March Tier 2 migrant quota:
over-subscribed again?

13 March 2018

As we reported in February, the demand for Tier 2 Restricted Certificates of Sponsorship (RCoS) exceeded supply for the third month in a row. As a result, skilled migrants from overseas who had already been offered jobs in the UK were being blocked from arriving in December 2017,and  January and February 2018 . We predict this situation will reoccur in March.

Each month, a certain number of RCoS available for allocation is set aside. The figure for March 2018 is set at 1,256. (To put this into context, in March 2017, the total was 2,331.) It is our understanding that, when the application deadline was reached earlier this week, the Home Office had already received more than 2,000 RCoS requests.

While the Home Office will not comment on how it sets its limits, it is obvious that the number of RCoS that are certain to be declined in March will therefore run into the hundreds, with many unsuccessful requests being likely to be resubmitted for consideration in next month’s allocation.

This will no doubt have a knock-on effect on businesses whose plans to employ skilled migrant workers will be once again be delayed.

Seamus Nevin, head of policy research for the Institute of Directors, remarked in January: ‘It is to nobody’s benefit that [the Home Office] are currently blocking people from coming to this country to work in jobs where they are vitally needed.’

In the past three months, only those who are guaranteed a salary over £50,000 per annum have managed to secure their requested Tier 2 RCoS.

We hope that, as was the case last year, when the Home Office announces the annual quota of RCoS available for 2018-19, that the number is front-loaded from the start of the financial year, to allow for higher recruitment demand during the summer months.

However, the allocation for April 2018 will need to be reset to at least 2017’s level of 2,200 in order to prevent another shortfall and the loss of talent that businesses cannot continue to afford.

Did you know? 

Anyone seeking admission to fill a vacancy with a salary of £159,600 or above, those connected with the specific inward investment provisions, and all in-country applications (with the exception of Tier 4 dependant switchers) are not affected by the cap.

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