UK IMMIGRATION POST BREXIT 2021 - November 2020 in partnership with - IC Resources
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recruitment partner to the global technology community
UK IMMIGRATION POST BREXIT 2021
November 2020
in partnership with
CONTENTS
3. Background
4. Sponsorship summary
5. Sponsor licence
6. Costs for obtaining sponsor licence
7. Existing sponsors: is your sponsor licence ready for the changes?
8. Skilled worker route
11. Case study
12. Shortage occupation list
13. Skilled workers – key points
14. Intra company transfer route
15. Considerations
16. Costs – work permit 3 years
17. Costs – work permit 5 years
18. Additional routes
20. Graduates and Interns
21. Business travellers
23. How can we help?
24. Contact details for support
Data accurate as at 25.10.20.
Policy can be changed or modified
by UK Government.BACKGROUND • Free movement rights under the current transitional arrangements end at 23:00 on 31 December 2020. • On 31 December 2020, freedom of movement between the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU) will end. From January 1st 2021, the main work and study route for EU passport holders will have the same requirements as they do now for non-EU citizens. • EU nationals residing in the UK on or before 31 December 2020 with an intention to re- main in the UK, must apply for Pre-Settled or Settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme to protect existing right to reside and access to resident labour market. • EU nationals travelling to the UK after 31 December 2020 will need to obtain a visa prior to arrival for all categories other than as a short term visitor (both business or leisure) • This means that to bring an EU passport holder into the UK for work from 1 January 2021, you will need to have a sponsorship licence.
SPONSORSHIP SUMMARY • Those joining/arriving in the UK after 31st December will require sponsorship. • The application will need to be submitted prior to travelling to the UK – lead time for applications must be factored in to hiring processes. • Two sponsored routes remain open with differing criteria. • Skilled Worker – no advertising or cap, minimum salary threshold of £25,600, skill level at A Level or above, no maximum limit on stay however applicants must hold an English language qualification to apply. • Intra Company Transfer – no advertising or cap, minimum salary threshold of £41,500, skill level at Graduate level, maximum limit of 5 years in any six on a rolling basis (unless a high earner), no English language qualification required. • If you wait to obtain this licence to sponsor there will likely be an application backlog at the beginning of 2021 so it’s beneficial to apply now. • You can find more detailed information about New Immigration System here.
SPONSOR LICENCE • Applying for, and being granted a Sponsor Licence will involve an employer (UK entity) agreeing to fulfil all UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) sponsorship duties. • The UKVI may conduct a pre-licence visit and once the licence is granted the compliance visit will occur. • You must designate certain roles to staff members in the UK who will assume responsibilities for the sponsor licence. Key personnel must be permanently based in the UK for the duration of the period that they fill the role you have appointed them to and be a paid member of your staff (or engaged by you as an office holder) • As part of the sponsor licence process, you will need to: – complete an online form, – submit at least four corporate supporting documents (original or certified copies), – provide a cover letter and company’s current organisational chart. The sponsor licence application can take up to 8 weeks to be processed once all documents have been submitted to the Home Office. You cannot hire/sponsor any migrant workers (including EU nationals) until your sponsor licence is approved.
COSTS TO OBTAIN SPONSOR LICENCE
FEE FOR SMALL OR FEE FOR MEDIUM OR
CHARITABLE SPONSORS LARGE SPONSORS
Government (Home £536 £1,476
Office) Fees
Newland Chase £3,000 £3,000
Your company will be ‘small’ if it has any 2 of the following:
Management Fees *
• a turnover of £10.2 million or less
• £5.1 million or less on its balance sheet
• 50 employees or less
Note: If you wait to obtain this licence to sponsor there will likely be an application backlog at the beginning of
2021 so it’s beneficial to apply ASAP”.EXISTING SPONSORS: Is your sponsor licence ready for the changes? Key considerations may include: • A review of the current HR systems in place against UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) requirements – is the licence fully compliant? • Key personnel and licence profile – is the licence up to date with regard to those involved with the organisation’s immigration activity, the company’s details and addresses? • Organisation structure – does the licence reflect the full extent of the business? Does the company have European entities that may need to be included for transfers going forward? Does the business have multiple premises in the UK where sponsored workers might now be based? • Licence ‘awareness’ – does the business have a solid grasp of how the licence works and who will require sponsorship from January 2021? Are processes in place to capture the requirements for an expanded population with immigration conditions? • Licence validity – is the licence due for renewal and can this be submitted early?
