Work permits
General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS)
This page explains the criteria of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) work permit arrangements.
The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) arrangements allow employees of companies that are based outside the European Union (EU) to work in the United Kingdom on a service contract awarded to their employer by a United Kingdom based organisation.
The GATS agreement only extends to organisations of those countries who are members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and who have signed up to the agreement.
The GATS criteria are divided into two parts, GATSA for overseas employers and GATSB for United Kingdom contractors.
GATS applications are made against the following criteria:
- the service contract must not exceed a period of three calendar months; and
- the person will not, be permitted to stay in the United Kingdom under this agreement beyond three calendar months in any 12 month period; and
- the service provided must fall within one of the service sectors permitted under the GATS agreement, and
- the person's occupation or profession must fall within the service sectors permitted under the GATS agreement; and
- the person must have the appropriate qualifications and experience; and
- the person should have spent 12 months in your employment , as a formal salaried employee; and
- the contract must have been awarded through an open tendering procedure or any other procedure that guarantees the bona fide nature of the contract; and
- the United Kingdom contractor when applying under GATSB, will need to justify why the contract was awarded to a non-EU service supplier, this is known as an economic needs test.
To find out further information about GATS, please refer to the GATS notes (GATSA for overseas employers and GATSB for United Kingdom contractors). These guidance notes can be downloaded from the right side of this page.
For information on how to make a GATS work permit application, please refer to the Applying page.
For information on the GATS agreement, you should see the the WTO website.
Application forms
General Agreement on Trade in Services for overseas employers
- Form GATSADOC 1.7M opens in a new window
- Guide GATSAPDF 150K opens in a new window
General Agreement on Trade in Services for United Kingdom contractors
- Form GATSBDOC 517K opens in a new window
- Guide GATSBPDF 133K opens in a new window
See also
General guides
- General information (PDF 154K opens in a new window)
- Service standards (PDF 97K opens in a new window)
- Payment guide (PDF 157K opens in a new window)
Shortage occupations
News & updates
Terms explained
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European Union
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Irish Republic, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom.
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Resident worker
A person who is a national of the European Economic Area (EEA) or is legally settled in the United Kingdom with permission to work here. In some cases, an employer who wishes to employ a person who is not a permanent resident must show that no resident worker could be found to take the job.
Internet links
Contact
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Work permits customer contact centre
0114 207 4074
Customer Contact Centre, UK Border Agency, PO Box 3468, Sheffield, S3 8WA