The UK imposes new regulations on “Frontier Workers”. A work permit named “Frontier Work Permit for EU Citizens” has been recently introduced. The new work permit will be valid for 5 years and it is free of cost to apply for it. If you are an EU, EEA, or Swiss citizen, employed or self-employed in the UK, but not primarily resident of the UK, you are a Frontier Worker (also known as a cross-border traveler).
A Frontier Worker is an EU resident who works or is self-employed in the UK but lives elsewhere. If you are a border worker and were working in the UK on or before 31 December 2020, you can still enter the UK for work. However, you must obtain a Frontier Worker Permit to enter the UK for work from 1 July 2021.
Frontier work permit scheme
On December 10, 2020, the government launched the Frontier Worker Permit Scheme. If you have been working in the UK with Frontier Worker Status before 31 December 2020, you will be able to apply for a Frontier Worker Permit. Applications are free, and you do not need to pay an immigration health surcharge either. You may have to pay to submit your biometric information (photos, and/or fingerprints).
You will not be considered primarily a resident of the UK if you can prove at a particular time:
- That you have been in the United Kingdom for less than 180 days in the 12 months before you applied.
- Or you have returned to your country of residence at least once in the last 6 months, or twice in the last 12 months, before applying, unless there are good reasons not to.
If you are an Irish citizen, your rights are protected under the Common Travel Area and you do not need to apply for a border worker’s permit, but you can if you wish. You apply on the official website of the UK Border and Immigration (GOV.UK). There is no fee for the application. You can apply at any time, the application time is unlimited, but you are required to hold a legitimate frontier work permit and a valid passport or national ID to move to the UK as a frontier worker from 1 July 2021. Until then you can continue entering the UK as a frontier worker using your passport or National Identity card.
How and when to apply for your Frontier Worker Permit?
You must submit your application online. When you have applied, you will be told if you need to attend an appointment at the Visa Application Centre, or at the UK Visa and Citizenship Application Service (UKVCAS) point. Generally, you will not need an appointment if you can use the smartphone app and get a passport or ID card with a biometric chip.
Eligibility criteria
If you are looking to apply for a frontier worker permit you will be required to convince the UK visas and immigration officer that:
- You are an EEA, EU, or Swiss citizen
- You live outside the UK and you began working in the UK on or before 31 December 2020 and continued to work
- If you have been unemployed for a long time in the UK, or you are unemployed when you apply for a permit, this may affect your eligibility.
- Your frontier work permit is valid for 5 years.
- In case if you are on maternity or paternity leave when you apply you will return to your previous job or find another employment at the end of this time.
Applying with retained frontier worker status
In specific cases, you may be eligible to apply with retained frontier worker status where your permit will expire after months. You can fulfill the needs to retain your status if you have previously been a frontier worker in the United Kingdom and one of the given below applies:
- you are ill or you had an accident or due to pandemic travel limitations, you are unable to do a job
- You were doing a job in the UK, but are currently involuntarily jobless, you are searching for a new job in the UK
- You are in vocational training while you are involuntarily unemployed
- You are in vocational training while unemployed, and the training is related to the work you did in your previous job
- You are unable to work temporarily due to pregnancy or childbirth
In case you have done a job in the UK less than 12 months prior to becoming jobless, you can only retain your worker status as someone who is searching for a job for 6 months. EU, EEA, or Swiss residents who need to start frontier working in the UK after 31 December 2020 are required to apply under the UK’s point-based immigration system.
Basic conditions for living outside the UK.
For a frontier work permit in the UK, the first condition is that your primary residence is outside the UK. Other requirements depend on how much time you lived here since 1 January 2020. If you lived less than 6 months in the UK over the course of this 1-year session and if in any 1 year, you have spent 180 days in the UK, you can still be qualified if even if you returned to the country you stay in minimum either once every 6 months or twice in that 1-year session. In some exceptional cases, if you did not travel to your primary residence during this session for example illness or accident you can still qualify.
Conditions for a job in the United Kingdom
Conditions for the job in the United Kingdom are as follows:
- Started working in the UK on or before 31 December 2020 as an employed or self-employed individual.
- Continued to be employed or self-employed in the UK and have come to the UK to work at least once every 12 months since then, or to meet the requirements for maintaining my status as a worker or self-employed person
- Performed ‘real and effective work in the UK.
Application process
You will apply online the application process for a frontier work permit is as follows:
- In the first stage, the applicant will confirm his identification and contact. You will use the UK Immigration: ID Check app to confirm your identity. You will be required to enter your contact preferences and scan your passport. If you do not want to apply online you can visit a visa application center to verify your identification. You may need to pay for this service.
- In the second stage, you will fill out the application forms. You will be required to enter your personal information. In addition, you will enter the period you live in the UK and causes for retaining your work or self-employed person status (if related). You will also need to fill out a criminality check.
- In the third stage, you are required to fill in details of your job or self-employment history in the United Kingdom for example contracts, invoices, and payslips related to jobs carried out in the UK. In case you are participating in this scheme as the person who has or had retained status, you will need to prove your reason for not working in the UK, for example, a letter from your GP or proof of enrolment on a training course
Your frontier worker permit
If your application is successfully approved, you will receive a digital frontier work permit. If you do not confirm your identification via the app, the authorities will either:
- send a physical version of the permit if you applied inside the UK
- send an email with details of how you may come to the UK and collect your application outside the UK
In case of refusal, you will be sent an email with reasons why your application is refused. If your application is successful, you can continue to use your license as long as you meet the definition of a border worker and come to the UK for work and your license remains valid. You will also have the right to access in the UK the benefits and services that you had access to from the EU before you left the EU, provided you meet the eligibility requirements. You can change jobs and move from a job in the UK until you tell the Home Office as a border worker. If you have a period of unemployment in the UK, or you are unemployed when you apply for a permit, this may affect your eligibility. However, you need to notify the Home Office if you quit working in the UK and do not meet a set of standards.
Renew your permit
The candidate will be required to renew his frontier worker permit every 5 years, or every two years if he applied with a retained worker status. As an applicant, you will need to demonstrate that you continued to fulfill the eligibility and suitability needs over the period since you previously applied. You will require a frontier worker permit when entering the UK as a frontier worker permit from 1 July 21.