Immigration Roundup

Starting from April of this year, employers who sponsor overseas workers in the UK with a Tier 2 status will be required to pay the Immigration Skills Charge (the ISC). The charge is due to be set at £1000 per overseas worker per year or at the reduced rate of £364 per annum per worker for small or charitable organisations.

How and when the payments are to be made has not yet been announced, however, it is likely that the money will be payable in full at the beginning of a sponsorship period (when the certificate of sponsorship is assigned).

To save unnecessary costs, employers should consider now whether to bring forward recruitment processes for new employees or applications for extension of Tier 2 status for existing employees to ensure that they are completed before the ISC is imposed.

In addition, employers recruiting Tier 2 workers from overseas as new employees should be aware that there is likely to be higher than usual demand for the limited number of Tier 2 Restricted Certificates of Sponsorship as employers seek to beat the start date for the ISC. This may mean that the number of certificates required is smaller than those available for only the third time since the imposition of the cap in 2011.

The ISC is seen by the Government as a key step towards reducing employer reliance on migrant workers and incentivising employment and training of resident workers. However, there will be exemptions for PhD level jobs and for international students switching their status to Tier 2 workers from within the UK in a measure to ensure that the UK continues to attract talented students and protect the UK's world-class reputation for education and research.

...