Work permits
This section explains the work permit arrangements for the United Kingdom.
This information provides an overview of the work permit arrangements. The work permit guidance notes provide more details of the work permit arrangements. If you are unable to find the information you need on these pages you should read the guidance notes for the arrangements you are interested in. Anyone intending to make a work permit application must read the appropriate guidance notes before making an application.
We issue work permits to UK-based employers wanting to employ a worker from outside the European Economic Area (EEA). Work permits are issued for a specific individual to work in a specific job. We only issue work permits for certain types of work and normally only when the employer has been unable to recruit a suitable employee from within the EEA.
There are six different work permit arrangements.
- Business and commercial;
- Training and Work Experience Scheme (TWES);
- Sports and Entertainments;
- Student internships;
- General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS);
- Sectors Based Scheme (SBS)
The eligibility section sets out the requirements that need to be met in order for us to issue a work permit under each of the different arrangements. Work permits are valid for work until a certain date. Some work permit arrangements are only short-term immigration categories while other work permit arrangements can provide you with a route to permanent residency (settlement) in the United Kingdom.
Please note the work permit arrangements are due to be deleted later this year when the new points-based system Skilled workers of Tier 2 is launched. These arrangements will include sports people and ministers of religion unless they are coming here temporarily and they will need to apply under Tier 5 - temporary worker.
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European Economic Area
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Irish Republic, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom. Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway are not members of the European Union (EU) but citizens of these countries have the same rights to enter, live in and work in the United Kingdom as EU citizens.