or Highly
Skilled Migrant Visa, a non-married partner can come as his
dependant if he/she can prove that they have co-habited with
him/her for two years. You will need four items of correspondence
over a two year period to prove co-habitation.
- What if someone wants to study
here and work part time? Is it easier to obtain a work
permit when you are a student?
You get an automatic right to
work as a student if you are participating in a course of study
for more than six months in duration. The student is allowed to
work up to twenty hours during term time and full time in the
holidays.
- Are there specific steps that
one should take before arriving in the UK? What
documentation or materials should be prepared to apply for a
work permit?
To obtain a work permit, you will
need to have an employer lined up in the UK who wishes to employ
you. The employer will either apply for the permit himself or may
use an immigration solicitor. He will need from you academic
qualifications or a reference letter from your previous employer.
For a Highly Skilled Migrant
Permit, you will need to assess whether you qualify before
proceeding, as the evaluation is done according to a points
system. I would recommend contacting a specialist immigration
solicitor or adviser before proceeding in this direction. If
successful this permit provides you with a general work permit for
the UK allowing you to accept any job. To apply for this visa, you
must have at least a university degree and a minimum of two years
graduate level work experience if under 28 and five years if over
28.
- How about someone who wants to
be self employed - do they need a work permit?
For self-employed individuals
they could apply for either a Highly Skilled Migrant Visa or a
businessperson visa. For a businessperson visa, a minimum of £200000
cleared funds is required to invest into a business.
- What happens if you already have
your own business, when you move to the UK and most of your work
is done virtually by computer for clients in another country?
Would you still need to have permission to work here and be
liable for tax in the UK?
You would still need permission
to work here and would be liable to pay tax.
- What would be a "realistic"
expectation for a spouse coming into the country from a non-EC
country whose partner's company does not help him/her obtain a
work permit?
A work permit takes on average
five or six weeks to process from start to finish unless it is an
inter-company transfer or you are applying for a position in a
shortage occupation, then the process can take as little as two
weeks.
A Highly Skilled Migrant Visa may
take up to six months, but can be done in as little as a month if
you have a specific job offer showing you are needed by a company
by a certain date.
In summary, it is important to
understand the various options available to you to apply for work
permit approval in the UK and to do your homework in advance of your
arrival.
For more information on the
PERMITS Foundation contact: Kathleen van der Wilk or Lesley
Fisher at permitsfoundation@shell.com
or visit the website www.PermitsFoundation.com
To contact Jon Harris-Gibbins:
jon.harris-gibbins@willans.co.uk
Tel: 01242 514707 Willans Solicitors, 28 Imperial
Square, CHELTENHAM GL50 1RH
www.willans.co.uk
Additional resource websites:
About
Author
Patricia Keener is a consultant and coach
specializing in cross-cultural adaptation and communication skills.
Patricia’s career advisor services include cross-cultural
adaptation training and one-on-one coaching, career coaching,
presentation skills for networking, and effective presentation
skills training. She can be reached by email at: patricia@keenerinspiration.com
of the international partners networking group www.Global-Networker.com
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