Bulgarian & Romanian Citizens

Update for Students applying for a Yellow Registration Certificate to be able to work while studying: from 20 June 2011 you would need a private medical insurance policy to be added to the application.

Under the EU law there are separate arrangements for Bulgarian and Romanian nationals. In short, if you are a Bulgarian/Romanian national you can come to the UK to live, study or be self-employed without restrictions.

However, if you wish to work as an employee (for a salary) you need an authorisation. Such an authorisation can be in a way of Registration Certificates, which can be of 3 types. Perhaps to make it more fun, the government made it available in 3 colours: Yellow, Blue and Purple.

Yellow Registration Certificates are issued to people who are not employed: students, self-employed, self-sufficient, voluntary workers (unpaid workers), retired etc but not to those wishing to work as an employee. There is no time limit on how long it is valid for, it is valid for as long as you are continuing the above activities in the UK (studying, self-employment etc).

Holders of Yellow certificates on the basis of studying here would have a right to work part-time, same as non-EU citizens studying here. For a degree level course it would be 20 hours per week, for a below degree level course it would be 10 hours per week.

Blue Registration Certificates are issued to people who want to work as an employee (to get a job) but who do not require an authorisation. There are several ways to qualify for it, best to contact us, so we would advise you according to your situation.

There is no time limit on validity of the Blue certificate.

Examples when you could qualify:

  • obtaining a degree or post-graduate diploma from a UK university within 12 months after completion;
  • qualifying under the rules of the old HSMP category (Highly Skilled Migrants Programme) which is still open to only Bulgarian and Romanian nationals;
  • having worked in the UK, legally, for continuous 12 months, this includes part-time work while studying.
  • having a UK visa issued before 2007 and that visa allows to work.
  • being a family member of a Bulgarian/Romanian national and you are an EU national yourself (subject to nationality in certain cases). 

IMPORTANT! It is not compulsory to apply for a Yellow or Blue certificates. You can study or be self-employed or self-sufficient (and not economically active) without having to apply for this paper. Your rights derive from the European law, from what you are doing here (called ‘exercising Treaty rights’) regardless of whether you apply for a paper to confirm it or not.

In practice, it is a good idea to apply. For example, if you need to prove your status to people who aren’t familiar with the immigration rules. In other words, it is easier to show your prospective employer a piece of paper (Yellow or Blue) saying that you can work rather than trying to explain them how your rights derive from the European law.

If you are a student and wish to work part-time during your studies then you MUST obtain a Yellow Registration Certificate before starting your job.

Purple Registration Certificates, also known as an Accession Worker Card. This is the only way if you wish to work as an employee (to get a job) and cannot qualify for any other 2 certificates above. In this case, you MUST obtain this Purple certificate before starting work. 

A most common way of qualifying for it is to have a job offer from an employer who met the requirements or a Work Permit arrangement under the old rules (before Points-Based System). It normally means an employer must advertise this vacancy and demonstrate that they could not find a settled worker, so have to employ a foreign worker.

After you have worked for 12 months on the Accession Worker Card you do not need an authorisation anymore and can change a job if you wish so.

We can assist with all types of applications, Yellow, Blue and Purple, including on the Premium service (would take some time to obtain an appointment, though, as this service is very popular). Exception: HSMP applications can only be submitted by post.

PERMANENT RESIDENCY:

You can apply for a permanent visa stamp (Indefinite Leave to Remain) after 5 years of 'excercising European treaty rights', ie after 5 years of working, studying, being self-employed, retired or self-sufficient (or a combination of above). We can help with such applications as well.

FAMILY MEMBERS:

please refer to our page Family Members under European law