Terms & Conditions

[Anonymous]

I have an A8 national who we were paying from Nov’07 as she was employment but when she changed jobs in Oct’08 we asked for evidence that she had completed 12 months under WRS (we had never asked for proof before!).

She replied that she did not need to register with the Home Office as she was here before 2003 with a ‘legal’ visa and that she was automatically registered.

The Accession (Immigration and Worker Registration) Regulations 2004 states that “A national of a relevant accession State is not an accession State worker requiring registration if on 30th April 2004 he had leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom under the 1971 Act and that leave was not subject to any condition restricting his employment”

The claimant has a UK Entry Clearance visa to join spouse valid from 11/9/03 to 03/07/04 with a no recourse to public funds restriction. According to Simon Cox entry clearance is “wrongly used to describe leave to enter/remain”.

Does this mean that my A8 national did not have leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom under the 1971 Act and therefore is still required to register under the WRS?

Incidentally she is now a company director – can that be registered under WRS?

Hoping someone out there can answer this

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

I think Simon’s distinction between an entry clearance visa and leave to enter/remain is a lawyer’s distinction.

I believe that strictly speaking a visa is a document or stamp or sticker that allows you to pass through immigration at the port of entry, while technically leave to enter or remain is a right or status that could be granted by way of some other document.

In reality though if you are a person who needs leave to enter/remain you will not have a visa unless you also have leave to enter/remain: it is your leave to enter/remain that entitles you to the visa. And what is more, the terms of your leave to enter/remain are usually shown on the visa anyway. You can see this in your claimant’s visa: no recourse to public funds makes no sense for entry clearance purposes, you cannot claim benefits in an airport or a ferry terminal. No recourse is actually a condition attached to the person’s leave to be in the UK. So it proves that she had leave at that time. If there was no condition restricting or prohibiting employment, she is right that she did not need to register.

[Anonymous]

Thanks, Peter.

I had decided last week that she did not need to register her work but then panicked when I read up on entry clearance visas today!

[Author]

Posts