To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make a statement on the conditions which must be complied with by non-EC visitors to fulfil a speaking engagement in the United Kingdom; and whether an application form for a work permit must be completed on arrival.

People coming to fulfil speaking engagements in the United Kingdom, for example as participants in an international conference, may qualify as visitors under the immigration rules (HC251), but if the conference is being organised as a commercial venture, work permits are required for those providing services as speakers. A work permit must be obtained by the employer for the non-EC national before he or she arrives in the United Kingdom.