Tier 2 changes announced!
The government has announced impending changes to Tier 2, the UK’s skilled visa category, which will dramatically affect the way in which UK businesses recruit and employ workers from outside the EU.
The alterations to this immigration route and its subcategories have been revealed well ahead of their respective implementation dates, allowing businesses time to prepare themselves and their processes.
The first batch of changes will take place this autumn with a second set to follow in April 2017.
Notable changes include:
An increased minimum salary threshold for Tier 2 General applicants – autumn 2016 and April 2017
The minimum salary threshold for experienced workers applying for a Tier 2 (General) visa will be increased to £25,000 in autumn 2016, and to £30,000 in April 2017. This increase will not apply to certain public sector roles, such as nurses, paramedics and teachers, until July 2019. For new entrants, the minimum salary threshold will remain at £20,800.
An Immigration Skills Charge for UK employers – April 2017
The government has accepted the MAC’s recommendation of an Immigration Skills Charge payable by UK employers. UK organisations will be charged £1,000 per year, per Tier 2 employee, whilst a reduced rate of £364 will apply to small and charitable sponsors. Some visa routes, such as the Intra-company Transfer Graduate Trainee subcategory, will be exempt from the charge completely.
A simplified Tier 2 Intra-company Transfer (ICT) route – autumn 2016 and April 2017
The government intends to simplify this visa route by closing down the Tier 2 ICT sub-categories of Skills Transfer (autumn 2016) and Short Term (April 2017). From then on, all intra-company transferees will apply via the one remaining Tier 2 ICT visa route which will ensure that only leading specialists and senior managers are transferred to the UK.
The Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) for Tier 2 ICT applicants – autumn 2016
Applicants of the Tier 2 ICT visa category will no longer be exempt from this UK immigration charge which is payable upfront during the application process.
New measures to better facilitate the hiring of overseas graduates – autumn 2016
The government will increase the number of Tier 2 ICT Graduate Trainee places available to each UK company from five to twenty each year, with the minimum salary threshold for this category being reduced from £24,800 to £23,000.
Graduates will also be able to switch roles within the company once they have secured a permanent job at the end of their training programme and the government will give extra weighting to applications from sponsored overseas graduates during the Tier 2 visa application process.
Nurses to remain on the Shortage Occupations List
The government has agreed with the MAC’s recommended that nurses should remain on the shortage occupations list in order to ease the recruitment crisis currently faced by the NHS.
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