The UK government will review the labour access restrictions imposed on Bulgarians and Romanians in a year time, a British interior official said in Sofia.

Under British legislation, local employers are allowed to hire highly qualified foreign workers only after providing enough evidence the qualifications required cannot be performed by a Brit.

According to Christoff Prince, officer at British Home Ministry, the UK will prefer teachers and IT specialists from Bulgaria.

The UK Home Office rolled out a campaign, aiming to inform the Bulgarian citizens about the new requirements for living and working in the country.

British employers violating the ban of unauthorized employment of Bulgarian or Romanian workers will be fined GBP 1,000, British Ambassador to Sofia Jeremy Hill said.

The UK decided to limit access to its labour market following the European Commission's recommendation to permit Bulgaria and Romania to join the EU on 1 January 2007.

From that date Romanians and Bulgarians will have the right to travel throughout the EU, but a number of member states have decided to close temporarily their labour markets for the two countries' citizens.

In the UK low-skilled workers from Romania and Bulgaria will be restricted to existing quota schemes to fill vacancies in the agricultural and food processing sectors. There will be no net increase in these existing schemes and workers will be required to have an authorisation document.

Skilled workers will be able to work in the UK - as now - if they get a work permit or qualify under the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme, if they are a student, are self employed or as their dependents.

These new arrangements will be reviewed within 12 months and the Government's proposed new Migration Advisory Committee will assist in this process taking account of the needs of our labour market, the impact of the accession and the positions adopted by other EU countries.

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