Permit Free Employment

Your find this page will guide and hopefully answer some of the questions you may have as regarding what you will need to do if you want to come to work in the United Kingdom (UK) for a permit free employment.

What is permit free employment?

It simply means it won’t be necessary for you to have a work permit if you come to the UK to take on employment in the following areas:

Airport-based operational ground staff of overseas-owned airlines
Minister of religion, missionary or member of a religious order
Overseas government employees
Postgraduate doctors and dentists (training) including PLAB Tests
Representatives of overseas newspapers, new agencies and broadcasting organisations
Seasonal workers at agricultural camps
Sole representative of an overseas firm in the UK
Teachers and language assistants coming to the UK under approved exchange schemes
Writers, composers and artists
Dependants of the above

Please contact us for further information on this and we will be happy to advise you and will provide you with representation.

What requirements do I have to meet?

You will find that they do vary according to what work you will do. We have set out the main requirements below:

Airport based operational ground staff of overseas-owned airlines

An overseas-owned airline transferring you to the UK needs to operates services to and from the UK and your duties as a station manager, security manager or technical manager will be undertaken in an international airport
You would be expected to work full-time for your airline
You cannot use public funds to support and accommodate yourself and your dependants.
You must respect the terms above at all times.

Minister of religion, missionary or member of a religious order

A minister of religion: it will be expected of you to have a minimum of one (1) year working as a minister or, if your religious faith prescribes ordination as the only way to enter the ministry; then you will be expected to have undergone a two (2) year part time training for the ministry or have been ordained as a minister of religion for at least one (1) year full-time.
Missionary: you’ll have to be sent by an overseas organisation and it would be expected of you to have been trained or worked as a missionary.
A member of a religious order: you’ll be expected to stay and live in a community maintained by your religious order. If you would like to teach; you can only practice in an establishment managed by your religious order.

You will also be required to:

Be working full-time for the religious order of which you are a member or as a minister of religion or a missionary.
Respect the terms above at all times
Be able to support and accommodate yourself and your dependants, you cannot use public funds.
Be able to provide the following documents when you apply for your visa:
- A letter from your employer in the UK stating your future duties and salary
- A contract of employment, if you have one.
- Confirmation of your qualifications and your past experience for the position you are about to take on.

Overseas government employees

Those who are employed by an overseas government, the United Nations Organisation or other international organisation of which the UK is a member.
If it is the case that you work for a commercial enterprise based in the UK and owned by an overseas government (e.g. a state owned shipping company) you won’t be able to qualify for this section, you will need to obtain a work permit.

You qualify for this section:

You must be able to submit a UK visa stating your future duties to an Immigration Officer on arrival to the UK
You will also need to give proof of your status as an overseas government employee.
You will be expected to work full-time for the government or organisation concerned
You will not be able to use public funds to support or accommodate yourself or your dependants.
You must respect the above terms at all times.

Postgraduate doctors and dentists (training)

You’ll be expected to have graduated from a medical school and must be willing to work for 12 months for a Pre-Registration House Officer employment.
You will have to fulfill the requirements for provisional or limited registration with the General medical Council.
You should not have worked for more than 12 months in aggregate in Pre-Registration House Officer employment
You must have fulfilled the requirement for full or limited registration as a doctor or a dentist with the General Mevices
You should not have spent more than four (4) years in postgraduate training in the UK (the 12 months spent as a House Officer will be excluded)
After your training period you will be expected to leave the UK.
You are not allowed to use public funds to support and accommodate yourself and/or your dependants.

You must have a work permit if you are a fully qualified doctor or dentist. For more information about work permits go to our guidance section.

If you are resolute to establish yourself in a general practice you must be able to fulfill the requirements for admission in the UK as a self-employed person. See our guidance for more information.

Discover more about Doctors Specific skills needed for skills shortages in the UK.

How can I register if I am a doctor who has qualified overseas?

In this case, before you can register with the General Medical Council, you may be asked to pass the Professional and Linguistic Assessment Board (PLAB) test to have your command of English and your knowledge of medicine evaluated.

All doctors have to pass the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) before they can go on to take the PLAB test.

You can take this test in one of the 100 centres all over the world or you can apply for permission to stay in the UK for a maximum of 18 months to take the PLAB test.

How long can I stay for postgraduate training?

Initially you will be allowed to stay for a three (3) year period in the UK and for as long as you have a postgraduate job in basic specialist training (or a similar job) you can apply for a four (4) year period too. You can apply to stay longer than four (4) years if it is the case that you have a job in higher specialist training. The extension for the right to stay is granted for 3 years at a time.

You will be expected to maintain your registration with the General Medical Council or the General Dental Council and your be expected to leave the UK after your training period.

