On 14^th November 2011 the UK Border Agency introduced changes to the Shortage Occupation List. These changes are based on recommendations received from the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) in relation to skills that are in shortage in the UK, or are no longer in shortage.

Positions on the Shortage Occupation List do not need to be advertised by the employer before a migrant worker can be employed, as there is an accepted shortage of resident workers able to fill these skilled roles.

These positions have been added to the Shortage Occupation List:

• actuaries;
• high integrity pipe welders;
• environmental scientists; and
• geochemists.

The following positions have been removed from the Shortage Occupation List:

• secondary education biology teachers;
• speech and language therapists;
• pharmacists;
• orthoptists;
• veterinary surgeons; and
• rank and file orchestral musicians.

Those positions that have been removed from the Shortage Occupation List will now be subject to the Resident Labour Market Test, i.e. they will need to be advertised to check that there is no resident worker who can fill the role.

Advertising must be carried out in line with the UK Border Agency’s guidelines, and appropriate evidence must be kept.

If you need help completing the Resident Labour Market Test, or with any other requirement, please contact us.

In line with the UK Border Agency’s request, the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has recently suggested a number of options aimed at reducing settlement from skilled workers. Rather than a ‘do nothing’ option that the MAC mentioned in its response, which would nevertheless see settlement levels drop due to increasingly stricter requirements to enter the UK, the UK Border Agency has announced that it will likely introduce a minimum salary as a requirement for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR).

The range within which the minimum salary should be set has been outlined as £31,000 – £49,000. The MAC report does suggest that some exceptions should be allowed to this bracket, so that key industry sectors with comparatively low salaries (e.g. nurses) are not excluded from settlement. However, the UK Border Agency has not yet clarified whether such exceptions will be worked into the new rules.

The UK Border Agency states that this salary requirement for settlement will not have any direct affect until 2016, five years after its introduction, as Tier 2 migrants need to have completed five years in the UK before they can apply for ILR.

It is unclear when in 2011 the new rules will be considered to have started. There was mention, in the initial consultation document published in June 2011, of new settlement rules being backdated to April 2011. The new rules would therefore include any Tier 2 migrants who entered the UK under the ‘cap’, in place since April 2011. However, the UK Border Agency’s statement on 8^th November outlines that the required income threshold will be set for migrants at the time of entry to the UK. In this case, it should not be possible for the requirements to be backdated and should only affect Tier 2 migrants who enter the UK once the new rules have been clarified and introduced. We await further clarification on this point.

Tier 2 ICT visas are already capped at five years, after which the individual must leave the UK. Those Tier 2 General migrants who do not meet the salary requirement would also be required to leave the UK after this five year period is complete.

If you’d like us to carry out a free initial assessment of your case for Indefinite Leave to Remain, please contact us.

The Tier 1 (Post Study Work) scheme closing in April 2012 – don’t miss your chance to apply!

The Tier 1 (Post Study Work) scheme is aimed at graduates from UK institutions who wish to stay in the UK after completing their course of study. The visa is issued for two years and offers the most freedom of any current work-related visa: you can work as self-employed, as an employee in any position or a combination of the two. For more information, see our main Tier 1 (Post Study Work) article here.

We can normally obtain a Premium appointment at the Croydon Public Enquiry Office within 3 – 4 weeks. A decision on the application is then made within 48 hours of submission, compared to a processing time of around 10 – 12 weeks for a postal application. We suspect that the processing time for postal applications will increase further, due to the increased number of applications submitted before the scheme is abolished.

Please note that the closure of the category will be final. Tier 1 (Post Study Work) applications can usually be made up to 12 months after the date of award, however closure of the category will cut short this window of opportunity for potential applicants.

You don’t need to have your original certificate to make the application – we can provide you with a ‘tried and tested’ template for the letter from your University, as part of our service, to ensure that you meet the UK Border Agency’s strict requirements.

The application must be made by April 2012, but we recommend that you contact us as soon as possible, as our Premium appointment requests are filling up quickly.

Alternatively, we can help with a postal application, with a processing time of around 10 – 12 weeks. It is important that you get this application right first time as the deadline approaches – there may not be time to reapply if you initially make an unsuccessful application on your own.

Please contact us for a free initial assessment of your case.

