The Home Office are introducing a number of changes in the next
two months that you as employers need to be aware of. The earliest changes affect those already in the UK who
require a work permit or a work permit extension, and effectively increase the administrative burden. The
changes being introduced in May will affect every new recruit that you take on, and you will need to ensure
your recruitment processes are modified accordingly.
The key dates and changes are summarised below. If you require any further information or clarification please
contact us.
1 April 2004 - In-country applications for work permits and extensions become a
2-stage process.
Under current practice, when an employer successfully makes a work permit or extension application, limited
leave to remain is given by the Home Office to the employee, passports are endorsed at the same time and no
separate application is required.
From 1 April 2004 the process is changing. Once the work permit or extension is approved individuals will
have to make a separate application for leave to remain in the UK. The new form the individual has to complete
is an FLR (IED) and the Home Office processing fee will be £121 (unless the individual is exempt*).
The FLR (IED) includes the individual and any accompanying family members. All passports need to be submitted
to the Home Office, and the application can only be made by post. The Home Office expect to turn the application
and accompanying passports around in 5 days, but this may be optimistic. We can only wait and see.
Although the FLR (IED) is an individual application you are responsible for ensuring that your employees
comply within 4 weeks of the granting of work permit approval. Without approval they are not permitted to
commence or continue work with you. If you allow them to do so you may be guilty of a criminal offence.
The changes apply equally to permits issued under the Training & Work Experience and Sector Based schemes.
In practice there will be no change to the process for in-country Highly Skilled Migrants or Seasonal Agricultural
Workers as a limited leave to remain form is already completed in these cases. Only the form number will change.
Please note that the FLR (IED) part of the process only applies to individuals already in the UK. It does not
apply to out-of-country applications, as these individuals already have to apply for entry clearance at a British
Diplomatic Post overseas once the work permit is approved.
(*Exemption from charging applies to citizens of the 10 European Union accession countries (see below)
plus Moldova, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey)
1 May 2004 - Ten countries join the European Union. As an employer, what do you have to do
if you want to employ someone from one of those countries?
From 1 May 2004 citizens of all ten accession countries* will be free to live and work in the UK. However,
the Government has decided that it requires nationals of eight of those countries to register with the Home
Office if they do take up work on or after the accession date. Only Malta and Cyprus are free from registration
requirements.
If you hire a national of any of the eight registration countries, on or after 1 May 2004, you will need to make
sure that they register with the Home Office. They must do so within 1 month of starting work with you. On successful
registration the Home Office will issue a certificate to the individual and to you, the employer. You need to retain
this certificate on the individual's personnel file.
If your employee does not register and you continue to employ them you may be guilty of a criminal offence and
face a penalty of up to £5,000.
(*Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia)
1 May 2004 - Changes to the law on preventing illegal working.
As you are already aware, under existing legislation employers are required to check basic documents for
all potential new employees, to ensure they have the right to work in the UK. Discovery of an illegal worker,
where checks have not been carried out, may lead to prosecution and a fine on the employer of up to £5,000 per
illegal worker.
From 1 May 2004 the types of documents you need to check are being changed. The changes are being introduced
to combat use of forged or false documents, and to tighten controls on illegal working. See the
appendix of the documents you can use from 1 May 2004 to establish your defence under the law.
End of employment.
Don’t forget that you are now required to advise the Home Office if a work permit holder you employ
terminates employment before expiry of the work permit, or if the work permit employment is never taken up.
To advise the Home Office complete form NPEE, found on the Home Office
website.
Can Coppergate help you?
For further clarification or assistance on any of these matters please contact us.
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