The route to unrestricted working rights & UK Citizenship

If you come to the UK as a Bulgarian or Romanian on an ECAA Visa then you can apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (also known as Permanent Residence) in the United Kingdom after 5 continuous years.

Once you have secured Indefinite Leave to Remain you can spend one further full year in the country and then apply for UK Citizenship (Naturalisation), and following that a British Passport.

If you are a highly skilled professional from Bulgaria or Romania and you are interested in working in the UK as an IT, Engineering, Medical or Financial Services Contractor Commonwealth Contractors can help you to secure a work visa and maximise contract retention!

To find out more about Contracting in the UK on a Work Permit, HSMP or ECAA Visa call Commonwealth Contractors now on 0330 390 9021 or Submit your Details and we will get right back to you!

Applying for ILR further to an ECAA Visa

To apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain status further to time spent on an ECAA visa you must complete Form ECAA 4 and provide satisfactory supporting documents in respect of the application.

  • You can apply using form ECAA4 if you;
  • Are a Bulgarian or Romanian Citizen
  • You entered the UK with a valid ECAA Visa
  • You were given an extension of stay before 1 January 2007 to remain in business under the provisions of the agreement
  • You established a business in the UK AND you have spent a continuous 5 year period on the visa AND you are still in that business today
  • You have submitted;
    • Audited Accounts for the first four years of trading, AND
    • Management Accounts for the fifth year
  • You must have passed the Knowledge of Language and Life in the UK test

You must also meet the following requirements throughout you five year stay;

  • Your share of the profits of the business must have been sufficient to maintain and accommodate you and your dependants without requiring access to public funds
  • You must not have sought or taken any other work (apart from your business)
  • You must also meet either of the two requirements below;

 

Applicants who have established their own company which they control

 

  • You have been actively involved in the promotion and management of the company, AND
  • You have had a controlling interest in the company, AND
  • The company was registered in the UK and has been trading or providing services in the UK, AND
  • The company owned the assets of the business

Applicants who have established themselves as a sole trader or in partnership

 

  • You have been actively involved in trading or providing services on your own account or in a partnership in the UK, AND
  • You owned, or together with your partners owned, the assets of the business, AND
  • In the case of a partnership, your part in the business was not actually employment that you pretended was a business partnership

Find out More

To find out more about our solutions call now on 0330 390 9021 or Submit your Details and we will get right back to you!

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