Can my family members live and work in the United Kingdom?

This section explains how family members of a Bulgarian or Romanian national can live and work in the United Kingdom

Bulgarian and Romanian family members of a Bulgarian or Romanian who is exempt from work authorisation requirements, see the section Can I live and work in UK, are entitled to be issued with a registration certificate confirming that they are also exempt from those requirements. They can apply for a registration certificate using application form BR1 and they should see the Applying section for information on how to do this.

Non-European Economic Area family members of a Bulgarian or Romanian who is exempt from work authorisation requirements, see the section Can I live and work in UK, are entitled to be issued with a residence card.They can apply for a residence card using application form BR5 and they should see the Applying section for information on how to do this.

Family members of a Bulgarian and Romanian national who is in the United Kingdom and is not exempt from the work authorisation requirement, will also be required to obtain an accession work card in order to take employment in the United Kingdom. They will need to apply using application form BR4 which they can find in the Applying section.

Non-EEA family members of a Bulgarian or Romanian holding a work authorisation document may apply for a family member residence stamp and should apply using application for BR6, which they can find in the Applying section.

You will not be able to obtain work authorisation as an authorised family member of a:

• work card holder under the seasonal agricultural workers scheme; or
• an accession worker card holder under an au pair or sectors based scheme.

Family members of an EEA national who is not registered under the WRS and is not subject to work authorisation can apply for a registration certificate using the same application form. The application form is EEA1 and can be found in the Applying section.

For further information you must see the Bulgarian and Romanian guidance which you can download from the right side of this page.