EEA/EU and Swiss Nationals

Under European law EEA and Swiss nationals will be able to enjoy the right to live and work in the United Kingdom. EU and Swiss nationals have a right of residence in the United Kingdom Providing:

they have a job in the UK
they do not work but have enough funds provide for their own living without claiming public funds support (eg studying or living as a retired person). Public funds include Income Support, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit.

Residence permits

A residence permit proves that one lives legally in the UK under European Community law. This could be required if, say, you need to prove your UK residency for tax purposes, or if your family are not EEA nationals. Nationals of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia or Slovenia are required to register under the Worker Registration Scheme and then apply for a residence permit. Usually a residence permit is issued for 5 years but this can be shorter for people who will be working or studying in the UK less then a whole year.

The residence permit is an entitlement under the law. The application will only be rejected if, for example, the applicant is not working and does not have sufficient funds to support themselves.

A residence permit may not be issued if:

You are visiting the UK for a short period;
You are looking for work;
You intend to work and live in the UK for less than three (3) months; or
You cannot support yourself without claiming help from the public funds.

Nationals of the European Economic Area (EEA)

The countries members of EEA are:

Austria
Belgium
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Iceland
Ireland
Italy
Liechtenstein
Luxembourg
Netherlands
Norway
Portugal
Spain
Sweden

Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway are not members of the EU but under the European Economic Area Agreement they have the same right.

New Guidance for Employers and the new EEA nationals

If you are an employer who wants to recruit citizens from the new EU member states since the 1st of May 2004, this guidance should explain to you what you need to do.

This law which will affect you as an employer is there to make sure that employment is only offered to all those legally entitled to live and work in the UK. Therefore, you are legally responsible if you do employ someone who doesn’t meet those requirements and could be found guilty of a criminal offence.

This law only comes into affect in the case of those employees recruited on or after the 27th of January 1997; if they have started working for you before this date it doesn’t represent an offence. You cannot re-employ a previous employee after this date.

All employees have to provide proof and the appropriate documents to establish their nationality and their entitlement to live and work in the UK. Contact us and we will be able to provide you with a list of acceptable documents and we will assist you.

Basically, as an employer it will be your responsibility to obtain all the documents necessary from your employees to be able to establish that they have the right to work in the UK and are officially registered.

If you contact us and we’ll help you make it a quick and easy process.