Increasing salary requirements for Tier 2 ICT
The Tier 2 Intra-company Transfer (ICT) route is due to undergo significant change over the next six months, including an increased minimal salary requirement for Short Term, applicants in October.
This short term visa route is used by UK employers to transfer non-EEA employees to the UK within their organisation to a skilled Tier 2 role for a maximum of 12 months.
The minimum salary required for a Tier 2 ICT Short Term visa applicant currently stands at £24,800, but this will increase to £30,000 from October this year.
This will affect the recruitment budgets of many employers in the UK, and preparations should be made in order to absorb these extra costs as needed.
Such preparation will be even more essential in the face of further changes planned for the route in April 2017, when the Short Term sub-category of the Tier 2 ICT visa route will close to new applications indefinitely.
This will mean that all Tier 2 ICT applications, both long and short term, will have to be submitted under the same category and will therefore be subject to the same category requirements.
As a result, any employer wishing to transfer an international employee to a UK base for less than twelve months as of April next year will have to commit to the far higher Tier 2 ICT Long Term minimum salary requirement of £41,500.
Smith Stone Walters is a UK immigration practice which specialises in the success of corporate and individual immigration strategies. If you are concerned as to how these new costs will affect your business, contact us as soon as possible.