“This is not a career move” - accompanying partners’ labour market participation after migration

Comparative Migration Studies

Table 1 Rules for immigration and working in the UK (UK Visas and Immigration, 2013^a)

	Citizens from European Economic Area [EEA] - countries and Switzerland as well as partners of these citizens	Third country nationals
Primary migrants	Right of residence and right to work in the UK	Undergo points’ assessment
		Tier 1 - High-value migrants
		Tier 2 - Skilled migrants
		Tier 4 - Students
Partners^b	Partners are allowed to join citizens from EEA-countries and Switzerland, irrespective of own citizenship; they have the right to work [Immigration (EEA) Regulations 2006]	Points’ based system dependants (Tier 1, 2, 4) can apply for visa to join primary migrant; have the right to work^c, are not allowed to work as doctor/dentist in training [Immigration Rules §319C-D]
Regulated professions	Migrants are required to register with the appropriate competent authority and to obtain professional recognition of qualifications; predominantly within fields of teaching, medicine and law

Sources: Centre for Professional Qualifications, 2016; Jayaweera & Oliver, 2013; UK Legislation, 2018; Mavroudi & Warren, 2013; UK Visas and Immigration, 2013a, 2013b
^aThe information is based on the year when the empirical study was conducted, since these rules applied to the interviewees
^bAccording to UK immigration law, a partner can be a husband, a wife, a civil partner, an unmarried or a same-sex partner
^cDependants of students who are granted less than 12 months leave to enter are not permitted to work
EEA European Economic Area