Taiwan joins the Youth Mobility Scheme

The Tier 5 Youth Mobility Scheme allows nationals of participating countries to spend up to 2 years in the UK, during which time they are free to work.

Taiwan is now a participant of the Youth Mobility Scheme, since joining in November this year.

The full list of nationalities that can participate in the Youth Mobility Scheme is:

• Taiwan;
• Japan;
• Australia;
• Monaco;
• Canada;
• New Zealand; and
• British Nationals (Overseas).

There is a limit of 1000 places on the scheme in 2012 for Taiwanese nationals.

1000 application places will be distributed at random within the pool of people who express their interest in the scheme. To officially express interest, Taiwanese nationals should contact the National Youth Commission through their website between 1^st December and 20^th December 2011. From this pool of people, 1000 will be contacted with details of how to apply.

Changes for Japanese nationals

There is a limit of 1000 places on the scheme in 2012 for Japanese nationals.

In previous years, application places had been allocated on a first come first served basis. However, this year, the 1000 application places will be distributed at random within the pool of people who express their interest in the scheme.

To officially express interest, Japanese nationals should email YMS2012-APPOINTMENT@vfshelpline.com between 12pm on Wednesday 4^th January and 12pm on Friday 6^th January 2012 (Japan time). From this pool of people, 1000 will be contacted with details of how to apply.

Japanese nationals living outside Japan should follow the same process to apply for a place.

To find out if you may qualify for the Youth Mobility Scheme, please contact us.

The UK Border Agency has recently released a public consultation, looking mainly at routes to settlement.

It is important to note that the possible changes outlined below are only at consultation stage. No changes will be finalised before the consultation closes on 9^th September.

Changes to the Immigration Rules are usually introduced in April of each year, so we expect that any changes adopted from this consultation will come into force in April 2012.

The UKBA has stated that any changes will apply to people who first entered the affected categories from April 2011 onwards, thereby affecting a small number of people already in the UK as well as people entering the UK after the changes have been implemented. We await further clarification on this point.

Tier 1

The UKBA has proposed that limited leave (visas with expiry dates) under Tier 1 be restricted to 5 years in total. Migrants will continue to qualify for settlement (ILR) as they do currently. However, any migrants that do not qualify for settlement would not be able to extend their temporary leave. They would therefore need to leave the UK after 5 years.

Tier 2

The UKBA has proposed that Tier 2 become a temporary category, with Tier 2 migrant having no automatic route to settlement (ILR) in the UK. They suggest that the ‘best’ Tier 2 migrants could either be given a different visa from the start, leading to settlement, or be allowed to switch into a new category after 3 years in the UK. In both cases, the qualifying period for ILR would remain 5 years. The UKBA has suggested several possible methods of choosing which Tier 2 migrants should be able to qualify for settlement, including a lottery system or a points test. There may also be a limit on the number of people allowed to qualify for settlement.

Any migrants who were not chosen to enter or switch into the new category leading to settlement would have their total leave under Tier 2 capped at 5 years. Therefore, any Tier 2 migrants not selected to settle would have to leave the UK at the end of 5 years.

Furthermore, the UKBA suggests that these migrants would then have to spend a minimum period of 12 months outside the UK before applying for another Tier 2 visa.

As outlined above, the UK Border Agency has stated that those who entered Tier 2 before April 2011 should not be affected by any potential changes brought into force after the consultation.

English language for dependants

The UKBA proposes to introduce an English language requirement for dependants, where the main applicant’s visa leads to settlement. The suggested level would be A1 of the CEFR; a basic English language level.

Potentially, dependants of Tier 2 migrants entering with the new visa leading to settlement, or switching into the new route for settlement after 3 years in the UK, would have to demonstrate their English language ability at this stage.

Tier 4

There are no further proposed changes to Tier 4, as it does not lead to settlement.

Tier 5

The UKBA has suggested capping the total leave of migrants in the UK under the Tier 5 temporary workers category to 12 months. Currently, some Tier 5 leave can be extended for up to 6 years.

In addition, the UKBA proposes to remove the provision for dependants to join Tier 5 migrants in the UK. Currently, the spouse and children of some Tier 5 migrants are able to join them in the UK, and are usually free to work in the UK.

The Tier 5 Youth Mobility Scheme will be unaffected by these proposals.

