Immigration Rules Appendix Temporary Work – Religious Worker

The Religious Worker route is for a person who wants to support the activities of religious institutions in the UK by conducting religious work such as working in a religious order or undertaking non-pastoral work for a religious organisation.

The Temporary Work - Religious Worker route is for a person who wants to come to the UK to support the activities of religious institutions by conducting religious work such as working in a religious order or undertaking non-pastoral work for a religious organisation. A person on the Religious Worker route can stay in the UK for up to a maximum of two years.

A partner and children can apply as dependants on this route.

The Religious Worker route is not a route to settlement.

A Minister of Religion must apply on the T2 Minister of Religion route if their engagement in the UK involves leading a congregation in performing rites, rituals and preaching the essentials of the creed as its core duties.

Validity requirements for a Religious Worker

RW 1.1. A person applying for entry clearance or permission to stay as a Religious Worker must apply online on gov.uk on the specified form as follows:

Applicant Specified form
EEA national with a chipped passport Either:
• Temporary Worker using the UK Immigration: ID Check app; or
• the forms listed below for applicants outside or inside the UK (as relevant)
Applicants outside the UK Temporary Worker visa
Applicants inside the UK Temporary Worker
  1. RW 1.2. An application for entry clearance or permission to stay as a Religious Worker must meet all the following requirements:
    1. (a) any fee and Immigration Health Charge must have been paid; and
    2. (b) the applicant must have provided any required biometrics; and
    3. (c) the applicant must have provided a passport or other travel document which satisfactorily establishes their identity and nationality; and
    4. (d) the applicant must have a Certificate of Sponsorship that was issued to them no more than 3 months before the date of application.

RW 1.3. The applicant must be aged 18 or over on the date of application.

RW 1.4. An applicant who is applying for permission to stay must have, or have last had, permission as a Religious Worker.

RW 1.5. An application which does not meet all the validity requirements for a Religious Worker may be rejected as invalid and not considered.

Suitability requirements for a Religious Worker

RW 2.1. The applicant must not fall for refusal under Part 9: grounds for refusal.

  1. RW 2.2. If applying for permission to stay the applicant must not be:
    1. (a) in breach of immigration laws, except that where paragraph 39E applies, that period of overstaying will be disregarded; or
    2. (b) on immigration bail.

Eligibility requirements for a Religious Worker

Entry requirements for a Religious Worker

RW 3.1. A person seeking to come to the UK on the Religious Worker route must have applied for and obtained entry clearance as a Religious Worker before they arrive in the UK.

RW 3.2. A person applying for entry clearance as a Religious Worker must, if Appendix Tuberculosis applies, provide a valid medical certificate confirming that they have undergone screening for active pulmonary tuberculosis and that this tuberculosis is not present in them.

RW 3.3. An applicant for entry clearance must not have had permission as a Religious Worker or Charity Worker at any time during the 12 months immediately before the date of application unless they can show they were not in the UK at any time during those 12 months.

