Tier 2 Compliance: What’s new?
Things are getting tougher for those UK employers needing to bring in talent from overseas.
In the ever sterner world of UK immigration the Home Office is becoming stricter on Tier 2 compliance, looking for reasons to restrict sponsors in the amount of skilled migrants they employ.
As specialists in UK immigration, we have noticed a recent increase in extra measures being used by the Home Office in order to ascertain whether or not the employer has exhausted all other avenues before turning to the overseas labour market in order to fill a vacancy.
When applying to employ a non EU-national, sponsor organisations must already supply the Home Office with extensive information about the position they wish to fill.
It is becoming common practise, however, for the Home Office to request from the sponsor full details of the completed Resident Labour Market Test (RLMT), before the employment application will be considered.
The RLMT must be completed for each migrant employment case in order to prove that the company has advertised the vacancy in the UK for the specified amount of time, as is legally required. This is to ensure that the sponsor has explored all possibilities when recruiting UK talent before turning to the skilled global market.
In the past, the Home Office would trust sponsors to conduct and complete the RLMT as required, whereas now the sponsor is often asked during the application process to prove the satisfactory completion of the test by providing the Home Office with:
- Copies of all job advertisements stating the dates and the length of time for which they were displayed;
- Evidence of all applicants who applied; and
- The reasons for which these applicants were found to be unsuitable for the role in question.
As the laws surrounding UK immigration tighten and UK employers are asked time and time again to evidence the necessity of recruiting employees from outside the European Union, employers should be prepared to provide far more information for each Tier 2 employee application they make.
Smith Stone Walters is a UK immigration practice, specialising in corporate and individual immigration strategies. Click here to find out more about our services.
