HL Deb 07 November 1996 vol 575 cc67-8WA
Viscount Waverley

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether spouses of (a) foreign diplomats, and (b) other foreign citizens engaged in commercial contracts in the United Kingdom, are precluded from taking paid employment in the United Kingdom.

Baroness Blatch

Spouses of foreign diplomats are exempt from immigration control and are therefore not precluded from taking employment. The immigration rules make no provision for the admission, as such, of the spouses of visitors or seasonal agricultural workers. Spouses of other foreign nationals are not precluded from taking employment, except in the case of spouses of retired persons of independent means and students admitted for less than 12 months.