Sponsorship requirement for a Religious Worker

  1. RW 4.1. The applicant must have a valid Certificate of Sponsorship for the job they are planning to do; which to be valid must:
    1. (a) confirm the applicant’s name, that they are being sponsored as a Religious Worker, details of the job and pay the sponsor is offering them; and
    2. (b) include a start date, stated by the sponsor, which is no more than 3 months after the date of application; and
    3. (c) not have been used in a previous application which was either granted or refused (but can have been used in a previous application which was rejected as invalid, made void or withdrawn); and
    4. (d) not have been withdrawn by the sponsor or cancelled by the Home Office; and
    5. (e) confirm that the role meets the requirements at RW 4.3; and
    6. (f) confirm whether the applicant is a member of the sponsor’s order, if the sponsor is a religious order; and
    7. (g) confirm that the applicant will receive pay and conditions at least equal to those given to settled workers in the same role; and
    8. (h) confirm that the pay complies with or is exempt from the National Minimum Wage; and
    9. (i) confirm that the requirements of the resident labour consideration, as set out in RW 4.2, in respect of the job, have been complied with, or that the applicant is applying for permission to stay and the sponsor is the same sponsor as in their last grant of permission as a Religious Worker.
  2. RW 4.2. The requirements of the resident labour consideration are:
    1. (a) that the role is supernumerary, such that it is over and above the sponsor’s normal staffing requirements and if the person filling the role was not there, it would not need to be filled by anyone else (with a full explanation of why it is supernumerary); or
    2. (b) that the role involves living mainly within and being a member of a religious order, which must be a lineage of communities or of people who live in some way set apart from society in accordance with their specific religious devotion, for example an order of nuns or monks; or
    3. (c) that the sponsor holds national records of all available individuals, details of those records and confirms that the records show that no suitable settled worker is available to fill the role; or
    4. (d) that a national recruitment search was undertaken, and the following details are provided:
      1. (i) where the role was advertised, which must be at least one of the following:
        1. (1) a national form of media appropriate to the sponsor’s religion or denomination; or
        2. (2) the sponsor’s own website, if that is how the sponsor usually reaches out to its community on a national scale, that is where it normally advertises vacant positions, and the pages containing the advertisement are free to view without paying a subscription fee or making a donation; or
        3. (3) Jobcentre Plus (or in Northern Ireland, Job Centre Online) or in the employment section of a national newspaper, if there is no suitable national form of media appropriate to the sponsor’s religion or denomination; and
      2. (ii) any reference numbers of the advertisements; and
      3. (iii) the period the role was advertised for, which must include at least 28 days during the six month period immediately before the date the sponsor assigned the Certificate of Sponsorship to the applicant; and
      4. (iv) confirmation that no suitable settled workers are available to be recruited for the role.
  3. RW 4.3. The sponsor must ensure the role meets all the following requirements:
    1. (a) the role must involve performing religious duties within, or directed by, the sponsor’s organisation to support the activities of the religious institution; and
    2. (b) the religious duties must not include work which falls under a role of a Minister of Religion (which means the applicant must not have core duties of leading a congregation in performing the rites and rituals of the faith and in preaching the essentials of the creed).

RW 4.4. The sponsor must be authorised by the Home Office to sponsor the job in question under the Religious Worker route.

RW 4.5. The sponsor must be listed as A-rated on the Home Office’s register of licensed sponsors, unless the applicant was last granted permission as a Religious Worker and is applying to continue working for the same sponsor as in their last permission.

RW 4.6. The decision maker must not have reasonable grounds to believe the job the applicant is being sponsored to do does not comply with the National Minimum Wage Regulations or the Working Time Regulations.

Genuineness requirement for a Religious Worker

  1. RW 5.1. The applicant must:
    1. (a) genuinely intend, and be able, to undertake the role for which they are being sponsored; and
    2. (b) not intend to undertake employment other than in the role for which they are being sponsored, or as otherwise permitted by paragraph RW 8.3.

Financial requirement for a Religious Worker

RW 6.1. If the applicant is applying for permission to stay and has been in the UK with permission for 12 months or longer on the date of application, they will meet the financial requirement and do not need to show funds.

  1. RW 6.2. If the applicant is applying for entry clearance, or is applying for permission to stay and has been in the UK for less than 12 months on the date of application, either:
    1. (a) the applicant must have funds of at least £1,270; or
    2. (b) the applicant’s A rated sponsor must confirm on the Certificate of Sponsorship that they will, if it is necessary, maintain and accommodate the applicant up to the end of the first month of their employment for an amount of at least £1,270.

RW 6.3. If RW 6.2.(a) applies, the applicant must show that they have held the required level of funds for a 28-day period and as specified in Appendix Finance.

Decision on an application for a Religious Worker

RW 7.1. If the decision maker is satisfied that all the suitability and eligibility requirements for the Religious Worker route are met, the application will be granted, otherwise the application will be refused.

RW 7.2. If the application is refused, the person can apply for an Administrative Review under Appendix AR: Administrative Review.

