EMPLOYMENT

SPONSORSHIPOur Employer's guide to UK Visa

Sponsorship.

Visit our website:

www.islrecruitment.co.uk

AMY MAGEE

This document was written and designed by

CONTENTS:The Purpose of this Guide What Is Employee Sponsorship? How To Apply Tier 2 Licences Sponsorship Management What You Need To Do How Much Does it Cost? Fee Breakdown Fee Breakdown How Applications are Reviewed Refunds Lawyers How ISL Can Help & Contact Us

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THE PURPOSE OF THIS

GUIDE 1We understand that many UK businesses may not be familiar with the process or benefits of sponsoring employees from outside of the EU, and neither did we at first!

However, after going through this process with many of our clients and seeing the skills that sponsored candidates have brought to UK businesses, we have created this guide to help our clients understand the benefits and processes involved in employment sponsorship.

We have researched official information from the UK Government and UK Visa Bureau websites to save you time and give you clarity over how employment sponsorship works; including the fees, processes and employer responsibilities involved.

Employee sponsorship is when a UK employer sponsors the visa of a non-EU migrant worker, allowing them to work in the UK for their company.

For this, an employer will need a sponsorship licence.

Types of licence:

WHAT IS EMPLOYMENT

SPONSORSHIP?

Tier 2 - Designed for long-term or permanent workers. For our clients, Tier 2 licences will mainly apply to the hiring of general roles for which the UK is experiencing skills shortages (e.g. Engineers) or the intra-company transfer of employees from overseas branches to UK branches.

Tier 5 - Our clients typically apply for Tier 2 licences but for reference, Tier 5 licences are designed for the temporary hire of sportspeople, creative artists (dancers/performers) and charity, religious or government workers.

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HOW TO APPLY

Check your  eligibility 

Choose licence type

Internally appoint a sponsorship

manager 

Apply online and pay fee

Review and approval

UK Visa Bureau is an independent immigrationadvisory service. They provide advice, information, case management and post- approval support to businesses.

Most applications take less than 8 weeks to complete, during which a UKVI representative (UK Visas & Immigration) may visit your business.

Visit www.gov.uk/uk- visa-sponsorship-

employers/eligibility 

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Generally, our clients would apply for a Tier 2 licence which is primarily designed for the long- term or permanent employment of:

TIER 2 LICENCE

General Workers- e.g. Engineers, Project Managers, IT and Medical professionals (see the UK Tier 2 Shortage Occupation List for all approved roles)

Intra-Company Transfer Workers - for multinational companies needing to transfer employees to the UK.

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Type of Licence

Small sponsors

Medium/ large sponsors

Tier 2 £536 £1,476

SPONSORSHIP

MANAGEMENT

Sponsorships are managed online through the Sponsorship Management System (SMS). Employers must appoint members of their team to manage the licence application and ongoing sponsorship. Sponsorship management roles include:

Sponsorship Managers must ensure that:

Level 1 user – day-to-day management of licence through SMSAuthorising Officer - responsible for staff using the SMSKey Contact – main contact for UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI)

Workers have the necessary skills, qualifications or accreditations Certificates of sponsorship are only assigned to workers if the job is suitable for sponsorshipTell UKVI if workers are not complying with the conditions of their visa

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WHAT YOU NEED TO DO

You must monitor your employees’ immigration status and keep relevant documents (passport, right to work) for each employee You must track and record employees’ attendance Keep employee contact details up to date Report to UKVI if there is a problem (e.g. your employee stops coming to work)

You are a public body recognised by the UK government (e.g. a local authority)You are listed on the London Stock Exchange Main Market

During your application, you will need to provide at least 4 supporting documents to prove that you are a genuine business unless:

Monitoring employees

Supporting documents 6

You should register any changes to your business on the SMS if you:

stop trading/become insolventchange address or the nature of your businessare involved in a merger or take-over

HOW MUCH DOES IT

COST?

Small Business:

Medium/Large Business:

annual turnover < £10.2 million < 50 employees

The size of your organisation How long the worker will work for you

Fees are dependent on:

The cost of sponsoring an employee is broken down into:

The fees for each of these are explained on the following page...

annual turnover > £10.2 million > 50 employees

Licence feeImmigration Health Surcharge Visa Application feeCertificate of Sponsorship feeImmigration Skills charge

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FEE BREAKDOWN

Type of Licence

£587

£600

£199

Small sponsors

Medium/ large sponsors

Tier 2 £536 £1,476

LICENCE FEE:

VISA APPLICATION FEE:

CERTIFICATE OF

SPONSORSHIP FEE:

IMMIGRATION HEALTH

SURCHARGE :

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FEE BREAKDOWN CONT.

Period

This is for employees working for more than 6 months with a:

Small sponsors

You are exempt from Immigration Skilled Charges if your employee:

Medium/ large sponsors

First 12 months

Each additional 6 months

£364

£364 £500

Tier 2 (General) visa Tier 2 (Intra-company Transfer) visa

Is switching from a Tier 4 (Student) visa to a Tier 2 (General) visaHas a Tier 2 (Intra-Company Transfer) Graduate Trainee visaWill do a job with a PhD-level standard occupational classification (SOC) code

£1,000

IMMIGRATION SKILLED CHARGE: 9

HOW APPLICATIONS

ARE REVIEWED

The Review Process

Request more information and supporting legal, financial and employee documents.

Analyse the company’s policies and practices and recommend new ideas.

Confirm that the company's policies comply with UK immigration legislation

Review and lodge your application on your behalf.

Approval

After starting the application process, the UK Visa Bureau licensing specialist will:

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REFUNDS

Refused or withdrawnSuccessful, but they don’t come to work for you

Gets less time on their visa than you sponsored them forStarts working for you but then changes to another sponsorLeaves their job before the end date on their certificate of sponsorship

Telling UKVI that the worker didn’t come to work for youThe expiration date on the worker’s certificate of sponsorshipThe worker’s visa application being refused or withdrawn

Full refunds will be issued if the worker's visa application is:

Partial refunds will be issued if the worker's visa application:

You usually get a refund within 90 days of:

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LAWYERS

You may want to consider the help of an Immigration Lawyer to help you fill out the initial licence application forms.

This is because applying for a sponsorship licence can be a lengthy and complicated process where sending the wrong paper, or documents certified incorrectly will likely result in your sponsorship application being refused.

Solicitor advice ranges in cost between £1,200 and £2,000-£4,000 depending on whether you go to a top law firm or a smaller firm for advice.

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HOW ISL CAN HELP

CONTACT US

Our consultants are experts in the Technology and Engineering markets and will be more than happy to assist you in your recruitment process.

Disclaimer: Information provided in this brochure was sourced from the UK Government and UK Visa Bureau website, and is, to the best of our knowledge, accurate and up to date (2017). ISL holds no liability for any changes that may result in the individual incurring additional fees outside of those outlined in this document.

13Whether you are looking for more information on employee sponsorship, or you are ready to kick-start your recruitment process and start finding the talent you need, ISL is ready to help you with this on a local or even global scale.

Telephone: 0117 428 0600 Website: www.islrecruitment.co.uk Email: office@isluk.co.uk