News Archive

“All Change!” Overhaul of the UK’s immigration system gains momentum
Thursday, 4 December 2008

On 27th November, the UK introduced Tiers 2 and 5 to the Points Based System (PBS) joining the up and running Tier 1 category, which incorporates General Migrants, (formerly the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme), Investors and Entrepreneurs, (formerly businessmen and innovator categories). Tier 2 now incorporates the Sponsored Skilled Worker category, whilst Tier 5 establishes the Youth Mobility Scheme.

The UK also waived goodbye to a number of previous immigration categories, including:

For some of these categories, an equivalent has been introduced under the PBS, for example, the requirements for entry as an investor or businessman have changed little. However, others, such as the working holidaymaker and retired person of independent means provisions are gone for good.

Tier 2 – Sponsored Skilled Workers – What an employer needs to know
Thursday, 4 December 2008

The work permit scheme has been replaced with the less snappily entitled “Points Based System, Tier 2 – Skilled Sponsored Workers”.
Previously an employer would need to supply evidence to the United Kingdom Border Agency (UKBA) to demonstrate that it was a legitimate trading entity, that it had a genuine need to recruit the overseas national, and that there were no suitably qualified resident workers that could fulfil the role.

Under the new PBS Tier 2 scheme, an employer must now apply for a licence to sponsor overseas workers wishing to apply to enter the UK. Once it has been granted a licence, it will then need to issue a Certificate of Sponsorship to any non-resident worker national it wishes to employ in the UK. The sponsored employee must then apply for a visa to enter the UK as a sponsored skilled worker under PBS Tier 2.

The Sponsorship Licence

A sponsorship licence application is completed online. Once the application is completed and payment has been made, the employer must then submit detailed documentation to UKBA to corroborate the information detailed in the application. The type of documentation to be submitted varies with the type of employer, e.g. private limited and public companies, charities, etc. All documentation to be submitted must be either an original document or a copy certified by a solicitor.

The fee for applying for a licence is determined by the size of the organisation.

Once the licence registration is approved, an employer will be supplied with details of how to issue Certificates of Sponsorship.

Issuing the Certificate of Sponsorship

The shift of emphasis from UKBA issuing work permits to employers issuing Certificates of Sponsorship places an executive burden on an employer, it means that they become gatekeepers of the UK’s new immigration system with significant penalties if they abuse the system, or even just get it wrong.

Employers must now keep very detailed records and can be audited by UKBA at any stage. Moreover, there are circumstances in which UKBA imposes an obligation on employers and managers to notify them of any breach of the immigration rules by an employee. Fines of up to £10,000 can be levied against the corporate body and individual complicit managers for any breach of the regulations.

All in all, the new PBS Tier 2 is a potential minefield for employers. We strongly recommend that any company seeking to obtain a licence, or to issue a Certificate of Sponsorship to a prospective employee, takes legal advice before doing so.

Tier 5 – Youth Mobility Scheme – Farewell to the working holidaymakers
Thursday, 4 December 2008

The much used working holidaymaker scheme, gateway to the UK for thousands of young Commonwealth citizens over the years, has been withdrawn. In its place, the United Kingdom Border Agency (UKBA) has introduced Tier 5 – the Youth Mobility Scheme (YMS). Essentially, in terms of requirements the YMS is a direct descendent of the working holidaymaker scheme. However, one material and little publicised difference is that it is no longer open to Commonwealth citizens per se, rather it is restricted to nationals of a very selective list of countries and certain classes of British citizen not otherwise allowed to live permanently in the UK. The YMS currently only extends to nationals of Australia, Canada and Japan.

The option for young people from New Zealand, South Africa, India et al to experience a working holiday in the UK has now been removed.

A further restriction on the number of likely applicants will follow from the requirement that applicants must hold at least £1,600 in their bank account on the date the application is submitted.

UKBA has introduced a mandatory ID card requirement for all students and those in the UK with permission as a spouse, civil partner or unmarried partner. Individuals wishing to extend their stay in the UK in one of these categories must now attend one the UKBA’s Public Enquiry Offices where biometric data will be taken for recording on the ID card. The aim of the scheme is to reduce immigration fraud, regulate the employment of foreign nationals and provide them with a ready means of demonstrating their permission to remain and work in the UK.

Dependents (including children) of a person in one of these categories are also subject to the ID card requirements.

The UK government has announced tough new sanctions to be imposed on family members of visitors who do not comply with the terms of their visa.

Sponsors will now need to be licensed before family members can visit from abroad under proposed changes to the visa system. Sponsors will have a duty to ensure that their visitors leave before their visa runs out. If sponsors fail in their duties, they face a ban on bringing anyone else over, penalties of up to £5,000 or a jail sentence.

Under the proposed new routes for sportspeople and entertainers, the following will now be able to enter the UK for up to six months:

Following widespread protest from immigration lawyers and human rights groups, the government has introduced an amendment to the rules introduced on 1 April 2008 which barred individuals from the UK for between 1-10 years for breach of previous immigration conditions.

The law, as it was initially drafted, was a disincentive to those people already in the UK illegally. The rule would effectively have penalised those taking the positive step of returning home and applying for a visa to re-enter the UK in the correct manner. Following an initial, cobbled together concession, announced in the House of Lords, the government has now acted to correct the Immigration Rules themselves. The ban on entry will not now apply to those individuals seeking to re-enter the UK as a:

fiance;
spouse or civil partner;
unmarried partner;
a dependent parent, grandparent or other dependent relative;
person exercising rights of access to a child; or
where the individual was under 18 at the time of the most recent breach of immigration law.

The UK Border Agency has released details of those employers given civil penalties for employing illegal migrant workers. Details can be found at:

www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/employersandsponsors/listemployerspenalties/

In a speech on 28 February, Chancellor Gordon Brown proposed that immigrants should be required to undertake community work before they are allowed to naturalise as British citizens. The Chancellor did not expand upon his proposal or offer a timescale as to when it may be introduced. Those applications already under consideration will not be affected by any changes.

We would encourage anybody considering an application for British citizenship to contact us to discuss their eligibility before any such proposals are introduced.

Immigration News Archive