Live-In Carers

Eligibility to work in the UK - Caring & Working Holiday

If you are not yet in the UK, and wondering what you need to bring with you, here’s a quick general list:

1. Passport
2. Driving licence
3. Marriage certificate (if applicable)
4. Police conduct certificate
5. 2 references with a phone number, email and fax
6. An updated Curriculum Vitae
7. 2 passport size photos

(Please make two photocopies of each in advance)

For people who have lived all their lives overseas some agencies will accept a police clearance certificate from home pending the 2 to 5 weeks it takes for the disclosure to come through, so please obtain one before leaving home.  Australians, New Zealanders and South Africans can download the relevant application forms from the following websites: 
www.afp.gov.au        
www.police.govt.nz        
www.saps.org.za

Visas

You can apply for a visa at your nearest British Mission (British High Commission, Embassy or Consulate). For more information, a list of British missions and to find out if you need a visa visit The Foreign and Commonwealth Office. (http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/)

Ancestry visa

An ancestry visa allows you to work in UK if a parent or grandparent was born in the British Isles.

Worker Registration Scheme (WRS - 8 EU members)

This scheme was introduced in 2004 and applies to newly joined EU members except Malta and Cyprus. If you are a national of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia or Slovenia and want to work for one month or more for a United Kingdom employer you must register under the WRS. Once you have been working legally in the United Kingdom for 12 months (without a break) you will have full rights of free movement and will no longer need to register on the WRS. You can then get a registration certificate confirming your right to live and work in the United Kingdom, although you are not obliged to do so.

Cost for registration is £90 + £5 postage and it is mandatory.

Bulgarian and Romanian nationals

If you are a Bulgarian or Romanian national you are free to come to the United Kingdom to live. You will need to be able to support yourself and your family in the United Kingdom without the help of public funds.
If you want to work as an employee in the United Kingdom you will need permission (from Home office) before you start work. Details of the type of work you can take and how to apply for permission to work can be found: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/workingintheuk/eea/bulgariaromania/

Once you have been working legally as an employee in the United Kingdom for 12 months (without a break) you will have full rights of free movement and will no longer need permission to take work. You can then get a registration certificate confirming your right to live and work in the United Kingdom, although you are not obliged to do so. You do not need permission if you are working in a self-employed capacity. However, you can apply for a registration certificate to confirm your right to work as a self-employed person in the United Kingdom if you wish. You will be issued with a Yellow, Blue or Purple Card/Certificate.

Working holidaymaker visa (Please note as from Autumn 2008, this visa is changing. Click HERE for more information.)

If you are a citizen of South Africa, New Zealand, Australia or another Commonwealth country you may be able to get a working holidaymaker visa that gives you the right to work in the U.K. for up to two years.

In order to qualify as a working holidaymaker, you must fulfil all of the following criteria:

• You are a Commonwealth citizen, British Dependent Territories citizen or British Overseas citizen;
• You are seeking entry for an extended holiday;
• You are under the age of 30;
• You are unmarried or married to a person who at the same time qualifies for entry as a working holidaymaker and you intend to take the holiday together;
• You do not have any children who are 5 years of age or over, or who will reach 5 years of age before you complete your holiday;
• You are able to support and accommodate yourself without recourse to public funds;
• You have the means to pay for your onward journey
• You intend to leave the United Kingdom on completion of your holiday, and
• Leisure time will make up a significant proportion of your stay.

Highly Skilled Migrant visa

Highly Skilled Migrant visas may be available to degree-qualified nurses.

Student visa

We regret that we are not able to offer full time care work to holders of student visas.

Other rights to work

You should also have the right to work if you have 'Right of Abode', 'Indefinite Leave', or have been granted asylum.

Work Permits UK / Sponsored Work Permits

Work Permits UK usually issues work permits only for jobs requiring people with degree level professional qualifications, people who work at a senior level, or for areas in which there is a particular skills shortage. Work permit applications can only be made by a UK employer who has a specific 'permanent' job to offer a named person. We regret that our temporary and/or self-employed work will not entitle people to get a work permit who do not otherwise have the right to work in this country and that we cannot offer work to people who have a work permit in the name of another employer.