Tier 2 General/Tier 2 Intra-Company Transfer
If you are an employer interested in employing someone who is subject to immigration control you may have to get a Tier 2 Work Permit for them.
When a non-EEA migrant has been offered a job by a UK employer and they cannot apply under any other scheme (for example under Tier 1 General) they may need to apply under Tier 2 of the points-based system (formerly known as the work permit scheme).
The prospective employee needs their UK employer to "sponsor" them before they can take up the job offer in the UK. This will apply even if the prospective employee already works for the UK employer in a foreign branch of the company (Tier 2 Intra-Company Transfer).
All sponsors of non-EEA workers, ministers of religion, sportspeople or entertainers have to be licensed as sponsors if they wish to employ someone under immigration control.
The UK Border Agency (UKBA) is responsible for the issuing of sponsorship licences, monitoring sponsors and monitoring and enforcing the UK immigration regulations.
Sponsorship procedure:
1. A prospective sponsor applies to the UKBA to obtain a licence;
2. If successfully licensed, a sponsor can apply for a number of certificates of sponsorship for the candidates they intend to sponsor;
3. A prospective employee will be eligible to apply for UK entry clearance or further leave to remain once he/she has been issued with a certificate of sponsorship;
4. The sponsor will take responsibility for their employee during the whole period of stay in the UK to ensure that the employee conforms to the immigration regulations.
Our specialists will be able to provisionally assess whether your company or organisation might successfully qualify as a sponsor.
A certificate of sponsorship issued by an employer to a prospective employee does not by itself allow the prospective employee to take up the job offer. Once the certificate of sponsorship has been issued the employee must then either apply for a visa - if they are overseas - or, if they are in the UK, apply to have their immigration status changed - known as "switching" – to Tier 2 status. In some cases switching is not permitted, so it is vital that you know the rules about this before embarking on the application process.
In general terms, Tier 2 leave is only available for jobs requiring high levels of experience and skills. For example, somebody working as a qualified engineer or accountant or in a highly-skilled specialist occupation might qualify whereas somebody doing bar work or low-level clerical work would not.
An employer applying for a sponsor licence may be required to satisfy the "resident labour" test. This means that they must have advertised the vacancy and they must show that no suitable British or European candidate applied for the job. Not all employers need to advertise the vacancy though; the advertising rule is not applied when an employee is being transferred within a multi-national organisation. And if the job is within a “shortage occupation” there is no need for the resident labour test. There are also some other categories where it is not necessary.
Want to know more, or have your eligibility checked? Please complete our contact form.