Overseas domestic workers – in private households

The UKBA has suggested that most overseas domestic workers should be granted entry to the UK as visitors, thereby limiting their stay to 6 months. Only overseas domestic workers employed by Tier 1 and Tier 2 migrants would be allowed to stay for a longer period, with their leave being capped at 12 months. Currently, overseas domestic workers can extend their stay in the UK, and can qualify for settlement after 5 years.

In addition, the UKBA proposes removing the provision for dependants to join overseas domestic workers. Currently, the spouse and children of overseas domestic workers in private households are able to join them in the UK, and are usually free to work in the UK.

UK Ancestry

There are no proposed changes to the UK Ancestry category.

10 years Long Residence route to Indefinite Leave to Remain

The 10 years Long Residence route has not been mentioned in the UKBA’s current consultation document. However, it has previously been made clear that the UKBA would like to abolish this route to settlement. Unfortunately, there is no confirmation at this stage of whether the 10 years Long Residence route to settlement will remain unchanged.

Your opinion

This consultation is open to the public, and anyone is able to respond to the UKBA’s proposals.

The full consultation document is available here.

The response form is available here.

UK Work Permits would advise anyone who wishes to apply for a visa in any of the affected categories to apply as soon as possible. Please contact us for up to date information and guidance.

Further to earlier posts, the UK Border Agency has recently revealed more details on how the Annual Limit on Tier 2 migration will operate from 6th April 2011

Certificates of Sponsorship

From 6th April, Tier 2 Certificates of Sponsorship will be divided into two ‘notional’ categories, based on whether they will fall under the Limit:

Restricted Certificates of Sponsorship (Re CoS)

There will be an annual limit of 20,700 restricted CoS available to Tier 2 sponsors for the year commencing 6th April 2011.

In general, employers will need a Restricted CoS in order to sponsor a non-EEA national who is currently outside of the UK, so it is perhaps easier to define the situations that will not require Restricted CoS:

Unrestricted Certificates of Sponsorship (Un CoS)

From 6th April, there will be situations where Sponsors do not need to apply for a CoS that is subject to the Annual Limit. These situations are as follows:

• Tier 2 (Intra-Company Transfers);
• Tier 2 migrants or Work Permit holders with valid leave who are extending their stay or changing employer;
• Those in another category of stay applying to switch into the Tier 2 (General) category (where switching rules allow this). This includes those currently holding Student, Tier 4, or Tier 1 (Post-Study Work) visas;
• Those seeking admission to fill a vacancy attracting a salary of £150,000 or more.

There will be no limit on the number of CoS that Sponsors can issue to migrant workers in the situations described above. However the UKBA will expect employers to be reasonable in their requests for Unrestricted CoS, and Sponsors will need to provide reasons for requesting a particular number of these.

Restricted Certificates of Sponsorship

In order to obtain a Restricted Certificate of Sponsorship, Sponsors will need to apply to the UK Border Agency, in a manner similar to the system that has been in place since July 2010. The Annual Limit of 20,700 CoS will be divided up into a monthly limit of 1,500 (with 4,200 being available in the first month of the Limit, April 2011). The UKBA will award CoS to those applications that score the highest number of points in a specific published points test.

Points gained for Shortage Occupation List jobs will put these requests in front of the vast majority of non-Shortage Occupation requests. The UKBA has also defined a very short list of ‘PhD level’ jobs which gain additional points.

At each monthly panel meeting, the UKBA will award CoS to requests with the most points first. Where awarding CoS to all requests at a certain points level would exceed the number of CoS left for that month, the UKBA will only award up to 100 extra CoS per month, for requests which meet that particular points level. In this way, the actual monthly quota will probably fluctuate slightly each month (from the preliminary 1,500).

The UKBA accepts requests for Restricted CoS quotas via a new online system, and these requests can only be made within 3 months of the intended start date. Requests submitted by the 5th day of a month will be decided on the 11th day of the same month (the ‘Allocation Date’). Unlike under the Interim limit, it will no longer be possible to provide an ‘explanation’ as to why it is vitally important to the company that a CoS be issued. Requests will be decided purely on the basis of the number of points they score.

Once a Restricted CoS has been granted, it must be assigned within 3 months.

