The Home Office has recently introduced additional reporting obligations for employers of offshore workers and is also due to imminently end the 2017 Offshore Wind Worker Concession.
Since 12 April 2023, the Immigration (Offshore Worker Notification and Exemption from Control (Amendment)) Regulations 2023 requires offshore workers (or their sponsor if they have one) to notify the Home Office of the dates when that worker:
- first arrives in UK waters at the beginning of the job (for which they are being sponsored); and
- leaves UK waters at the end of the job (for which they are being sponsored).
There is no obligation to report if the offshore worker first passes immigration control on the UK landmass before arriving in UK waters for work – that is 12 nautical miles from the coastline and all internal waters.
The report must be submitted no earlier than the date the worker arrives in or leaves UK waters, and no later than 10 working days after the date the worker arrives in or leaves UK waters. The report must include specific information such as:
- the name, date of birth, nationality of the worker
- the date they arrived in, or left, UK waters
- the name of ship or vessel on which the worker will be based
This duty to report also falls within the Sponsor guidance Part 3: Sponsor duties and compliance. As such, failure of sponsors to report could result in action being taken against their sponsor licence(s).
In addition, from 1 May 2023, after 6 years, the Offshore Wind Worker Concession will no longer be in force. This means that all workers in the UK (waters) under this Concession must leave the UK no later than 30 April 2023, otherwise they will be in the UK illegally, without a right to work. It is not possible for these workers to apply for a new visa from within the UK, and they must only do so from their home country, or any country where they are legally able to do so.
Employers may be able to hire these workers under the sponsored Skilled Worker route or potentially the Global Business Mobility: Senior or Specialist Worker (formerly the Tier 2 (Intra-Company Transfer) route. There are potential cost savings of up to £3,000 in the latter visa category if hiring EU nationals working for an EU company which is linked by common ownership to the UK entity.
It may also be possible for offshore workers to enter the UK as a Visitor undertaking “permitted activities” and/or to transit under an offshore worker visa, if the requirements are all met.
In any event, the new reporting requirements will still apply, if the offshore worker first enters UK waters without first passing through UK landmass for the purposes of work.
If you are a UK employer and hire offshore workers, please do get in touch with our specialist immigration team to discuss strategies and support your UK immigration needs.
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