Citizens of Bulgaria and Romania .... from 01.01.07

[Gina_C]

I have also heard that you would lose the previous years so it may just be worth you applying for the extension as you only have 12 months left before you qualify for residency. If you want to get some assistance from a more impartial source, it may be worth visiting your Citizens Advice Bureau as when we contacted the home office and the jobcentre about entitlement etc, none of them were very clear and even the advice given that did make sense contradicted the advice give by the other agency.

[intgral]

Can you become self-employed? Yes, now permitted, and as stated above, a Registration Card is recommended but not essential.

However! If you become self-employed you will be exercising your Treaty Rights in the UK. In other words you will have switched to the EU/EEA route, and the bad news is that your ILR clock will be reset.

Up to 29.04.06 it was the case that time spent legally working in the UK by an A8 national prior to their A8 country joining the EU/EEA on 01.05.04 could count towards the 4 or 5 year clock .... even if the person switched to the EU/EEA on or after 01.05.04. However the EU regulations changed on 30.04.06 and from that date, and you could argue retrospectively, they could take account only of time on the EU/EEA route, and not the previous time in the UK on, for example, a WP.

So I think it is clear BadPaul, if you do start exercising your Treaty Rights that you have newly acquired you cannot take account of the earlier time on a WP, in order to get to the 5 year mark.

Accordingly you might be minded to wait until September before making your move.

John,

Your statement above, if accurate, is highly important for a number of BG and RO citizens. Do you have any links that would provide more clarity around this?

Thank you.

[vinny]

See here.

[intgral]

Vinny,

Following a link you previously posted on a decision by the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal, a continuous legality and employment in the UK is sufficient and exhaustive information to provide approval grounds for the ILR. Link here.

I would like to know if anyone see it differently after reading the case.

Thank you.

[rodna06]

Hello,

I have applied for ILR in july 2007 when my leave to remain expired after 4 and a half years in UK. The HO send me back all the documents and said that I should apply in July 2008 when after 5 years in UK. I have applied and got a refusal on the grounds of my share profits not beeing able to support my dependant( my husband who is working full time and is able to support himself) and another reason beeing that I did not apply for ILR at the end of my leave to remain period- which I did. On the refusal letter it says that there is no right of appeal against this decision, but I can continue to work as before and stay in this country.

Can anyone advise me what to do next? Can I appeal against the decision and apply for ILR again? Should I apply for a work permit? I really do not know what to do.

Thank you for your responses!

[intgral]

File a new application.
Take a look at the BR2 and see if the 12 month employment rule applies to you.
Ensure that you respect all the points in the app.

Good luck.

[neon23]

HI,

I am from Bulgaria, and have been issued a yellow student registration certificate. Now, I have graduated and will apply for a blue one. On the form BR2, they ask for a Home Office reference number. I clearly have such, but where can I find it on my yellow registration certificate. I do not keep the one page letter they have sent me along with the student certificate.

Thanks.

[matt]

HI, i feel im in the right area here with this question and i hope somebody can shed some light on this for me.
My Girlfriend is Bulgarian and came to the UK to live with me about 7 months ago, after the long hard drawn battle to gain her employment we eventually realised it basically impossible for bulgairans/romanians to gain employment unless its a highly skilled job. (after all the BR1 forms and everything) so....
shes returned to BG for a couple of months, but because our relationship is strong and we want to be together i want to know how easy is the process if i marry her in a registry office in order for her to gain uk citizenship and then obtain a NI number and the right to work in the UK, i think this is the only possibility and im sure there or other people out there thats gone through the same as we have with no advice or help!
Matt

[petkanov]

Actually its not as hard as it seems.

1st, she doesn't need British citizenship to have National Insurance Number.

If you marry her, she needs to fill form BR1, its free and in a few weeks she will receive blue registration certificate that will give her unlimited right work in the UK.

