Frontier Worker Permit Visa

A Frontier Worker permit lets you come to the UK to work while living elsewhere.

​You may be eligible if all of the following apply:

If you’re an Irish citizen, you do not need to apply for a Frontier Worker permit but you can choose to do so. You cannot apply if you’re a British citizen (this includes dual citizenship).

What the permit allows you to do:

You can use your permit to enter the UK as a frontier worker and show your right to:

When and how to apply

If you’re a frontier worker, you’ll need a permit to enter the UK to work from 1 July 2021. You can use your passport or national identity card until then.

You must apply online.

You’ll be told if you’ll also need to go to an appointment at a visa application centre or UK Visa and Citizenship Application Services (UKVCAS) service point.

You will not usually need an appointment if you can use a smartphone app and have a passport or ID card with a biometric chip.

Family members:

Family members are not covered by your Frontier Worker permit.

Who can apply

You can only apply for a Frontier Worker permit if you’re from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein, and you:

Living outside the UK

You must live ‘primarily’ outside of the UK. How you meet this requirement depends on how much time you’ve spent here since 1 January 2020. You’ll be eligible if you’ve spent less than 180 days in total in the UK over the course of any 12 month period.

If you’ve spent 180 days or more in the UK within 12 months:

You’ll still be eligible if, in that 12 month period, you returned to the country you live in at least either:
You’ll still be able to apply if there are exceptional circumstances meaning you could not travel to your country of residence in this period, such as an illness or accident.

Working in the UK

You must have:
You’ll be eligible as long as your work in the UK is ‘genuine and effective’. This means it must be more than small, one-off tasks, such as:

If you’re not sure if your work is eligible, the Home Office has guidance on what counts as genuine and effective work.

If you’ve not worked in the UK during a 12 month period

Documents you’ll need to apply

When you apply you’ll need a valid passport or national identity card.

You’ll be told which documents you need to provide when you apply. Some depend on whether you’re employed or self-employed, for example:

If you have ‘retained’ status, you’ll be asked for evidence for which criteria you meet. For example, a letter from a doctor if you have an illness, or copies of recent job applications if you’re unemployed and seeking work.

The Home Office has more examples of the types of evidence you will be asked for.

If you applied using the ‘UK Immigration: ID check’ app, you’ll be issued a digital version of your permit.

If you do not use the smartphone app to apply, you’ll either be sent:

Your permit will last for 5 years, or 2 years if you apply with ‘retained’ status.

When you’re working in the UK

You’ll usually have to pay tax on your UK income.

You can change jobs or move from being employed to self-employed in the UK without needing to tell the Home Office.

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