Skilled Worker Visa

SKILL WORKERS 

Under the new immigration rules from 4th April 2024 

1. The minimum salary required for a Skilled Worker Visa has increased from £26,200 per year to £38,700 p/yr. 
2. For healthcare workers, including doctors, nurses, care workers, the salary requirement has increased by a smaller amount from £26,200 to £29,000.

Skill workers,  who are already holding a Skilled Worker Visa before 4th April 2024 

Will be subject to a lower minimum salary increase, and for their visa extension, change of employer, or settle in the UK, the skilled worker will now need either a salary of at least £29,000, or the updated going rate for your that particular occupation, which includes the ‘lower minimum rate’.

Social care workers are no longer allowed to bring dependants (that is, partners and children) on their visa.

A list of jobs for which it is possible to sponsor someone for a Skilled Worker visa at a reduced minimum salary has been made shorter and called the Immigration Salary List. 

If the skilled worker obtained their  certificate of sponsorship after 4 April 2024, then the “standard rate” column. 

 jobs- other than on the Immigration Salary list

The occupations on the SOC list, can qualify for these sponsored work routes is in the list of eligible occupations, found in the list of the occupation code,  and this is updated periodically, and sponsors and visa applicants are to check the most recent version when preparing for the sponsorship and visa application.

The occupation codes also states the relevant going rate and salary threshold for each job, both at ‘new entrant’ and ‘experienced’ rates, and provides details such as example job titles associated with that specific occupation code, so the employer can then assign a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) to the applicant.

SOC 2020 occupation codes  are on Appendix Skilled Occupations or the CASCOT occupation coding tool.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/skilled-worker-visa-eligible-occupations/skilled-worker-visa-eligible-occupations-and-codes

To qualify for a Health and Care Worker visa, you must:

• be a qualified doctor, nurse, health professional or adult social care professional
• work in an eligible health or social care job
• work for a UK employer that’s been approved by the Home Office
• have a ‘certificate of sponsorship’ from your employer with information about the role you’ve been offered in the UK
• be paid a minimum salary – how much depends on the type of work you do.

For care worker or senior care worker, the employer must be registered with the Care Quality Commission for care worker (code 6135) or senior care worker (code 6136) working in England.  

The Applicant must be able to speak, read, write and understand English.

You must prove you can read, write, speak and understand English to at least level B1 on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) scale.

Or a degree equivalent to the UK degree, that is taught in the Englis language. 

If you already have a job offer from an approved employer

Your employer – also known as your sponsor – will check that you meet the eligibility requirements. They’ll give you a ‘certificate of sponsorship’ (CoS) to prove this.

The certificate of sponsorship is an electronic record, not a physical document. It will have a reference number, which you’ll need for your visa application.

You must apply for your visa within 3 months of getting your certificate of sponsorship.

Application for a Sponsorship license

This is an online application to UK visas and Immigration (UKVI) Home Office. 

In the application and will need to prove that:

• Your company is operating and trading legally in the UK. For more than one branch, you could apply for separate licences for each branch.
• The key person named on the sponsorship license must be a trustworthy, reliable and dependable company. The company must be seen as capable of carrying out your sponsorship duties and show evidence of ongoing compliance.
• You must show that the offer for employment is genuine, and it meets the appropriate skill level and rate of pay.
• License are issued for 5 years, then renewable. 

Application will be unsuccessful if;

• You have unspent criminal convictions for immigration offences or certain other crimes like money laundering.
• You have had a sponsor licence revoked in the last 12 months

Documentation required

The documentation may include copies of:

• Proof of ownership or lease of business premises
• The company’s latest audited accounts
• The employer’s liability insurance certificate for at least £5,000,000
• Evidence of registering with HMRC as an employer who pays PAYE and National Insurance
• Certificate of VAT registration and the employer’s latest VAT return confirming the VAT registration number.
• Evidence that the company has a current, corporate bank account with a bank regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK.
• If the UK company wishes to sponsor employees from an overseas office or branch, it will need to provide evidence of the link between the UK company and those related overseas company. This would normally be in the form of an affidavit, signed by a senior executive within the UK entity.

Once the application is made, an officer from UKVI may visit your business premises in person as a pre-licence compliance visit to ensure your business is able to comply with the prescribed Sponsor responsibilities and obligations.

An average length of time required for a sponsorship license- 2-3 months.

Disbursements

Approved UK employers

In order to apply for a Skill worker visa, the applicant must have a job offer from an approved UK employer before you apply for a Skilled Worker visa. Approved employers are also known as sponsors, because they are sponsoring  the applicant to come to or stay in the UK.

