Therefore applications for nationals from Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Moldova, Romania and Turkey will be free of charge.

Highly Skilled Migrant application delays July 2004

The success of the Highly Skilled Migrant clearance means that a substantial backlog of cases has built up and applications are currently taking about 3 months to process.

It is therefore important if considering making an application to take account of this timing and important to ensure that their application is fully and correctly completed before submission. [Highly Skilled Migrant Programme]

Football Clubs July 2004

Criteria for the forthcoming season (2004/5) have been published and confirm that

A player must have played for his country in at least 75% of its competitive ‘A’ team matches that he was available for selection during the two years preceding the application;

The national team of the player must be ranked at 70th place or higher in the FIFA rankings when averaged over the two years preceding the date of the application.

Provided a player meets these criteria then the player will be issued with a work permit for the period of the contract up to a maximum of five years. If a player does not meet the above criteria then it is open to the club to apply for a review panel hearing. The club needs to convince the panel that the player is of the highest calibre and able to contribute significantly to the development of the game at the top level in the UK.
[Footballers Work Permits]