SKILLED WORKER ROUTE
(rebranded name for a Tier 2 General route)
The points-based system will include a route for skilled workers,
both EU and non-EU citizens, who meet the following requirements:
Job offer from a Home Office Speak
Speak Criminality
Criminality
approved sponsor English threshold
English Threshold
Skill level What’s new for the skilled worker route?
RQF3 (A-Level and
equivalent) and above
• No cap on numbers
• No Resident Labour Market Test
• Expanded skills threshold
Relevant Salary now RQF3 (A Level and equivalent)
General threshold or going • General salary threshold drops to £25,600
rate whichever is higher • Tradeable points• EU and non-EU citizens alike will need to demonstrate they meet a specific set of
requirements for which they will score points.
• Every applicant must score at least 70 points to be eligible for the skilled worker route.
• 50 of these points must come from meeting a mandatory set of criteria.
Job offer from an
approved sponsor
Non- Skill level RQF3 or Total
Non-tradeable Total
tradeable above (A Level and 50 points
points 50 points
Points equivalent)
English languageThe remaining 20 points can be made up by trading points in one entry from each of the two categories (‘salary’ or ‘other’) below. Applicants must earn more than the lower limit of £20,480 (80% of general salary threshold of £25,600) in order to be eligible to trade points. a. Salary at 80% of relevant salary = 0 points b. Salary at 90% of relevant salary = 10 points c. Salary at 100% of relevant salary = 20 points a. PhD in a subject relevant to the job = 10 points b. PhD in a STEM subject relevant to the job = 20 points c. Shortage occupation role = 20 points d. Applicant is a recent UK graduate or under the age of 26 = 20 points
CASE STUDY
Characteristic Points
Mandatory Offer of a job by an 20
Anna wants to come to the UK to approved sponsor
work and has been offered a job
as an Electronics Engineer for a Mandatory Job at an appropriate skill 20
salary of £45,000. She meets all level
the mandatory criteria, scoring 50 Mandatory English language skills at 10
points. level B1 (intermediate)
Anna’s salary is above the going TOTAL 50
rate of £33,400 for Electronics
Engineer so she scores 20 points
Tradeable Salary is above going rate 20
for salary. for the profession
In this instance Anna also scores Tradeable Job in a shortage 20
the 20 extra points by having a job occupation (as designated
offer in a shortage occupation. by the MAC)
TOTAL 40
GRAND TOTAL = 90 POINTSSHORTAGE OCCUPATION LIST Job at appropriate skill level above relates to the Skills Shortage list. In order to successfully sponsor someone from outside of the UK including an EU Passport holder (but excluding Irish nationals), they will need to get 70 points under the points based system. Fortunately, Electronics Engineering including IC Design is included in the official skills shortage lists and awards the candidate with 20 out of the 70 points. You can find a full shortage occupation list here. 2124 Electronics Engineers All jobs in this occupation code 2122 Mechanical engineers All jobs in this occupation code 2126 Design and development engineers All jobs in this occupation code 2136 Programmers and software development professionals All jobs in this occupation code 2135 IT business analysts, architects and systems designers All jobs in this occupation code 2129 Engineering professionals not elsewhere classified All jobs in this occupation code
SKILLED WORKERS (Key points) • There will be no cooling off period. • There will be no limit on the number of years a person can hold a Skilled Worker visa. • The cap, limiting the number of applicants from outside the UK, will be suspended. • The resident labour market test will be removed from the process. • The minimum skill level of a qualifying role will be reduced to A Level. • Most applicants will need to earn at least £25,600 per year, as opposed to the current threshold of £30,000. Salary for applicants who meet the ‘new entrant’ definition (UK graduates and those under 26) will be 30% lower. • It will be possible to trade points for roles paying a salary of between £20,480 – £25,600 per year if the role is a shortage occupation. • The minimum salary threshold for Indefinite Leave to Remain will be adjusted so applicants must earn the occupation code rate.