The other way, is to enroll in an NVQ course, apply for an yellow registration student certificate again on form BR1 (its free). That will give her the right to work 20 hours a week. After 1 year, submit payslips with BR1 and will get blue registration certificate with unlimited right to work in the UK.

The other way, is to work as a freelancer, no restrictions there.

She can even move to the UK and just live here without doing any of the above if she doesn't want to work.

[matt]

Thanks for the reply Petkanov.
so you said she doesnt need british citizenship to get a NI number, so how is it possible to get a worker assesion card & NI number without marriage or a student visa?... (highly skilled or food production jobs?)
so basically she just needs a blue registration certificate and that will give her the right to work in the uk, and to get that certificate we need to get married? will she need any documents from BG? Ive also been told after we marry we need to go to the dept of justice to get 'stamp 4' form?

[petkanov]

I will tell you how a friend of mine got it. Basically, register as a self employed at HMRC. Call the NI hotline and schedule an appointment for a National Insurance number. Go to the interview. Usually, you need to bring a few invoices, lets say she is self employed cleaner. She needs to write a few invoices from houses she has cleaned. If she goes that route, she doesn't need anything from the home office at all.

I think worker accession card is the harder way to go. The easiest is submit marriage certificate with BR1, and she is set. The other way is as I said as a student, she gets 20 hours a week, and after a year will get blue certificate with unlimited right to work. I have never heard about any stamps, but you need to check at the registrar office what you need to both submit to marry. You marry and that will do. Keep in mind that she has the right to just move here without getting any certificates or documents from immigration, but then she can only be self employed. So to summarize, the easiest route for unlimited right to work here is:
1. Marry her.

If not,

enroll to study.

After she has lived in the UK for 5 years, she automatically becomes permanent resident without even applying for it. One more year after that, she can apply for British Citizenship, eventhough that would be pointless because as an EU citizen she can live here anyway.

[Romanian_HSMP]

I’m a Romanian passport holder and I came in UK at the end of Aug 2005 with HSMP visa.

After one year - August 2006 – I applied for the visa extension (FLR) which is valid until Aug 2010.

Meantime in Jan 2007 Romania joined EU and EEA (some restriction still apply to Bulgarian and Romanian citizens).

Apr 2009 HSMP ILR Judicial Review which will allow me to apply for ILR after 4 years (Aug 2009).


When the HSMP visa was issued in 2005 or the FLR in 2006 I was not charged by the HO due to the fact that Romania was part of some European agreement (I think was “Council of Europe Social Charter (CESC)â€

[matt]

Hello again,

Im looking at the uk border agency website with information on the different forms for Bulgarians working in the uk.

So after we get married, I just have to complete the BR1 form, ( section 6 mainly) but it doesnt say you have to send the marriage certificate, just write what dates you got married etc.
I just want to know, after i send this form off, what will we recieve? will it be a cerificate to say she can now legally work anywhere in the uk with no restrictions? and will i have to wait for that certificate untill i can arrange an appointment for a National Insurance number.
Any idea how long all this process usually takes?
I need to reasure my partner becuase shes really afraid to come back again to the same crisis we had before.
Thanks

[ms100]

Hi, I'm wondering if you could help with some advice. I was offered a job by a UK company, but the actual work will take place in another country right from the start. So I will not have residence and not actually work in the UK. Would I need a UK permit to make it legal?

[NiyaVatkova]

It all depends on the specifics of your job, if it is a British company but the job is based abroad, the contract states that they employ you to work in another country for their company you do not need to have a permit to work in the UK as you are in fact not working there. However, if the contract stipulates that they are employing you in the UK but sending you abroad on a job you do need a work permit.

[x]

hi,

I am a romanian student in the uk. I want to apply for the student yellow card. however, it takes a week for my bank to send me the bank statement and i need the yellow card as soon as possible. can someone tell me if there is any problem if i declare a friend is supporting me and i send his bank statement? also, how should the letter in which he acknowledges he supports me look like? Is there a fixed form?

I would be really grateful if you could answer these for me.

