DOMESTIC WORKERS

On April 2012, the immigration rules for domestic workers in private households changed drastically.

As long as the domestic worker’s services are needed, he or she is allowed to remain in employment while travelling with their employer to the UK and this occurs before the rules were amended. In order to guarantee protection from exploitation and abuse, at a certain point in time the domestic worker’s right to change employment had been introduced into the Immigration rules. After five years, the Domestic Workers are permitted to remain in the UK.

The domestic workers are divided into two separate categories due to the amended immigration rules in April 2012 and these categories are:

• Those domestic workers who came into the UK under the immigration rules that were in place before the 6th of April 2012 and;
• Those domestic workers who came into the UK under the new amended rules.

NOTE: After five years of service, those individuals under the first category still enjoy more substantial provisions such as being allowed an extension of stay or indefinite leave to remain (ILR).

According to the rules posted on April 2012, the domestic worker in a private household is not permitted to enter the UK beyond six months, he or she is also not allowed to switch employers and not permitted to prolong their leave to remain for more than six months.

Additionally, permitted employers (British or EEA Nationals), in concurrence with the new rules limits but allows them to bring their domestic workers to the UK if the domestic workers are travelling to the UK for visits not exceeding six months. Non-EEA nationals are also allowed to bring their domestic workers to the UK as visitors, as parents of a child in school, as visitors for private medical treatment or as prospective entrepreneurs but not as Tier 1 Investors, Tier 2 migrants or entrepreneurs.

The following are the general visa requirements for domestic workers which remains unaffected:

• The domestic workers must be between the ages of eighteen and sixty-five;
• Prior to applying for an entry clearance or visa into the UK, the domestic worker must have been employed for not less than a year by the employer’s household;
• The domestic worker is required to travel in the company of the employer, the employer’s child or the employer’s spouse when entering the UK;
• The domestic worker must have agreed to the writing terms of employment;
• In agreement with the national minimal wages legislation, the payment of the domestic worker must be undertaken by the employer.
• Any other form of additional employment should not be undertaken by the domestic worker.