Tier 2 minimum salary requirement returns to normal

Five months after requests for Tier 2 restricted CoS first overwhelmed the number of skilled worker visas available to employers each month, the minimum salary requirement for this UK immigration route has finally returned to its original, and lowest possible level.

Recently published figures show that a whopping 2,100 restricted Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) were granted this month, as applications needed to score only 21 points and offer a salary no lower than £20,800 to the migrant employees in question, in order to become eligible for consideration.

This comes as a huge relief to UK employers who earlier this year experienced the shock of a £46,000 minimum salary requirement and a point score of at least 50, meaning that many applications were not considered for allocation at all.

These almost impossible requirements were the result of the monthly demand for restricted CoS outstripping supply in June 2015. Similar levels of over subscription have been seen every month since, and the Home Office consequently prioritised those requests which scored the most points.

This meant that over the past five months, the higher the salary offered by a restricted CoS application, the more points it would score and the higher the chances were of it being granted.

However this month’s figures suggest that recent changes to the system are indeed working.

Following the ensuing chaos, the Home office introduced new measures in order to maximise the system’s reach and to prevent a similar situation from occurring again. A new points table was unveiled just in time for October’s allocation which allows applications greater opportunity to accrue points.

These measures also enable the Home Office to reclaim any unused restricted CoS from employers if they have not been used during the first three months following their initial issuance. So far, this has proven to be very effective in freeing up a good portion of unused restricted CoS on a monthly basis, with 15% of November’s restricted CoS and 28% of October’s having already been reclaimed and reissued to new employers.

For the time being, these measures seem to have done the trick, appearing to go some way towards relieving the restrictions of the so-called migrant cap, which limits the amount of skilled migrants allowed to enter the country for work purposes on a monthly basis.

If you want to talk to a UK immigration specialist about your corporate or individual immigration plans, please contact Smith Stone Walters.