[NiyaVatkova]

In order to get the card the Home Office would like to see your account details, it is unlikely your application will be successful if you send your friend's. If you go into a branch you can get a printout statement,most banks would be able to help you on the spot.

[JJPetrov]

Hi, I am bulgarian national, university student in Scotland. I just recently send my documents for 'yellow card', just in the begingin of october. But I noticed that the Border Agency are currently reviewing documents send on the 26 august, which means that it will take ages until they start to review for october.

So I think I need to act quick on this, and find me other options for obtainting some sort of documents that will alow me to work legally and support myself. I have some friends who are selfemployed and have businesses in contruction.

Could they help me get a self emplyed status, without wotrking with them? Can I work jobs that are variating in their nature with self employed?

I know some of the questions might be confusing...but I realy nead to do something as until Xmas I will be vegetating if I dont work!:X Thanks for any help!!

[Romaniac]

Restrictions can be applied for a country for up to 4 years after joining EU. In january 2011 there will be 4 years. Dear HO, what are you going to do next? Btw I've got the Blue Card, I do not care about your decisions

[John]

Romaniac, are you sure about that? The source of your information?

[John]

Read this webpage ..... click here .... where it will be seen that the transitional period will be at least 5 years, and possibly up to 7 years long.

As Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU on 01.01.07, this means that the transitional period will not end before 01.01.2012, but will definitely end no later than 01.01.2014.

[koffeina]

Hi there,

I have searched the whole internet about information on the Blue card, and everybody is saying something different..I don't know what to do or believe or expect any more.
My issue:

I have been an Au Pair for 12 months, had my purple card (Accession Worker card) and now I have applied for the Blue card. The thing is, that I have applied on the 14th of march 2011 and we are on the 3rd of april today and no sign from them..even worse, on their website they say they are only dealing with the applications from the 5th of january, so buy the time they will get to 14th of march, i will have grown grey hair!!

You might realise by now how desperate I am, because I can't find a JOB UNLESS I have the blue card. At the moment I am stuck. All my papers (passport, accesion worker card) have been posted to the Home office, and I have no prove I to that other than the receipt from the Post Office.
Questions:
How can I prove that my application is in progress (to a future employer)
How can I speed up the progress
How can I find info about the progress of my application (they won't give info unless there have been 6 months!!!) A person can die 10 times in 6 months

Sorry for being so dramatic, but I am really pissed off and this seems to be the right place to ask for some info...I would just like to hear from people in the same situation as me, how they dealt with it and just make an idea how long I am supposed to wait for the blue card...

My apology is I didn't write the subject where I was supposed to. It's the first time I'm posting on a forum, so you can understand

Thanks in advance for any idea or piece of advice!

Cheers to you all!
P.S: forgot to mention I am a Romanian citizen.

[mate123]

Hi,
I'm posting this on behalf of my Romanian friend. she wants to register as self employed but we dont know the process. Any help would be highly appreciated.

[John]

The first thing to say is that your friend has a perfect right to come to the UK and to become self-employed her. No permission is needed for her to start her self-employment in the UK.

However there is a tax requirement, to register the self-employment with HMRC within the first three months of the business, in order to avoid a tax penalty. Part of that will be registering for a NI number, and starting to pay Class 2 NI contributions, which is the class of contributions paid by the self-employed.

Having registered with HMRC, and got proof of that, if she wants to get a Registration Certificate from UKBA then she would submit a form EEA1. But she is not required to do that, if she does not want to, and a lack of Registration Certificate does not stop her exercising Treaty Rights in the UK as a self-employed person.

However submitting a form EEA1 might be helpful in certain circumstances, for example if a family member, such as non-EEA husband, wants to apply for a Residence Card.

[BGpanda]

I;m bulgarian national.Been in uk in a past 9 years.I come here on work permit viza.4years after that i got ILR.Somebody told me that despite that i STILL need one of this color coded cards giving you right to work in UK.Is that true or false.Thank you