Unrestricted Certificates of Sponsorship

Where employers wish to sponsor migrant workers in situations that only require Unrestricted CoS (as defined above), this will be much more straightforward: employers will be given an annual quota of Unrestricted CoS at the start of each year. Sponsors have previously been given quotas to run for twelve months from the date of the approval of their Sponsor’s Licence. All annual quotas will now run from 6th April 2011 – 5th April 2012.

On 6th April, all Certificates of Sponsorship (both General and ICT) will be wiped from all Sponsor Management Systems. Employers will only receive a quota of Unrestricted CoS where they make a one off request for such a quota. For employers who applied by 11th March, a quota for Unrestricted CoS should be in place as of 6th April. If a sponsor has not applied before this deadline, they should apply as soon as possible: it isn’t clear how long the UKBA will take to consider these applications.

Changes to Tier 2 (General)

Graduate level

Significantly, as of 6th April, Tier 2 will be restricted to Graduate level jobs, or, to be more specific, jobs deemed to be at NVQ level 4. The UK Border Agency has published new sub-sets of the ‘Codes of Practice’, identifying roles and occupations in each level. The requirements apply as follows:
• In order to qualify for a Restricted CoS, the role will need to be identified as being at NVQ level 4.
• In order to qualify for most unrestricted CoS, the role in question will need to be at NVQ level 4.
• However, in the case of Change of Employment and work permit / Tier 2 extensions, a role deemed to be at NVQ level 3 will be adequate.

It will not be necessary for the applicant to hold a degree level qualification – the new requirement is merely an indication of the skill level of the role that the applicant will be engaged in.

This list of Graduate Level jobs is likely to prove highly contentious. It will not normally be possible for sponsors to successfully argue that a particular role is at graduate level if it appears to not be included in the NVQ 4 list. However in some industries it may be possible to ‘move’ the role up into a Code of Practice that is deemed to be at NVQ 4.

The requirement for roles to be at NVQ 4 (or higher) has also meant that all positions deemed to be below this level have been removed from the Shortage Occupation List, which has now been revised. More information on the revised Shortage Occupation list can be found here.

English Language requirement

Where applicants under the Tier 2 (General) scheme are not from a majority English language speaking country, and have not passed a degree level qualification taught in English, they will now need to pass an English Language Test at a higher level than previously (B1 on the Common European Framework of Reference, rather than A1). An IELTS score of 4.0 is currently deemed to be at level B1.

Changes to Tier 2 (Intra-Company Transfers)

Graduate level

As with the Tier 2 (General) scheme, the Tier 2 (Intra-Company Transfer) scheme will be restricted to Graduate level (NVQ 4) roles only.

Minimum salaries

In order to transfer staff to the UK for more than 12 months (up to a maximum of 5 years), the role must have a salary of more than £40,000 per year.

Individuals who are paid at least £24,000 per year will be permitted to come to the UK for up to twelve months.

In both of the above cases, a migrant worker will not be able to apply for a new Tier 2 (ICT) visa until 12 months after their last visa has expired, i.e. they will need to leave the UK for a year before coming back in under this scheme.

The annual limit means that CoS are in limited supply, and it is crucial that employers submit the correct requests in the correct timeframes and with appropriate explanations. Any employer requiring more information or assistance in this area should call one of our Consultants on 0845 226 4030.

The Government announced on 14^th March 2011 that it will remove 8 occupations from the Points Based System’s Shortage Occupation List in order to comply with the new requirements for all Tier 2 occupations to be skilled to at least National Qualifications Framework (NQF) level 4. Positions below this level will no longer be considered highly skilled enough to qualify for Tier 2 whether the position is in the Shortage Occupation List or not.

This requirement will apply to all Tier 2 (General) applications from 6^th April 2011, except for extensions from Tier 2 and Work Permits where the role is unchanged. I.e. individuals who already have a Tier 2 or Work Permit visa for a role on the ‘old’ shortage occupation list will still be able to extend their visas, even where the role has now been removed.

The occupations that will be removed will include skilled senior care workers as well as certain chef positions.

If an occupation is on the Shortage Occupation List, the likelihood of a request for a ‘restricted’ Certificate of Sponsorship for this position being successful is much higher than for an occupation not on the Shortage Occupation List. This is due to the way the UK Border Agency will now prioritise restricted Certificate of Sponsorship requests. The fact that a position is on the Shortage Occupation List also means that the company is not required to meet the residential Labour Market test for the position.

