Work Permits and immigration employment documents
In a new case, the UK Administrative court decided that a letter from the Home Office granting an application made in the UK (‘in-country’) for an immigration employment document was not a work permit for the purpose of an application made from abroad.
The claimant in R (on the application of Onotota) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2007] EWHC 797 (Admin), 4 April 2007, had entered the UK as a visitor. Whilst in the UK, she undertook a nursing adaptation course, and then applied for a work permit.
In June 2005, she was sent a letter granting her “in-country” application for “an immigration employment document” for a period of 60 months, but advising her that she would need to obtain leave to remain in the UK, and she should make an application for leave as soon as possible, “and in all cases within 6 months from the date of this letter”. She subsequently applied for entry clearance (a visa) from abroad and sought to rely upon this letter as a work permit.
The court found that there were two separate regimes in force for persons seeking consent to work in the UK: one for in-country applications requiring “a valid Home Office Immigration Employment document for employment”; and another for people applying from abroad requiring “a valid work permit”. The claimant’s application failed because the June 2005 letter did not constitute “a valid work permit” for the purpose of an application made from abroad.
In response to an argument by the Secretary of State for the Home Department that the life of immigration employment documents was only 6 months (despite it apparently approving the application for 60 months), the judge also said that it would be prudent for any work permit or any immigration employment document to state clearly and prominently:
(1) whether it can be used for an in-country or for an out-of country application;
(2) what other permission is required before the person concerned can start working; and
(3) the life of the particular document.
No changes to the format of immigration employment documents have yet been announced.
