A UK Work Permit is a document
issued by Work Permits (UK), a part of the Department
for Education and Employment; it gives your employer
permission to employ you in a specific job at a specific
location.
A UK Work Permit is not a permission for you to take
up work in the UK. The permission for you to enter
and work in the UK isconferred by a UK Immigration
or Consular officer who, following the issue of a
Work Permit, may issue you with a suitable visa. The
visa is an endorsement stamped in your passport.
Even if you are already working in the UK on a Work
Permit, if you want to move to another job, your new
(prospective) employer must obtain a new Work Permit
before you can change jobs.
Work Permit Duration
The length of the work permit you obtain will depend
on a number of factors which are normally more related
to your employer and your job/project than the strength
of your own candidature. Our general advice is that
you should not worry if you get only a short term permit
as it will normally be possible for it to be extended
if you are still needed by your employer (and if you
are not needed by your employer, you may well be able
to find a new UK employer who can get another permit
for you to stay in the UK).
After 48 months physically in the UK
on a work permit, you will usually be able to obtain
permanent residence. For this reason, it used to be
the case that work permits were not issued for longer
than 4 years. However as many work permit holders need
to travel a lot, permits are now issued for up to 5
years, at the end of which time most people should have
spent the required 48 months in the UK and be able to
get permanent residence.
Start up companies will generally not
be granted work permits of more than 18 months duration;
these permits are extendable, but copies of the first
year's audited accounts will need to accompany the application
for extension.
If you are to work at a client's site,
your work permit will usually be limited to the duration
of the contract existing between your employer and that
client, but if the contract is subsequently extended
an extension of your permit will probably be possible
and easy.
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