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:
- You’re from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein
- You live outside of the UK
- You have worked in the UK by 31 December 2020
- You have kept working in the UK at least once every 12 months since you started working here
What the permit allows you to do:
- work
- rent
- access benefits and services, including NHS healthcare, if you meet the relevant eligibility requirements
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:
Who can apply
- live outside the UK
- have worked in the UK by 31 December 2020
- have kept working in the UK at least once every 12 months since you started working here
Living outside the UK
If you’ve spent 180 days or more in the UK within 12 months:
- once every 6 months
- twice in the 12 month period
Working in the UK
- started working in the UK while living elsewhere on or before 31 December 2020, either as an employed or self-employed person
- come to the UK to work at least once every 12 months since then
- an interview
- taking part in a one-off competition or audition
- signing a contract
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
If there has been a 12 month period where you’ve not come to the UK to work, you might still be eligible.
You must have worked in the UK, while living elsewhere, by 31 December 2020. During the 12 month period you were not working, you must have been:
- temporarily unable to work because of an illness or accident
- temporarily unable to work because you were pregnant or had given birth
- involuntarily unemployed, and either looking for work or doing vocational training
- voluntarily unemployed and doing vocational training related to your last occupation
- unable to come to the UK and work because of coronavirus (COVID-19)
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:
- an employment contract, or contracts to work in the UK
- payslips, or copies of invoices for work carried out in the UK
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:
- a physical version of the permit (if you applied inside the UK)
- an email explaining how you can come to the UK and collect your permit (if you applied outside the UK)
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.