Accession 8 (A8)Workers — Work in the UK

Summary

Czech Republic, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Latvia and Slovakia, often referred to as the 'A8' countries, joined the EU on 1 May 2004.

Nationals of the A8 countries are allowed to enter the UK to look for and to take up employment or self-employment but are not entitled to reside in the UK.

Procedure

Workers must apply for a registration certificate within one month of starting work. The registration certificate will authorise work for a specified employer.

To do so they should register under the Workers' Registration Scheme, for which purpose they require a letter from their employer confirming their employment, 2 passport photos, their passport or ID card, and a fee of £50 (the fee is not payable on applications to change employer during their registration period).

A worker requiring registration may only work for an authorised employer.

Benefits

Only persons with the right to reside in the UK will be treated as habitually resident and eligible for benefits.

This means that the following will not be eligible for those benefits (Council Tax Benefit, Housing Benefit, Income Support, Jobseeker's Allowance, and State Pension Credit) which require habitual residence to be established:

1. A8 nationals who are seeking work;
2. A8 nationals who cease to work during the first year of employment;
3. Family members of the latter.

After 12 months of continuous employment, there will be an entitlement to an EEA residence permit like other EU nationals.

Questions

Who is exempt from registering?

A national of an Accession State who had leave to enter or remain, and the leave was not subject to any restrictions on working, is excluded from the requirements of the new regulations.

Also exempt are those legally working in the UK on 30 April 2004, and had been legally working in the United Kingdom without interruption throughout the period of 12 months ending on that date.

Those working in the UK at the date of the Accession will be free from registration requirements from the time they accumulate their first 12 months of employment.

This includes someone working part-time as a student or a work permit holder. It does not include those on temporary admission. Any intervening periods whereby that person is not legally working in the United Kingdom should not exceed 30 days.

Those A8 nationals not requiring registration, and without ILR, should make an application to the Home Office for a residence permit which will provide evidence of their entitlement to reside in the UK.

What happens if I want to change employment?

On a change of employment, it is necessary to apply for another certificate, but there is no need to pay a further fee. A change of employment, so long as a new job is found within 30 days, will not break continuity of working for the purposes of building up the year for entitlements to benefits and no longer having to register.

Do my family have to register too?

Family members of A8 nationals may apply to reside and work in the UK. Family members will not be eligible for a residence document unless the principal is eligible for a residence permit. However, if the principal has registered under the Worker Registration Scheme, the family can obtain a family member residence stamp.

Does the Worker Registration Scheme apply to Nationals of Romania and Bulgaria?

Bulgaria and Romania

No. While Bulgaria and Romania joined the EU on 1 January 2007, no additional provision at all was made for their citizens, which means that Bulgarians and Romanians can still enter under the terms of the association agreements and various work permit schemes. The Workers Registration Scheme is not open to their citizens.

Romanian and Bulgarian nationals can either set up as self employed persons or set up a company, which they control.

It must be demonstrated:

• that the applicant is outside any relationship of subordination concerning the choice of activity, working conditions and conditions of remuneration;
  
  
• that they are working under their own responsibility and in return for remuneration paid directly and in full (Payment may be in the form of money or payment in kind e.g. rent);
  
  
• ideally they will have several contracts for supplying services;
  
  
• they will be paying their own National Insurance and tax.
  
  

Those who wish to set up companies must demonstrate that they have a controlling interest in the company, that the company is registered in the UK and is trading or providing services in the UK, that the applicant is actively involved in the company and that the company is the owner of the assets of the business.

The basic requirements to make an application to remain in self employment under the Association Agreements are:-

• Sufficient profits from self employment or independent means to maintain and accommodate the applicant and any dependants
  
  
• No recourse to public funds
  
  
• No recourse to employment other than the self employed business

The Home Office is entitled to require that the applicant have entry clearance for the purpose of establishing themselves in self employment in the UK.

If the application is successful the applicant and his or her dependants will be granted a single year of leave to remain which is renewable every year for four years after which time the applicant will be able to apply for permanent settlement.

The applicant's spouse will be able to enter into employment after leave is granted. He or she will not require additional work permission.

The following documents should be provided to ensure that the application is in a fit state to satisfy the immigration authorities:

• Passport for relevant country (to establish nationality)
  
  
• Bank statements or similar indications of financial resources (to show potential for maintenance and accommodation in the UK from own resources pending the business achieving viability)
  
  
• Profit and loss account and business plans (to show business is viable and that he will not need to have recourse to public funds)
  
  
• Given the need not to enter into alternative employment, a declaration to effect.

The simplest applications are therefore those who arrive in the UK with a visa or are given leave to enter in another capacity and who then make an application to switch.