The full list of occupations to be removed from the Shortage Occupation List is as follows:

• High integrity pipe welder;
• Skilled meat boner;
• Skilled meat trimmer;
• Airframe fitter;
• Site supervisor within electricity transmission of distribution industry;
• Skilled work rider;
• Skilled sheep shearer;
• Skilled senior care worker.

Please note that the removal of the skilled senior care worker role will not affect those seeking sponsorship as care home managers or nurses working in care homes. These are separate roles which are considered to be skilled to NQF level 4.

Additionally, some job titles are subject to amendment. Chef jobs on the list will be restricted to those requiring a minimum of 5 years experience at the same or higher status, and paying at least £28,260 per year (after deductions for meals and accommodation). The position must not be in a fast food outlet or an establishment which provides take-away services, or where ‘standard fare’ is served (where dishes are not prepared from fresh/raw ingredients). The position itself must also be one of the following:

• Executive chef (limited to one per establishment)
• Head chef (limited to one per establishment)
• Sous chef (limited to one for every four kitchen staff per establishment)
• Specialist chef (limited to one per speciality per establishment)

For advice and information on whether a role will be considered for Tier 2 under the Shortage Occupation List, click here to contact us.

Following our earlier article, we can now announce that we expect an extremely limited number of same day appointments to be available in the next two weeks. Those interested in using the Tier 1 (General) Premium Service should call us on 0845 226 4030 immediately to avoid disappointment.

Demand for Premium Service (“Same Day”) appointments is at an all time high. Discounts are currently available for postal applications.

Following the announcement that Tier 1 General is due to be closed on 5^th April 2011, a large number of potential applicants have sought to submit their applications through the Premium (same day) service.

As a result, at the time of writing, it is effectively impossible for any legal representative organisation, or individual, to obtain extra premium service appointments for Tier 1 General applications. All legal representatives appear to be in the same position: all same day appointments for these applications are fully booked until the 5^th of April.

We are receiving large volumes of enquiries from concerned individuals who are desperate to obtain a same day appointment, and many individuals are understandably anxious and reluctant to admit defeat. Unfortunately, at the time of writing, there simply are no extra same-day appointment slots available.

We anticipate that this situation will result in a very large number of Tier 1 (General) applications being submitted by post around the end of March (when large numbers of people eventually give up on the possibility of obtaining a same-day appointment), and that this will in turn lead to a significant backlog at the UK Border Agency, and long delays for applicants.

Individuals who apply soon however are likely to receive a much quicker response from the UK Border Agency than those who apply towards the closure date. To encourage individuals to apply before the peak of this backlog, we are currently offering discounted consultancy fees relating to postal applications. Our fees are currently as follows:

-£675 +Vat for employed applicants

-£765 +Vat for self employed applicants

These discounted fees will be on offer until we have reached capacity for applications to be submitted prior to the end of March. Given the number of enquiries we are receiving, we expect this to be relatively soon.

We recommend that those interested in gaining approval under Tier 1 General before the scheme is closed, contact us for a free initial assessment of their case. Anybody wishing to discuss the situation regarding Premium Service appointments is also welcome to contact one of our consultants

Results of January 2011 UK Border Agency Panel Meeting

The UK Border Agency has recently published the results of its Panel Meeting from the beginning of January 2011. For an explanation of this process, please refer to our previous news article here.

This month, the UK Border Agency has awarded Tier 2 (General) Certificates of Sponsorship to requests for roles with a salary at or above the following:

For shortage occupation roles:                      £28,000 per annum

For non-shortage occupation roles:               £36,000 per annum

For several months prior to January 2011, the threshold salaries were set at £20,000 for shortage occupation roles and £32,000 for non shortage occupation roles. These new figures indicate that these thresholds are subject to change from month to month, and may well go down again for the two monthly panel meetings left before the permanent cap is introduced in April this year.

UK Work Permits would not discourage sponsors from submitting requests this month even if the request is for a role with a salary below the thresholds stated above. There is no fee for submitting a request, and if it is rejected, there is nothing to stop it being submitted the following month.

UK Work Permits is always happy to give free initial advice regarding the viability of requests for Certificates of Sponsorship, and the process of issuing those CoS once granted. If you would like to make a request or have any further queries, please contact us.