Information on matters discussed at the Specialised Committee on Citizens’ Rights is available here: Citizens’ Rights Specialised Committee meeting, 18 December 2025: joint statement - GOV.UK. The UK and the EU are committed to working cooperatively to ensure full and faithful implementation of the citizens’ rights part of the Withdrawal Agreement.

The Frontier Worker Permit scheme implements our commitments under the Citizens’ Rights Agreements to protect the rights of EU, other EEA and Swiss citizens who were frontier working in the UK before the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020 for as long as they continue to be frontier workers.

It is not possible to extract data from Home Office systems on Frontier Worker permits by occupation. Accordingly, there have been no discussions with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero about Frontier Worker permit holders employed in the offshore renewable energy sector.

The Frontier Worker Permit scheme implements our commitments under the Citizens’ Rights Agreements to protect the rights of EU, other EEA and Swiss citizens who were frontier working in the UK before the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020 for as long as they continue to be frontier workers.

It is not possible to extract data from Home Office systems on Frontier Worker permits by occupation. Accordingly, there have been no discussions with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero about Frontier Worker permit holders employed in the offshore renewable energy sector.

The Frontier Worker Permit scheme implements our commitment under the Citizens’ Rights Agreements to protect the rights of EU, other EEA and Swiss citizens who were frontier working in the UK before the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020 for as long as they continue to be frontier workers.

The Agreements provide that frontier workers must not be discriminated against on grounds of nationality as regards employment, remuneration and other conditions of work and employment. Free and confidential advice on the National Minimum Wage is available by contacting Acas on 0300 123 1100. Any worker who believes they are not receiving what they are entitled to can also complain directly to His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs via their online complaints form on GOV.UK, which can be found by searching “complain about pay and work rights”.

The information requested is not currently available from published statistics, and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.

The Home Office publishes data on entry clearance visas by visa type, including Frontier Worker Permits, in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on the outcomes of visa applications are published in table ‘Vis_D02’ of the ‘detailed entry clearance dataset’.

Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. Data is from January 2005 up to the end of March 2025.

Information on how many visas were valid in a given period is not currently available from published statistics.

The department operates a flexible staffing model to ensure that available resources are deployed effectively according to demand. As such, staff engaged on the Frontier Worker Visa scheme are also engaged in the administration of other high-volume routes.

The Home Office does not collect data on the number of non-UK seafarers issued a Frontier Worker Permit.

Data relating to our quarterly migration statistics can be found at the following link: Migration statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

The frontier worker permit scheme implements our obligations under the Citizens’ Rights Agreements to protect the rights of EU, EEA and Swiss citizens who were frontier working in the UK (that is employed or self-employed in the UK but residing elsewhere) before the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020, for as long as they continue to be a frontier worker.

Since 1 July 2021 frontier workers have been required to hold a valid frontier worker permit in order to evidence their right to enter the UK to work. Irish citizen frontier workers are not required to obtain a frontier worker permit to enter the UK to work, although they can apply for one if they wish. Frontier workers are not required to use a frontier worker permit to evidence their right to work or to access benefits and services while in the UK as they can evidence their status by other means.

The Department for Transport has not undertaken contingency planning regarding a lack of seafarers being eligible for the Frontier Work Permits causing disruption of availability of goods to / from Northern Ireland. These policies are held by the Department for Business and Trade and the Home Office respectively.

The Frontier Worker permit scheme implements our obligations under the Citizens’ Rights Agreements to protect the rights of EU, EEA and Swiss citizens who were frontier working in the UK (that is employed or self-employed in the UK but residing elsewhere) before the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020, for as long as they continue to be frontier workers.

We do not publish data on Frontier Worker permits by occupation, and so data is not available on Frontier Worker permits issued to shipping crew.

Those coming to the UK to work after the end of the transition period are not protected by the Citizens’ Rights Agreements and are therefore required to apply under the points-based immigration system. This enables migrants to come to the UK to work in the shipping and wider offshore sectors, subject to meeting the skills and salary thresholds and other requirements.

There are specific arrangements for transiting crew who are joining ships in the UK or taking temporary shore leave. In many cases, crew can exceptionally enter the UK without an entry clearance and undertake limited forms of work.

The Frontier Worker permit scheme implements our obligations under the Citizens’ Rights Agreements to protect the rights of EU, EEA and Swiss citizens who were frontier working in the UK (that is employed or self-employed in the UK but residing elsewhere) before the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020, for as long as they continue to be frontier workers.

We do not publish data on Frontier Worker permits by occupation, and so data is not available on Frontier Worker permits issued to shipping crew.

Those coming to the UK to work after the end of the transition period are not protected by the Citizens’ Rights Agreements and are therefore required to apply under the points-based immigration system. This enables migrants to come to the UK to work in the shipping and wider offshore sectors, subject to meeting the skills and salary thresholds and other requirements.

There are specific arrangements for transiting crew who are joining ships in the UK or taking temporary shore leave. In many cases, crew can exceptionally enter the UK without an entry clearance and undertake limited forms of work.

The Frontier Worker permit scheme implements our obligations under the Citizens’ Rights Agreements to protect the rights of EU, EEA and Swiss citizens who were frontier working in the UK (that is employed or self-employed in the UK but residing elsewhere) before the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020, for as long as they continue to be frontier workers.

We do not publish data on Frontier Worker permits by occupation, and so data is not available on Frontier Worker permits issued to shipping crew.

Those coming to the UK to work after the end of the transition period are not protected by the Citizens’ Rights Agreements and are therefore required to apply under the points-based immigration system. This enables migrants to come to the UK to work in the shipping and wider offshore sectors, subject to meeting the skills and salary thresholds and other requirements.

There are specific arrangements for transiting crew who are joining ships in the UK or taking temporary shore leave. In many cases, crew can exceptionally enter the UK without an entry clearance and undertake limited forms of work.

The Department for Business and Trade does not hold this data. In December 2020, the UK and the EU agreed a Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), which allows short-term business visitors to travel to the EU. This department is not responsible for frontiers workers permits.

The Home Office publishes data on entry clearance visas in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’.

Data on the number of applications for the Frontier Worker permit, broken down by nationality, are published in table Vis_D01 of the entry clearance visa applications and outcomes detailed dataset. Data for the Frontier Worker permit can be selected using the ‘Frontier Worker’ visa type subgroup.

Data relating to the country of residence or employment type for Frontier Worker permits is not available.

The Home Office publishes data on entry clearance visas in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’.

Data on the number of applications for the Frontier Worker permit, broken down by nationality, are published in table Vis_D01 of the entry clearance visa applications and outcomes detailed dataset. Data for the Frontier Worker permit can be selected using the ‘Frontier Worker’ visa type subgroup.

Data relating to the country of residence or employment type for Frontier Worker permits is not available.