» What happens if applications are withdrawn ?

» Paying for work permit
Applications for Business and Commercial, Training and Work Experience, Sportspeople and Entertainers, Sectors Based Scheme, Student Internships and GATS work permits are subject to a charge.

» How much will it cost?

From 2 July 2004 the charge for the consideration of a work permit will be £153. This will apply to all work permit applications including extensions and change of employment applications considered under the Business and Commercial, Sectors Based Scheme, Training and Work Experience, Sportspeople and Entertainers, Student Internship and GATS arrangements.

If your application does not meet the exempt or deferred rules, the payment must accompany the application and the payment slip must be fully and accurately completed. Payment can be made by cheque or by credit or debit card. For a payment to be valid the payment slip should be correctly completed and must include the following details:

» Cheque Payments

Cheques should be made payable to. 'Home Office, Work Permits (UK)'.

All the relevant information must be completed including the account number, the sort code, the cheque number, the payer details, the date, the amount, and the signature.

Where more than one application is submitted and those applications are to be paid for by cheque, the cheques must be attached to the front of the payment slip to avoid cheques being 'missed' amongst a bundle of applications.

» Credit or Debit Card Payments

Such applications should contain the card number, the expiry date, the payer details and signature.

In all cases, whether paid for, deferred or exempt applications, the following instructions should be followed:

» Single Applications

Please complete the whole of Section 1 and the appropriate part of Section 2. Complete Section 3 of the payment slip if you have indicated that the application is to be paid for.

» Multiple Applications

A maximum number of 10 applications can be submitted under the multiple applications category. If more than 10 applications need to be submitted, a separate payment slip will need to be completed and a separate payment made.

If an employer or representative wishes to send one payment to cover a number of applications, only one multiple payment slip and one payment needs to be included up to a maximum of 10 applications. For example:
» Application for 7 employees requires one multiple payment slip plus one payment of £1071.
» Application for 25 employees requires 3 multiple payment slips (2 with 10 employees plus 1 with 5 employees) plus three separate payments of £1530, £1530 and £765.

» The above examples assume that all applications are to be paid for

Sections 4-6 of the payment slip must be appropriately completed and the payment received must cover the total charge for all of the applications submitted. When submitting such applications, please ensure that the completed payment slip and payment are on the top of each batch of applications.

You should note that if the total payment submitted does not cover the cost of all applications contained within the batch, it will not be possible to consider any of the applications. Work Permits (UK) will contact the payer stated on the payment slip to obtain:
» A further payment which will cover the full cost or
» To ask whether the payee wishes any of the applications to be returned without consideration

Only one payment for the total amount should be sent for a multiple application. This should not exceed £1530 and you should not send individual payments.

Section 6 need only be completed if you have indicated that any of the applications are to be paid for.

For both single and multiple applications you must also remember to complete the appropriate charging code box on page 3 of the application form. The deferred box only appears on forms WP1 and WP1X.

» Duplicate Applications

In the event of more than one employer making an application for the same individual, each application will be subject to the standard appropriate charge.

» How and where do I send application forms to?
In order to simplify the validation procedure, please ensure that the application is packaged in the following order:
» Application form with cheque(s) (if applicable) secured to page one
» Covering letter
» Passport(s)
» Supporting documents
If you wish to send several 'single' applications in the same envelope, please ensure that each application is clearly distinguishable from the others, by packaging each one separately.

» Postal Applications

Please post the application form to:

.....» Work Permits (UK)
.....» Home Office
.....»PO Box 551
.....»Heavens Walk
.....»Doncaster Carr
.....»Doncaster
.....»South Yorkshire
.....»DN1 1XU

Please indicate on the envelope which scheme your application is for (i.e. Business and Commercial, Sportspeople and Entertainers, Sectors Based Scheme, etc). If your envelope contains more than one application form, please indicate the number of applications that fall under each scheme.

If your application is sent to our Moorfoot address, this will delay the processing of your application.

» E-mailed Applications

Work Permits (UK) have re-introduced the e-mailed applications facility. Further information about this service is available on this website or by contacting the Customer Relations Team on 0114 259 4074.

»Applications sent by Courier

If you wish to send your application by courier, please send it to:

.....»Work Permits (UK)
.....»Home Office
.....»Heavens Walk
.....»Doncaster Carr
.....»Doncaster
.....»South Yorkshire

» Faxed Applications

The facility to send faxed applications only exists to assist employers in making an urgent application. The process should not be used in place of postal or couriered applications.

Faxed applications should be sent to the Work Permits (UK) Payment Handling Service in Doncaster on 01302 386013. Please do not fax applications to any other number.

In order to ensure delivery to Work Permits (UK), Sheffield by 10am, the faxed application should be sent to the Doncaster number no later than 8.30am. Applications faxed between 8.31am and 1.30pm will be despatched to Work Permits (UK), Sheffield by 3pm. Applications received in Doncaster after 1.31pm will be sent to Work Permits (UK), Sheffield by 10am on the following working day.

The only valid methods of payment acceptable with a faxed application will be debit and credit cards. You must therefore ensure that your debit or credit card details are included on the application form when it is faxed to Doncaster.

You do not need to send the full original copy of the application form following a faxed copy. If this happens, it may create a duplicate record and, because the consideration process has commenced upon receipt of the 'duplicate' application, you may be charged twice. In this instance, we will be unable to make an ex-gratia payment for the fee of the 'duplicate' application.

However, in order to validate an application, we need an original signature from the UK employer and their representative (where one has been used). You should therefore send in the original declaration pages from the application form to the relevant business team (as outlined in the general guidance notes). These pages should be marked with the surname, first name(s) and DOB of the overseas national. The pages should also be accompanied by a covering letter to explain that they are to be linked with a faxed application form sent to the Payment Handling Service on whichever date.

» What happens to my application forms on receipt?

The Government approved Payment Handling Service which will check the following:
.....»If payment is applicable
.....» The payment slip is completed correctly
.....» The payment method is valid.
.....» The validity of an application which has been identified as falling into the exempt category.

The Payment Handling Service will not be responsible for considering any aspect of the Work Permit application.

Note: The Payment Handling Service has entered into a contractual agreement with Work Permits (UK) to guarantee that all valid applications with appropriately completed payment slips will be delivered to Work Permits (UK), Sheffield by 10am every weekday morning. Therefore the standard of service currently provided by Work Permits (UK) will not be compromised unless the payment slip or payment method is invalid.

Note: All applications, without exception, must be sent to the above address. Any application sent directly to Work Permits (UK), Sheffield will be forwarded to the PO Box address and, as a consequence, the consideration process will be delayed.

» What happens if applications are withdrawn?

Once an application has been received by the payment handling service, the Work Permit application process has fundamentally started and the standard appropriate fee will be charged. It is therefore the full responsibility of the employer or representative submitting the application to ensure that they wish to enter into the Work Permit application process.

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