Period and conditions of grant for a Religious Worker

  1. RW 8.1. If the application is for entry clearance, the applicant will be granted whichever is the shorter of:
    1. (a) the period of the job on the Certificate of Sponsorship plus 14 days before and after; or
    2. (b) 24 months.
  2. RW 8.2. If the application is for permission to stay, the applicant will be granted whichever is the shorter of:
    1. (a) the period of the job on the Certificate of Sponsorship plus 14 days; or
    2. (b) the difference between the period the applicant has already spent in the UK since their last grant of permission as a Religious Worker and 24 months.
  3. RW 8.3. The grant will be subject to all the following conditions:
    1. (a) no access to public funds; and
    2. (b) work is permitted only in the role the applicant is being sponsored for; and
    3. (c) supplementary employment is permitted; and
    4. (d) study is permitted, subject to the ATAS condition in Appendix ATAS.
    5. (e) DELETED.

Dependants of a Religious Worker

Validity requirements for a dependent partner or dependent child of a Religious Worker

RW 9.1. A person applying for entry clearance or permission to stay as a dependent partner or dependent child of a Religious Worker must apply online on the gov.uk website on the specified form as follows:

Applicant Specified form
EEA national with a chipped passport Either (as applicable):
• Dependant partner or dependant child using the UK Immigration: ID Check app; or
• the forms listed below for dependant applicants outside or inside the UK as relevant.
Applicants outside the UK Dependant partner visa
Dependant child visa
Applicants inside the UK If the dependant is applying at the same time as the Religious Worker, they can be included in the form Temporary Worker where the form allows dependants to be added. Otherwise:
- Dependant partner
- Dependant child
  1. RW 9.2. An application for entry clearance or permission to stay as a partner or child of a Religious Worker must meet all the following requirements:
    1. (a) any fee and Immigration Health Charge must have been paid; and
    2. (b) the applicant must have provided any required biometrics; and
    3. (c) the applicant must have provided a passport or other travel document which satisfactorily establishes their identity and nationality; and
    4. (d) the applicant must be applying as a partner or child of a person who:
      1. (i) has made a valid application for entry clearance or permission to stay on the Religious Worker route that has not been decided; or
      2. (ii) has entry clearance or permission to stay on the Religious Worker route.

RW 9.3. An applicant applying as a dependent partner must be aged 18 or over on the date of application.

  1. RW 9.4. An applicant who is applying for permission to stay as a dependent partner or dependent child of a Religious Worker must be in the UK on the date of application and must not have, or have last been granted, permission:
    1. (a) as a Visitor; or
    2. (b) as a Short-term student; or
    3. (c) as a Parent of a Child Student; or
    4. (d) as a Seasonal Worker; or
    5. (e) as a Domestic Worker in a Private Household; or
    6. (f) outside the Immigration Rules.
  1. RW 9.4A. An applicant who is applying for permission to stay and has, or last had, permission as a Student, must fulfil one of the Conditions A or B below on the date of application:
    1. (a) Condition A: the applicant must have completed the course of study for which the Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies was assigned (or a course to which ST 27.3 of Appendix Student applies); or
    2. (b) Condition B: the applicant must:
      1. (i) be studying a full-time course of study leading to the award of a PhD with a higher education provider which has a track record of compliance; and
      2. (ii) have completed at least 24 months of study on that course.

RW 9.5. An application which does not meet all the validity requirements for a partner or child of a Religious Worker may be rejected as invalid and not considered.

Suitability requirements for a dependent partner or dependent child of a Religious Worker

RW 10.1. The applicant must not fall for refusal under Part 9: grounds for refusal.

  1. RW 10.2. If applying for permission to stay the applicant must not be:
    1. (a) in breach of immigration laws, except that where paragraph 39E applies, that period of overstaying will be disregarded; or
    2. (b) on immigration bail.

Eligibility requirements for a dependent partner or dependent child of a Religious Worker

Entry requirement for a dependent partner or dependent child of a Religious Worker

RW 11.1. A person seeking to come to the UK as a dependent partner or dependent child of a Religious Worker must apply for and obtain entry clearance as a dependent partner or dependent child of a Religious Worker before they arrive in the UK.

