On July 1st, 2013 Croatia joined the European Union making it legal for the Croatian citizens to enter and live in the United Kingdom without a visa or any clearance for up to 3 months. However, they still need to obtain an authorisation to work, before starting any employment as they still have no free right to work in the UK.
There are two steps for a Croatian national to obtain the Authorisation to Work in the UK:
- Applying for a Certificate of Sponsorship issued by the Staff Immigration Team of the University under the Points Based System
- Applying for a Worker Authorisation Registration Certificate, which is also called the Purple Registration Certificate
A Croatian national is only allowed to work in the UK by getting prior permission from the Home Office, which is known as working under Worker Authorisation Scheme. An accession worker card is needed by them before commencing their work, and they need a new card every time when they switch their jobs. People working under Worker Authorisation Scheme satisfy the right to reside test and are exempted from the remaining habitual residence test from their first day of authorised work.
On completion of an uninterrupted period of 12 months in authorised employment , a Croatian national will cease to be a subject to the Work Authorisation requirement and he will not be required to apply for a registration certificate confirming his free access to the labour market.
Some Croatian nationals are exempted from the Worker Authorisation Scheme and they can instead apply for a Registration Certificate for a Croatian exercising a Treaty Right in the UK, this is referred to as a Blue Registration Certificate) proving their exemption this requirement using form . Such Croatian nationals are treated equal to other EEA nationals. They come into one of the following categories:
- Spouse or are civil partners of a UK national.
- Have a permanent right to reside in the UK.
- Had already been legally in the UK for a year, without any restriction on their employment on 1st July, 2013.
- Were already working legally in the UK for a year on 1st July, 2013.
- Are family members of a non Croatian EEA national who themselves has the right to reside.
- Are dependants (partner/children) of a Croatian national who is working in the UK under Worker Authorisation Scheme.
- Students with a certificate allowing them to work for up to 20 hours per week in term time and full time during vacation.
- Highly skilled workers having a certificate allowing them unconditional access to the UK jobs market.