Representative of overseas newspapers, news agencies and broadcasting organisations

Your find this category includes correspondents working for overseas magazines and periodicals reporting news and newspersons working for overseas broadcasting organisations.

Your organisation posted you outside the UK and has assigned you as a representative in view of a long-term basis
You will be working as a full-time representative for this overseas newspaper, news agency or broadcasting organization.
You are not allowed to use public funds to support and accommodate yourself and your dependants.
You will have to respect the above terms at all times.

If you are thinking of working in the administrative/ secretarial area you will need a work permit.
Correspondents arriving in the UK for an assignment which will be shorter than six (6) months will be considered as business visitors provided they qualify as such.

Seasonal workers at agricultural camps

There is a restriction on the number of seasonal workers recruited each year, in order to qualify for this category:

You have to be between 18 and 25 years old and be in full-time education overseas.
You will have to obtain a valid Home Office work card which has been issued by the operator of a scheme approved by the Secretary of State.
You will be expected to leave at the end of your period at which you were allowed to enter the UK as a seasonal worker
You are not allowed to use public funds to support and accommodate yourself or your dependants.
You will have to respect the above terms at all times.

Work cards are only issued for the period starting on the 1st of May and finishing on the 30th of November.

If it is the case that you do not meet the above criteria but a farmer has requested your return due to your proven reliability; then maybe scheme operators could grant you a Home Office work card.

The work cards are not allowed to be issued by individual farms, they must at all times be issued by an operator.

All those workers over 25 can be invited back for supervisory tasks but only several of them.

If you are already based in the UK, you cannot switch to seasonal agricultural work. However it is possible for you to be allowed to stay as a visitor until the 30th of November.

Sole representative of an overseas firm in the UK

You will have be the only representative in the UK of a firm of which headquarters and principal place of business are based outside the UK and hasn’t already had a branch and/or subsidiary in the UK before. You must have been recruited from overseas.
You will be allowed to enter as a senior employee having the authority to take vital decisions for the overseas firm. You will be expected to establish and run a registered branch or wholly-owned subsidiary of that overseas firm in the UK.
It would be anticipated that you will work full-time as a representative for that firm.
You are not allowed to be a majority shareholder for that firm
You are not allowed to use public funds to support and accommodate yourself and your dependants.
You will be expected to respect the above terms at all times.

Go to your nearest British overseas mission as they can give you all the information your need about the documents required for an application.

Teachers and language assistants coming to the UK under approved exchange schemes

The Department for Education and Employment (DFEE) or the Central Bureau for Education Visits and Exchanges or the League for the Exchange of Commonwealth Teachers will have to approve or administer the scheme under which you intend to come to work in a UK educational establishment.
You will be expected to leave the UK when your exchange period ends.
You have to respect the above terms at all times.
You are not allowed to use public funds to support and accommodate yourself and your dependants.

A “certificate of appointment” will ordinarily be issued by one of the above mentioned bodies; stating where you have been appointed, for which length of time and your personal details. You will be asked for this certificate by the entry clearance officer, providing their satisfied you will be allowed access into the UK.

More information for teachers:
Teaching in the Arts
Skills Shortage areas in teaching

Writers, composers and artists

The work you have done had to be published (not only in newspapers and magazines), performed or exhibited for its literary, musical and/or artistic merit and must be primarily original. You must be well established outside the UK.
You can work as a self-employed writer, composer or artist
You need to be able to prove that you have supported and accommodated yourself and your dependants only by the means of your artistic work in the last year.
You are not allowed to use public funds to support and accommodate yourself and your dependants

By way of writer we mean:

Essayists
Playwrights
Authors
Poets
Journalists established as literary figures, whose work have been published in book form for instance.

You will need to have a work permit if you don’t qualify for any of the above mentioned.

Composers:
If you’re performing someone else’s music or performing as part of a band, you will need to have a permit for this. You can still be regarded as a composer.

By artist we mean:

Cartoonist and illustrators whose work had been published or exhibited for its artistic merits.
Painters.
Photographers of international artistic standing.
Sculptor.

If it the case that you are not wishing to establish yourself in the UK, but are willing to exhibit and /or sell your work, you qualify for the category.

If you are:

An architect
A craftsman
A designer

You will only qualify if your work has been published or exhibited on its own merits.

Dependants of all the above categories:

Your spouse and/or children who are under 18 may be admitted to the UK provided they obtain an entry clearance.
Your dependants can apply for entry clearance as shown bellow. They will than be asked to provide proof that they will be supported and accommodated by you for the duration of time that they are in the UK.

If it is the case that you are already based in the UK, you must provide a copy of the pages of your passport showing your admission and your personal details, this will help your dependants obtain clearance from the entry clearance officer.