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Q & A General

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General

I am from overseas, how do I apply for social work in England?

All social workers practising in England must be registered with the General Social Care Council (GSCC).

If you qualified abroad, to be registered, you must meet criteria on qualifications, health and good character. In addition your qualification will  be assessed to make sure it meets the requirements of the most recent completed UK-recognised qualification. This is known as the equivalency procedure.

If you are a national of a EU/EEA country or Switzerland, your application for registration will be processed according to the EU Directive 92/51/EEC on the recognition of professional qualification.

Go to www.gscc.org.uk for further information on registering with the GSCC.

EEA and Swiss nationals have the right to live and work in the United Kingdom and do not need permission to work. However, if you are a national of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia or Slovenia and want to work for one month or more for a United Kingdom employer you must register under the Worker Registration Scheme.
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/eucitizens/workerregistrationscheme/

Nationals of Bulgaria and Romania:
The UK government has stated that it will provide nationals of Bulgaria and Romania with only gradual access to its labour market from 1 January 2007. This means that from 1 January 2007, nationals of Bulgaria and Romania will continue to be required to obtain authorisation of their employment if they wish to work in the United Kingdom. To obtain such authorisation you will normally be required to obtain an accession worker card.
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/eucitizens/bulgarianandromaniannationals/

If you are not a British citizen, or a national of a country in the European Economic Area (EEA) you will need a visa and may need entry clearance before you travel to the UK. To obtain a visa or entry clearance you will need to meet all the requirements of the Home Office UK Border Agency who are responsible for the immigration process into the UK.

Any non-UK/EEA national seeking entry or permission to remain in the UK for the purpose of employment under Tier 2 of the new points based immigration system, will require a job offer from a licensed sponsor who can issue a Certificate of Sponsorship. A Certificate of Sponsorship will only be granted where the employer can show that they have been unable to fill the post with an individual from the UK/EEA resident labour market.  Further information on the right to work in the UK is available on the UK Border Agency website:

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/

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