Frontier Work Permit for EU Citizens Guide 2023

This Frontier worker permit for EU citizens guide will cover:

• Eligibility

• What the Frontier worker permit allows you to do

• Applying with retained frontier worker status

• Requirements for living outside the UK

• Requirements for working in the UK

• Frontier worker permit fees

• How to apply

• Your frontier worker permit

• Renewing your permit

• Not worked in the UK by 31 December 2020?

Eligibility

You can apply for a frontier worker permit if you’re from the EU and you:

• live outside the UK

• started working in the UK on or before 31 December 2020 and continue to work here

If you are an Irish citizen your rights are protected under the Common Travel Area and you do not need to apply for a frontier worker permit, but you can if you want to.

You cannot apply if you’re a British citizen (this includes dual citizenship).

You will need to hold a valid frontier worker permit, as well as your valid passport or national identity card, to enter the UK as a frontier worker from 1 July 2021.

What the Frontier worker permit allows you to do

Your permit allows you to enter the UK as a frontier worker.

It proves your right to access benefits and services, including NHS healthcare, if you meet the relevant eligibility requirements.

If you have a digital version of your permit you can also use this to prove your right to work or rent.

If you have a physical permit, you must prove your right to work and prove your right to rent online.

Applying with retained frontier worker status

In certain circumstances you may be eligible to apply with ‘retained’ frontier worker status where your permit will last for 2 years. You may meet the requirements to retain your status if you’ve previously been a frontier worker in the UK and one of the following applies:

• you’re temporarily unable to work because of an illness or accident, or due to COVID-19 travel restrictions

• you were working in the UK but are now involuntarily unemployed, and are looking for work in the UK

• you’re in vocational training while involuntarily unemployed

• you’re in vocational training while unemployed, and the training is related to the work you carried out in your previous work

• you’re temporarily unable to work as a result of pregnancy or childbirth

If you’ve worked in the UK for less than one year before becoming involuntarily unemployed, you can only retain your worker status as someone who is looking for work, for 6 months. EU, EEA or Swiss citizens who want to begin frontier working in the UK after 31 December 2020 need to apply under the UK’s points‑based immigration system.

Requirements for living outside the UK

You must not be ‘primarily’ resident in the UK. How you achieve this criteria is determined by the amount of time you've spent in the UK since January 1, 2020. You'll be eligible if you spent less than 180 days overall in the UK during a 12-month period.

If you spent 180 days or more in the UK in any 12-month period, you will still be eligible if you returned to your home country at least once every 6 months or twice in that 12-month period.

You can still apply if you have a valid cause for not visiting your primary residence during this time, such as illness or an accident.

Requirements for working in the UK

You must have:

• started working in the UK while living elsewhere on or before 31 December 2020, either as an employed or self-employed person

• continued to be an employed or self-employed person in the UK and have come to the UK to work at least once every 12 months since then, or meet the requirements to retain your worker or self-employed person status

• carried out ‘genuine and effective’ work in the UK

Frontier worker permit fees

There are no fee to apply for the frontier worker permit, and you do not have to pay the immigration health surcharge. You may have to pay to submit your biometric information (photograph or fingerprints).

How to apply

You must apply online at GOV.UK. Applications are free of charge.

There are three steps to the application process:

1. Confirm your identity and contact The application form is accessible by computer, tablet or smartphone. You can use the UK Immigration: ID Check app to verify your identity. You will need to enter your contact preferences and scan your passport. You can use someone else’s phone to prove your identity. If you are unable to use the app, you will need to attend a visa application centre to verify your identity. You may need to pay for this service where it is provided by a commercial partner.

2. Prepare your application You will need to enter your personal details, including time spent in the UK, details about your work in the UK, and reasons for retaining your worker or self-employed person status (if relevant). You must also complete a criminality check.

3. Provide evidence and submit your application You will need to include details of your employment or self-employment history in the UK, such as contracts, and payslips or invoices relating to work carried out in the UK. If you are applying as someone who has, or had, retained status, you will need to provide proof of your reason for not working in the UK, such as a letter from your GP or proof of enrolment on a training course.

You can cancel your application if required.

Your frontier worker permit

If your application is successful and you verified your identity using the UK Immigration: ID check app, you’ll be issued with a digital frontier worker permit.

If you did not verify your identity through the app, you will either:

• be sent a physical version of the permit if you applied inside the UK

• be sent an email explaining how you can come to the UK and collect your permit if you applied outside the UK

If your application is unsuccessful, you’ll get a decision notice explaining why your application was refused.

If your application is approved, you can continue to use your permission and come to the UK for work as long as you fulfil the description of a frontier worker and your permit is valid. You will also be able to receive benefits and services in the UK that you had before the UK left the EU, assuming you meet the appropriate eligibility requirements.

You’ll usually have to pay tax on your UK income and you may have to pay UK National Insurance contributions in the UK.

As long as you remain a frontier worker, you can change occupations and transition from being employed to self-employed in the UK without notifying the Home Office.

If you experience periods of unemployment in the UK, or if you are unemployed when you apply for the frontier worker permit, your eligibility may be affected.

However, you need to tell the Home Office if you stop working in the UK and do not meet one of the retained status criteria.

Renewing your permit

You will need to renew your frontier worker permit every 5 years, or every 2 years if you applied with a retained worker status. When you renew your permit, you’ll need to show that you continued to meet the eligibility and suitability requirements over the period of time since you last applied.

If you have not worked in the UK by 31 December 2020

If you want to work in the UK from 1 January 2021 onwards, and were not working here before, you’ll need to apply for a visa.

The visa you’ll need depends on the type of work and how long you want to come for. Check which type of visa you’ll need.

You do not need a visa if you’re a British or Irish citizen.