Portuguese worker in the UK

[willow74]

Someone i know has got involved with a portugese man who says he is unable to work at the moment because he has lost his appropriate ID.  I dont know what this 'id' is but he says the embassy are helping him but it takes time to liaise with portugal. 

What is the current requirements to work in the uk without this ID (?).  He has a national ins number already.  He said it takes 2 mths for portugal to confirm this info to the uk

Obviously i am very suspicious as i dont wanna see my mate taken advantage off

Anyone have any clues on how this all works.  i am just not convinced that the UK goverment would leave someone in the uk with no papers knowingly for 2-3mths

[Sasha13]

This may not be a fully accurate answer because I cannot remember for the life of me if Portugal is in the EEC, but here goes. Firstly you need to look at his NI number. If it begins with the letters TN it is only a temporary number, and if Portugal ISN'T in the EEC he also needs a work permit or letter from the Home Office to be able to work in the UK - The work permit will be in his passport so if he's lost this that could explain it. If he has a temp NI number and Portugal IS in the EEC he's OK to work - Citizens of EEC countries are ok to work in the UK. If his NI number begins with anything other than TN he's ok to work here with no further ID as his case has already been looked into before he was given the NI number. This answer is by no means all inclusive but will hopefully give you a small clue!!!

[Headtime]

Portugal is a member of the EU (joined in 1986).

[Hgrove]

As far as I know, Portugal is in the EU, and a Portuguese citizen has the right to work or look for work in this country.  ID is of course useful for all sorts of reasons but as far as I know it is not essential.  It may be that this person has been given wrong information, or maybe some employers have asked to see his ID for security reasons, but as far as I know he has the right to work and look for work.  The NI number is for tax reasons.  If he did not have one, the Tax office would put him on an emergency code, basically fleece him until he has his NI number in order.

[Hgrove]

Another point, as far as I know nobody is obliged to carry ID in this country (UK) yet, the id card has not been introduced yet.  This is true for everyone.  Of course, without ID they will not let you open a bank account for your wages to be paid into but that's another story.

[smorodina]

Whether a foreign national has the right to work or not is irrelevent to most employers. If he has no papers they are unlikely to take the chance. My wife was left with no papers for two periods of 13 months and 11 months, while the home office processed them. And there are no substitute documents available, which means you have no proof of residency rights and cannot travel abroad at all. Despite all the propoganda about 'asylum seekers', life is made very difficult for genuine immigrants and their partners.

[Sasha13]

smorodina is correct in terms of employers looking for papers before they will employ someone - but if that person has a permanent NI number then the government has declared them ok to work in the UK and nothing else is needed - a temporary number is made up of TN followed by date of birth, followed by M for male and F for female, and is given to someone to allow them to work (and pay the correct amount of NI) while they are waiting for the government to process their details (In this case the person would also need a valid work permit). Hgrove makes a very good point in that without ID no bank account can be opened - but there is nothing to stop this person having his wages paid into someone elses account.

[jake-the-peg]

You are sure that this guy is Portugese and not Brazillian aren't you. Portugese is the spoken language in Brazil. If I were an illeagal immigrant from Brazil I might well be tempted to claim that I was Portugese and had lost my papers. 

[willow74]

i have thought he was brazilian before.  Only cos of little things like he is always fascinated by the brazilian football but not interested in the portugal team.  I just think it all sounds a little suss.  Also his georgraphy of portugal is a little bit confused for someone who lived there. 

I will try and get a look at the NI number to see if it is a temporary one or not. 

Hopefully i can be proved wrong

 

cheers though guys for your advice..very helpful

[Dom Tuk]

Portugal is in the EU. All portuguese nationals can live and work in the UK same as all British nationals can live and work in Portugal. Having said that.....

The portuguese ID card is easily forged/counterfeited.

It is the  most widely available forgery in the UK. Brazilians use forged Portuguese Id cards to live in the UK. And the scam is perpetrated in huge numbers. From the info given i can surmise that your suspicions are correct and the person is brazilian. It is not that difficult to get a replacement genuine id card from the portugurese authorities.

and importantly it is the most easily detcetable forgery.

[Dom Tuk]

Having a National Insurance card does not mean a thing. Anyone is entitled to one if they are employed and the whether they are allowed to work in the Uk is never checked by the NI issuing office.

[Hgrove]

Further to Sasha's post, in theory there should be nothing stopping your employer paying your wages into someone else's a/c if you ask them to, but I can tell you that when I got married, I applied for a job in my married name whilst wishing to keep my bank a/c in my maiden name, and I cannot tell you the fuss my employer made - and that was my own account in a different name - can you imagine the fuss some employers would make if if was someone else's account? There are other nagging problems.  For ex. I once claimed for physio under my health insurance at work.  Whilst they agreed to pay, they refused point blank to issue cheques in my maiden name.  They hid behind the Cheque Act but in reality they just wanted to simplify their admin. So everytime I got a cq. I had to visit my branch with my marriage certificate.  When I changed my membership of the health scheme to my maiden name I never received any communications from them again because the office postal clerk never got the idea that Miss X's letters had to be delivered to Mrs Y.  I don't know what happened to the letters, they got lost in the system.  Sorry about this rant - you can see how a little thing like this can cause problems.