RW 11.2. A person applying for entry clearance as the partner or child of a Religious Worker must, if Appendix Tuberculosis to these Rules applies, provide a valid medical certificate confirming that they have undergone screening for active pulmonary tuberculosis and that this tuberculosis is not present in them.

Relationship requirement for a dependent partner of a Religious Worker

  1. RW 12.1. The applicant must be the partner of a person (P) where one of the following applies:
    1. (a) P has permission on the Religious Worker route; or
    2. (b) P is, at the same time, applying for (and is granted) entry clearance or permission on the Religious Worker route.
  2. RW 12.2. The applicant must show that the relationship meets the relationship requirements as specified in Appendix Relationship with Partner.

RW 12.3. DELETED.

RW 12.4. DELETED.

Relationship requirement for a dependent child of a Religious Worker

  1. RW 13.1. DELETED.
  2. RW 13.2. DELETED.

RW 13.3. DELETED.

Care requirement for a dependent child of a Religious Worker

RW 14.1. DELETED.

Age requirement for a dependent child of a Religious Worker

RW 15.1. DELETED.

RW 15.2. DELETED.

Requirements for a dependent child of a Religious Worker

  1. RW 15A.1. The applicant must meet the following requirements for a dependent child in Appendix Children:
    1. (a) relationship requirement: entry clearance and permission to stay; and
    2. (b) care requirement; and
    3. (c) age and independent life requirement.

Financial requirement for a dependent partner or dependent child of a Religious Worker

RW 16.1. If the applicant is applying for permission to stay and has been living in the UK with permission for 12 months or longer on the date of application, they will meet the financial requirement and do not need to show funds.

  1. RW 16.2. If the applicant is applying for entry clearance, or has been in the UK for less than 12 months on the date of application, either:
    1. (a) funds of at least the amount required in RW 16.3. must be held collectively by one or more of the following:
      1. i) the applicant; and
      2. ii) the Religious Worker (P); and
      3. iii) if the applicant is applying as a dependent child, their parent who is lawfully present in the UK or being granted entry clearance, or permission to stay, at the same time; or
    2. (b) the Religious Worker’s A-rated sponsor must certify that they will, if necessary, maintain and accommodate the dependent partner and/or any dependent child as well as the Religious Worker, up to the end of the first month of each of their grants of permission, to at least the amounts required in RW 16.3.
  2. RW 16.3. The funds required are:
    1. (a) £285 for a dependent partner in the UK, or applying for entry clearance; and
    2. (b) £315 for the first dependent child in the UK, or applying for entry clearance; and
    3. (c) £200 for any other dependent child in the UK, or applying for entry clearance.

RW 16.4. If RW 16.2.(a) applies, the funds held for the applicant must be held in addition to any funds required for the Religious Worker to meet the financial requirement and any other dependants in the UK or applying at the same time.

RW 16.5. If RW 16.2.(a) applies, the funds must have been held for a 28-day period and as specified in Appendix Finance.

Decision on an application for a dependent partner or dependent child of a Religious Worker

RW 17.1. If the decision maker is satisfied that all the suitability and eligibility requirements for a dependent partner or dependent child of a Religious Worker are met, the application will be granted, otherwise the application will be refused.

RW 17.2. If the application is refused, the person can apply for an Administrative Review under Appendix AR: Administrative Review.

Period and conditions of grant for a dependent partner or dependent child of a Religious Worker

RW 18.1. A partner will be granted permission which ends on the same date as their partner’s permission as a Religious Worker.

RW 18.2. A child will be granted permission which ends on the same date as whichever of their parents’ permission ends first.

  1. RW 18.3. The grant will be subject to all the following conditions:
    1. (a) no access to public funds; and
    2. (b) work (including self-employment and voluntary work) is permitted, except as a professional sportsperson (including as a sports coach); and
    3. (c) study is permitted, subject to the ATAS condition in Appendix ATAS if the applicant is over the age of 18.
    4. (d) DELETED.