Can you live and
work in the UK?
Work permits and
accession worker cards.
This page explains how you can live
and work in the UK if you are a Bulgarian or Romanian
national.
As a national of a country in the
European Economic Area (EEA), you do not need our
permission under the Immigration Rules to enter or
remain in the UK.
However, if you want to work in the
UK, you will need to apply for an accession worker card
unless you are exempt (see below). Your employer may
have to apply for a work permit. For information on how
to apply for an accession worker card and a work permit,
see the
Applying section.
Work authorisation
You will need to apply for an
accession worker card, which authorises you to work in
the UK, unless:
- you are exempt (see below); or
- you are coming to the UK under
the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme (SAWS), and
you hold a valid work card issued by a SAWS
operator; or
- you were given permission to
enter or remain in the UK before 1 January 2007, and
your passport has been endorsed with a condition
restricting your employment to a particular employer
or category of employment. If this permission to
enter or remain expires before you qualify to be
exempt from work authorisation requirements, or you
wish to engage in employment other than the job for
which the leave was granted, you will need to obtain
an accession worker card.
Most categories of employment will
require your employer to obtain a work permit before you
apply for an accession worker card.
However, in certain permit-free
categories you will only have to apply for an accession
worker card. These categories are:
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- airport-based operational ground
staff of an overseas airline
- au pair placements
- domestic workers in a private
household
- ministers of religion,
missionaries or members of a religious order
- overseas government employment
- postgraduate doctors, dentists
and trainee general practitioners
- private servants in a diplomatic
household
- representatives of an overseas
newspaper; news agency or broadcasting agency
- sole representatives
- teachers or language assistants
on an approved exchange scheme
- overseas qualified nurses coming
for a period of supervised practice
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Exemptions from the worker
authorisation requirement.
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You do not need to apply for a
registration certificate, but you can do so if you would
like confirmation that there are no restrictions on you
taking employment in the UK. For information on how to
do this, see the
Applying section.
You will be exempt from the
requirement to obtain authorisation to work in the UK
if:
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- you have leave to enter under the
Immigration Act 1971 and that leave does not place
any restrictions on taking employment in the UK (for
example, if you have been given leave to remain as
the spouse of a British citizen or as the dependant
of a work permit holder); or
- you have been working with
permission, and without interruption, in the UK for
a period of 12 months ending on or after 31 December
2006. For example, you are already present in the UK
as a work permit holder or in some other category
that confers permission to take employment (for
example as a student and you have been in part-time
employment continuously for 12 months); or
- you are providing services in the
UK on behalf of an employer established elsewhere in
the EEA; or
- you are also a citizen of the UK
or another EEA state (other than Bulgaria or
Romania) or Switzerland; or
- you are the family member of an
EEA national who is exercising a Treaty right in the
UK (except if you are the family member of a
Bulgarian or Romanian national who is subject to
work authorisation requirements, or who is exempt
from those requirements but only by virtue of being
self-employed, self-sufficient or a student) or
- you are the spouse or civil
partner of a British citizen or person settled in
the UK; or
- you are the family member of a
Bulgarian or Romanian national who is self-employed,
self-sufficient or a student. You will remain exempt
provided that your sponsor remains a student,
self-sufficient person or self-employed; or
- you are the spouse, civil
partner, descendant under the age of 21 or the
dependant of a Bulgarian or Romanian national who is
subject to work authorisation and holds an Accession
worker card; or
- you are a member of a diplomatic
mission, the family member of a diplomat or the
family member of anyone who is entitled to
diplomatic immunity.
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Highly Skilled
If you meet the highly skilled migrant
person criteria, you may be exempt from worker
authorisation, but you will need to apply for a
registration certificate on this basis.
For information
on how to apply for a registration certificate you
should see the
Applying section.
You can find further information on
working in the UK if you are a Bulgarian or Romanian
national in the guidance on the right side of this page.
Can my family members live and work in
the United Kingdom?
This section explains how family
members of a Bulgarian or Romanian national can live and
work in the UK.
The family members of a Bulgarian or
Romanian national are defined as:
- husband, wife or civil partner
- children who are under 21 years
of age or are dependent
- dependent direct relatives in the
ascending line (parents, grandparents).
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Bulgarian and Romanian national family
members.
If you are a Bulgarian or Romanian
family member of a Bulgarian or Romanian national who is
exempt from work authorisation
requirements (see above), you are entitled to be issued
with a registration certificate confirming that you too
also exempt from those requirements.
If you are a Bulgarian or Romanian
family member of a Bulgarian or Romanian national who
has a work authorisation document and
is legally working in the UK (unless that document was
issued in accordance with an application as an
authorised family member), you are exempt from work
authorisation .
If you are a Bulgarian or Romanian
relative of a Bulgarian or Romanian national who holds a
work authorisation document, but you do not meet the
criteria for a family member, you will need permission
if you want to take employment in the UK. You will be an
'authorised family member', and you will need to obtain
an accession worker card.
Bulgarian and Romanian family members
of A8 nationals
If you are a Bulgarian or Romanian
family member of an EEA national who is registered under
the worker registration scheme (WRS), and you intend to
work, you will be exempt from work authorisation
requirements. You can apply in your own right for a
registration certificate confirming this.
If you are a Bulgarian or Romanian
family member of an EEA national who is not registered
under the WRS and is not subject to work authorisation,
you can apply for a registration certificate.
Non-EEA national family members of
Romanian and Bulgarian nationals
If you are a family member of a
Bulgarian or Romanian national who is exempt from work
authorisation requirements (see above), but you are not
an EEA national, you are entitled to be issued with a
residence card.
If you are a family member of a
Bulgarian or Romanian national who holds a work
authorisation document, but you are not an EEA national,
you can apply for a family member residence stamp.
You can find further information in
the guidance for Bulgarians and Romanians, which you can
download from the right side of this page.
