Can I hire a Canadian contractor?

[Cookie]

So a good friend in Canada is a fantastic carpenter and I would like him to work on our self build here in the UK. Does anyone have any clue if I would be able to hire him? I feel like it would be a tsunami of red tape and expense. There's a lot of work in our build for him, he has his own construction company in Canada, so I can't just have him over to visit and do a bit of work. He wants to bring tools etc so I want this above board! We trust him and his work hence the wanting to hire him. Any ideas?

[nod]

I don’t see why not 

As long as he doesn’t need a sponsor to come over 

Pay him each week like you would with a subie 

[markc]

He would need to apply for a working visa, explaining it will be just to work on your house and he will return at the end of the project. You will be his sponsor etc.

[pdf27]

20 minutes ago, markc said:

He would need to apply for a working visa, explaining it will be just to work on your house and he will return at the end of the project. You will be his sponsor etc.

"Construction Manager" (#1122) is on the shortage occupations list (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/skilled-worker-visa-eligible-occupations/skilled-worker-visa-eligible-occupations-and-codes), as is "Builder" (#5319) so it will be possible to get a visa.

You need to get approved as a sponsor before he can apply - that costs about £500 - and once you have it you can sponsor him to apply for a work visa.

[PeterW]

The work visa is much more stringent than previous and you need to use an approved route. If you “just” bring him in, and pay him cash, then at worst he will be deported and banned from entering the U.K. for a significant period, and you could also be fined 

 

Doing it properly is not easy or quick, and it can get very expensive. 
 

https://stepabroad.com/can-canadians-work-in-the-uk/

[Temp]

As I recall its a £10,000 fine.

 

Edit: Sorry its £20,000..

https://www.gov.uk/penalties-for-employing-illegal-workers#:~:text=You can be sent to,to work in the UK.

Edited April 15, 2021 by Temp

[Gus Potter]

8 hours ago, Cookie said:

So a good friend in Canada is a fantastic carpenter and I would like him to work on our self build here in the UK. Does anyone have any clue if I would be able to hire him? I feel like it would be a tsunami of red tape and expense. There's a lot of work in our build for him, he has his own construction company in Canada, so I can't just have him over to visit and do a bit of work. He wants to bring tools etc so I want this above board! We trust him and his work hence the wanting to hire him. Any ideas?

 

There is an old saying that if you want to keep a friend then don't do business with them.

 

I work with a few top craftsmen, they work on high end historic stuff to boot 30 + years experience, in fact many of them have forgotton more than I know!

 

What about a watching brief for your Canadian friend. Then you may get the best of both worlds?

 

I've made a few points on BH before about how say the Canadians / Americans do stair cases.. veneers, over cladding etc. It has not really caught on in the UK yet for modern building. Funnily we use a lot of these techniques on historic buildings but seem to not consider this when extending / self building.

 

A bit of input from over the water could give you something special at a good price.

 

What about a remote consultancy role with a "holiday at the end"

 

 

[Cookie]

Yes, that could work fine. I’m building a Canadian style home so using him works for us if he could be here & work on it. I’ll look into it further.