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New immigration fees from 6 April 2011
Following Parliamentary approval, new immigration fees will be introduced from Wednesday 6 April 2011 for foreign nationals applying to visit, study, work or settle in the UK, and for employers and education providers applying for a sponsor licence. If you are making an application on or after 6 April 2011, please ensure that you enclose the correct fee. UKBA will return any applications where an incorrect fee is paid. You can find a list of all the new fees in the UKBA Fees for our services page.
Worker Registration Scheme
The Worker Registration Scheme closed on 30 April 2011. If you are a national of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia or Slovenia (A8 national ) you do not need to obtain our permission before you can work in the UK. Following the closure of the scheme, you do not need to apply for any mandatory documents in order to show your right of residence in the UK. However, employers will need to see evidence of your nationality. UKBA will be amending our guidance for employers, to show that there are no restrictions placed on A8 nationals' employment. Like other European nationals, you can apply for a registration certificate under the 2006 EEA Regulations. This will confirm that you are exercising a Treaty right as a worker. However, you can work legally if you do not have a registration certificate. If you have spent any time in the UK under the Worker Registration Scheme, this will count towards your qualifying period for permanent residence. However, if you did not register your employment in the UK during the period of the scheme (1 May 2004 to 1 May 2011), this will not count towards your qualifying period for permanent residence.
Applications
If you posted an application to the Worker Registration Scheme on or after 1 May 2011, UKBA will not accept it. They will return your application form, application fee and supporting documents to you, and will not issue a registration card or certificate to you. If you started your employment after 1 April 2011, you did not need to register under the Worker Registration Scheme. However, if you applied to the scheme between 1 April and 1 May 2011, UKBA will process your application in line with the current rules.
Family members of A8 nationals
If you have a family member who is a national of Bulgaria or Romania, they should not use application form BR7 to apply for a registration certificate. Instead, they should apply using application form EEA1 as the family member of an EEA national. The UKBA “How to apply for residence documents” page contains more information.
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