INTRA COMPANY TRANSFER ROUTE Requirements • Must have been employed for at least 12 months (or three months if a graduate trainee) by the organisation overseas before applying for sponsorship by the UK business (overseas entity must be linked to the UK entity by common ownership) • Exemption to the qualifying period of employment only applies if the applicant will be earning a salary of £73,900 or above. • The UK role must be at graduate level (RQF 6), and meet the minimum salary threshold of £41,500 per annum (or £23,000 per annum for a graduate trainee) • No English language requirement. Updates • Intra-Company Transfer (ICT) migrants will be allowed to switch into the Skilled Worker route from the UK (if eligible) which was previously prohibited. This includes those already holding a Tier 2 ICT visa under the rules in place before 1 January 2021 • ICT migrants can only hold an ICT visa for a maximum period of five years in any six-year period (High earners may continue to extend for up to nine years) • High earner threshold will be reduced from £120,000 to £73,900.
CONSIDERATIONS • The Skilled Worker route will open on 01 December 2020. • From that date all prospective Tier 2 applicants will need to meet the Skilled Worker criteria and will be granted leave under the new rules – including those issued with a Tier 2 Certificate prior to 01 December who have not submitted an application by that date. • The Skilled worker route should allow for a shorter lead time with no advertising requirement or monthly cycle for restricted certificate applications. • Expectation of significant increase in volume of applications handled by Home Office - may impact timeframes once an application is submitted. • Visa costs – application fees as well as both Immigration Skilled Charge and Immigration Health Surcharge will apply to all sponsored workers which will include new EU national hires. • Sponsor compliance is critical to maintain ability to employ increased population of sponsored workers.
COSTS - WORK PERMIT 3 YEARS
Dependent
Work Permit Dependent
Fee (per child
(3 years) (spouse)
under 18)
Certificate of Sponsorship £199 per application £199 x x
£1000 per year or £364
Immigration Skills Charge per year for a small £3000 or £1,092 x x
company
Immigration Health Surcharge £624 per year £1,872 £1,872 £1,410
Route dependent – per
Home Office application fee £610 £610 £610
application
Total (medium or large company) £5,681 £2,482 £2,020
Total (small company) £3,773 £2,482 £2,020
*Dependents applying at the same time
*Government fees are subject to change. Optional priority service can be purchased for additional £212 for quicker processing
Detailed information on Immigration Health Surcharge
Immigration Skills Charge CalculatorCOSTS - WORK PERMIT 5 YEARS
Dependent
Work Permit Dependent
Fee (per child
(5 years) (spouse) under 18)
Certificate of Sponsorship £199 per application £199 x x
£1,000 per year or
Immigration Skills Charge £364 per year for a £5,000 or £1,820 x x
small company
Immigration Health Surcharge £624 per year £3,120 £3,120 £2,350
Route dependent –
Home Office application fee £1,220 £1,220 £1,220
per application
Total (medium or large company) £9,539 £4,340 £3,570
Total (small company) £6,359 £4,340 £3,570
*Dependents applying at the same time
*Government fees are subject to change. Optional priority service can be purchased for additional £212 for quicker processing
Detailed information on Immigration Health Surcharge
Immigration Skills Charge CalculatorADDITIONAL ROUTES Highly Skilled Workers • This route expects to permit the entry of a limited number of highly skilled workers without an explicit job offer. • Date to be confirmed – currently in consultation stage with Migration Advisory Committee. Graduate (Post Study Work) • Allows UK graduates to extend stay in the UK following completion of their studies. • Unsponsored route. • May work at any skill level. • Expected to launch in Summer 2021 for those completing a UK degree from 2021 onwards. Frontier Worker Permit • Employed or self-employed in the UK but live elsewhere. • Eligible if frontier working in the UK by 31 December 2020. • From 01 July 2021 individuals will need to hold a valid Frontier Work Permit, as well as a valid passport or national ID card to enter the UK as a Frontier Worker.
ADDITIONAL ROUTES
Global Talent Visa
• This route expects to permit the entry of talented and promising individuals in the
fields of science, engineering, medicine, humanities, digital technology and arts and
culture (including film and television, fashion design and architecture) wishing to
work in the UK.
