Recent developments in UK Tier 2 Visa Applicants

Details

Sajid Javid makes a change after reaching the Cap for Tier 2 Certificates of Sponsorship again

The monthly allocation limit of Tier 2 Certificates of Sponsorship was reached in May and June. This has happened for, seven months successively which is a record. Consequently, priority applications like those on the shortage occupation list, and also the PhD level occupations once again preceded many other applicants.

In majority instances the minimum salary to get sufficient points for a restricted Certificate of Sponsorship in June 2018, reached £60,000 for every year.  Nurses and Doctors were removed from the quota from 6^th July 2018. As a result more certificates are available for other categories. The persons who switch from within the UK like Tier 4 Visa Students finishing their degree, or those present on Tier 2 General Visas, need not have the restricted Certificate of Sponsorship.

Other details

More employees, having an employer with a tier 2 sponsorship license, can apply for a Tier-2 Visa. There is a feeling that that this will not be sufficient. The situation in skills shortages will be worse following the exit of Britain from the EU.

The applications filed by 5^th May, 2018 for Restricted Certificates of Sponsorship, in which applicants had an annual payment of less than £50,000 were denied. There were exceptions for job position for  vacancies in PhD-level , or for those on the Shortage Occ.  List, or who got a priority for other considerations. The situation was comparatively worse in June 2018.

After the Meeting for Tier 2 Visa Allocation, the number of Certificates available for June 2018 is 2,052, as per the data of UK Visas and Immigration.

The scenario

The authorities published the report for May saying that the figures were correct as on 22^nd May, 2018. UK employers face a struggle for recruiting skilled workers from non-EU areas for essential job vacancies. The reason is short availability of CoS. The trend of reaching of visa cap commenced in Dec- 2017. Recently there were extensive reports of an increase in UK visa refusal by the Home Office.

Request to Government to increase Certificate allocation

Employers of all industry sectors requested the government for increasing the cap. Moreover, there was also the demand of easing restrictions on Tier 2 CoS, because of increasing skills shortage. Furthermore the Home Office so far has not responded positively.

The government has sent out many emails to UK businesses/ employers, informing them about refusing the applications for Tier 2 Certificates.

Tech London Advocates, an organization serving the campaigns of technological entrepreneurs and promoting London as a technology hub, demanded raising the annual limit of 20,700 CoS. It also stated that the growing vacancies in jobs in vital areas, threatened to stop the progress. It is very important for the UK businesses to gain the services of a  pool of skilled foreign workers  to help in filling the skill shortage in Britain.

Tier 2 CoS criteria in May 2018

Under the present UK immigration system, an employer having the Tier 2 Sponsorship Licence has to apply for  Sponsorship Certificates  for employing immigrants. Unused Tier 2, limited the CoS, to hire people who presently are based outside the UK, can seek reclamation after three months.

The number of certificates for which there was a reclaim after non use and available for May, were zero. No Certificates were carried over from April 2018.

The meeting for allocation of Tier 2 Certificate of Sponsorship for May was held on 11 May, 2018. All applications filed by 5^th May with the score of 51 points were successful. This score was 46 points in April.

The breakdown of Tier 2 CoS for May 2018:

The next meeting of allocation of UK Visas and Immigration  was held on 11^th June, 2018. It had details regarding the number of Tier 2 Certificates of Sponsorship available for July, 2018.

For More Immigration News & Updates Follow Us @Facebook