Extra skills levy for IT & technology sector

The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) recently proposed the introduction of a skills levy for the employers of Tier 2 migrants.

But did you know that the Immigration Skills Charge, as named by the MAC in its recent report, could be tripled for the employers of Tier 2 ICT migrants?

Given that a high percentage of Tier 2 ICT migrants are employed within the IT and technology sectors, any skills levy, let alone one of such proportions, could severely disadvantage the UK’s IT industries.

The Intra-company Transfer (ICT) route is a Tier 2 sub-category which allows multinational companies to transfer key personnel from their overseas branches to the UK for a temporary period of time. As part of a crackdown on the large number of companies who use this immigration route to transfer employees to a UK branch of their business before subcontracting them out to a third-party project or site, the MAC has suggested that an additional skills levy of up to £2,000 is introduced for the employers of migrant workers coming to the UK via this route.

This measure could result in an minimum skills levy of up to £3,000 per Tier 2 ICT migrant employee, per year for which their UK visa is valid.

The MAC admits that the additional skills levy is designed to reduce the UK’s reliance on skilled overseas labour, and to encourage the upskilling of the native workforce.

It is not yet clear when the Immigration Skills Charge for Tier 2 sponsors will be introduced, nor has the additional skills charge for the Tier 2 ICT route been confirmed.

It is, however, highly likely that an Immigration Skills Charge will be introduced at some point over the coming year.