• Applicants will be leaders in their field, or have the potential to be leaders, as
determined by an endorsing body that is approved by the Home Office.
• You can apply for a Global Talent visa if you work in a qualifying field and have been
endorsed:
– as a leader (exceptional talent)
– as an emerging leader (exceptional promise)
– under the UK Research and Innovation endorsed funder option
• Your application will be reviewed by an organisation that’s related to your qualifying
field, called an ‘endorsing body’
• You can apply to stay for between 1 and 5 years. You can choose the visa validity
period.GRADUATES AND INTERNS Tier 4 (Student) • Work permitted as per Biometric Residence Permit. • Degree level students permitted to work 20 hours per week during term time and full time during vacation periods and on completion of course. Graduate (Post Study Work) • Unsponsored route. • Granted for 2 years. • May switch into Skilled Worker from within the UK. Tier 5 Government Authorised Exchange • Requires sponsorship under specified programme. • Limited to 12 months. • Under new rules can switch to Skilled Worker from within UK.
BUSINESS TRAVELLERS
(No work)
• May travel to the UK for up to six months in any rolling 12 month period.
• Activities must be directly linked to employment overseas and activities carried out as
a visitor are mostly incidental. There is no restriction on visitors keeping in contact with
their overseas employer while in the UK.
• Salary must be received from overseas although reasonable travel and living expenses
may be received from sources in the UK.
• No UK employment or payroll as a general rule.
• From 01 January 2021 EU nationals without alternative immigration status may be
entered to the UK as visitors and limited by the scope of the activities permitted within
this route.
• Issues arising from visitors undertaking prohibited activities on behalf of a UK
employer will have a direct impact on sponsor status.
• Visit activities are primarily ‘hands off’ and should not constitute productive work.BUSINESS TRAVELLERS Permissible activities (full list) • Attend meetings, conferences, seminars, interviews. • Give a one-off or short series of talks and speeches provided these are not organised as commercial events and will not make a profit for the organiser. • Negotiate and sign deals and contracts provided any work agreed to is carried out either outside the UK, or by UK colleagues with the correct work permission to do so. • Attend trade fairs, for promotional work only provided you are not directly selling. • Carry out site visits and inspections. • Gather information for employment overseas – this can include discussions with clients or UK colleagues. • Be briefed on the requirements of a UK based customer provided any work for the customer is done outside of the UK. In addition, where the visitor is already employed and paid outside the UK, they must remain so. Visitors must not receive payment from a UK source for any activities undertaken in the UK, except for reasonable expenses to cover the cost of their travel and subsistence, including fees for directors attending board-level meetings.
HOW CAN WE HELP? Our Global Visa Partner Newland Chase is a wholly owned subsidiary of CIBT. Newland Chase is the leading global provider of immigration and visa services for corporations and individuals with over 1,700 expert immigration and visa professionals, attorneys and qualified migration consultants located in over 70 offices in 25 countries. Newland Chase has an unrivalled understanding of the sponsor licence process, offering a full range of services including full system audits and recommendations tailored to your business. Newland Chase provides end to end support, including: • Assistance with Sponsor Licence applications. • Collation and review of all supporting documentation. • Completion and submission of all visa application forms. • Booking of local visa appointment. Guidance on visa application process and act as point of contact with local government authorities. • Arranging for translations/certifications where needed. • Follow-up with government authorities where necessary. • Post-grant assistance, if required. Compliance is critical when you’re reliant on a licence to employ a specialist workforce – we are on hand to assist employers in navigating the complexities.
THANK YOU! Contact Newland Chase today to find out more about their services. Don’t forget to mention IC Resources for a discounted rate. Nargiz Garadaghi - Business Development Manager nargiz.garadaghi@newlandchase.com Mobile: + 44 (0)7824 384 708 www.newlandchase.com Regulated by the OISC F201400912 Contact IC Resources for an informal chat on your hiring or career plans. Hive 2, 1530 Arlington Business Park, Theale, Berkshire. RG7 4SA. +44 (0)118 988 1150 ic-resources.com
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