A list of sponsors can be found at  https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/register-of-licensed-sponsors-workers

If the employer is not currently approved, they can apply for a sponsorship license if they meet the requirements. 

To determine is a company is classified as a large company, the following will apply.

For a small businesses normally have at least two of the following: 

• Annual turnover of £10.2m or less;
• Total assets with £5.1m or less;
• 50 employees or fewer. 

Charitable sponsors are registered as charities in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland or an excepted/exempt charity or an ecclesiastical corporation established for charitable purposes. 

Priority Fees

If the business wish to apply for priority processing fees for the sponsor licence application itself, or for requesting new in-year CoS allocations within the UK.  

The pre-licence priority sponsor licence service can reduce processing times for a sponsor licence application from around 8 weeks as standard, to within 10 working days.  The fee for this priority service is £500 per request. 

Sponsorship management system (SMS

The Business can only apply for the CoS once a sponsor licence has been approved, in order to be able to request CoS allocations. This application will be made on the portal, called a Sponsorship management system (SMS).

This can be used for the following;

• manage or renew your organisation’s licence or services
• create and assign certificates of sponsorship to prospective employees (Worker or Temporary Worker)
• create and assign confirmations of acceptance for studies (CAS) to prospective students
• report changes of circumstances of your sponsored employees or students, including withdrawal of sponsorship
• report changes to your own circumstances, for example a change of owner or a new location

Certificate of Sponsorship(CoS)

There are types of certificates. This  is as follows and employer must carefully select the relevant one.

Defined CoS

Are required for those who are based outside of the UK and making an Entry Clearance application as a Skilled Worker. This application must be made from the applicant’s home country, or normal country of residence. 

Undefined CoS

Are for migrant workers who are applying for permission from within the UK. The annual allocation of undefined CoS runs from 6 April to 5 April each year. You will need to estimate the number of certificates you will need in your first year. You can request an increase for your CoS allocation but will need to demonstrate a genuine need.

The Immigration Skills Charge (ISC)

The ISC charge is paid by a licensed sponsor through their sponsor management system (SMS) account when they assign a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS). The ISC amount due is dependent on their organisation size, charitable status and length of sponsorship (in 6 month increments).

The charge applies only to the main applicant in the Skilled Worker and GBM routes. It is not payable for their family members (dependants).

Sponsors are not required to pay the ISC when sponsoring skilled workers with one of the following occupation codes:

• chemical scientists (2111)
• biological scientists (2112)
• biochemists and biomedical scientists (2113)
• physical scientists (2114)
• social and humanities scientists (2115)
• natural and social science professionals not elsewhere classified (2119)
• research and development managers (2161)
• other researchers, unspecified discipline (2162)
• higher education teaching professionals (2311)

You also might not have to pay the charge if you’re sponsoring a worker who was assigned a certificate before 6 April 2017 – there’s more information in the immigration skills charge guidance for sponsors.

You will not need to pay the charge for any of the worker’s dependants, for example their partner or child.

Fees paid for ISC

Visa application fees

These vary depending on the length of the CoS – whether this is up to / longer than 3 years, and whether or not the job is on the shortage occupation list. 

Current application fees per person are: 

Certificate costs- this is an additional fee

A fee is payable when you assign a certificate to a worker. How much a certificate will cost depends on the type of sponsor licence you have.

Our legal fee for an application for an Sponsorship License £3000 plus VAT, plus disbursements

Our application for entry clearance/In country application for Skilled worker is £2,500 (plus VAT for in country application), 

Plus £500.00(plus VAT if applicable) for each dependant

Plus disbursements.

The Graduate Visa (PSW) POST STUDY WORK VISA

There still exits the Graduate visa, a two-year unsponsored work permit for overseas graduates of British universities.

New 10-year long residence ILR rules 2024

The new Long Residence rules require those applying for settlement (ILR) under the 10-year long residence route to show that either:

• Their current permission (visa) has been held for at least 1 year before applying, or
• They were exempt from immigration control in the year before applying i.e diplomats.

Another new update for the long residence ILR absent rule in 2024 is:

• any single absences started before 11 April 2024 must be no longer than 184 days
• a 10-year period completed before 11 April 2024 must not have total absences of more than 548 days – for 10-year periods which extend beyond 11 April 2024, there is no 548-day limit
• from 11 April 2024 the applicant must not have been outside the UK for more than 180 days in any 12-month period