recruitment partner to the global technology community

UK IMMIGRATION POST BREXIT 2021

in partnership with

November 2020

CONTENTS3. Background4. Sponsorship summary5. 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 study12. Shortage occupation list 13. Skilled workers – key points14. Intra company transfer route15. Considerations16. Costs – work permit 3 years 17. Costs – work permit 5 years 18. Additional routes20. Graduates and Interns21. Business travellers23. 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

Your company will be ‘small’ if it has any 2 of the following:

• 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”.

FEE FOR SMALL OR CHARITABLE SPONSORS

FEE FOR MEDIUM OR LARGE SPONSORS

Government (Home Office) Fees

£536 £1,476

Newland Chase Management Fees *

£3,000 £3,000

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?

The points-based system will include a route for skilled workers,both EU and non-EU citizens, who meet the following requirements:

SKILLED WORKER ROUTE (rebranded name for a Tier 2 General route)

Speak English

Criminality threshold

Job offer from a Home Office approved sponsor

Skill level RQF3 (A-Level and

equivalent) and above

Relevant SalaryGeneral threshold or going

rate whichever is higher

What’s new for the skilled worker route?

• No cap on numbers• No Resident Labour Market Test• Expanded skills threshold now RQF3 (A Level and equivalent)• General salary threshold drops to £25,600• Tradeable points

Criminality Threshold

Speak English

• 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.

Non-tradeablepoints

Job offer from an approved sponsor

Skill level RQF3 or above (A Level and

equivalent)

English language

Total50 pointsTotal 50 points

Non-tradeable

Points

The 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 pointsb. Salary at 90% of relevant salary = 10 pointsc. Salary at 100% of relevant salary = 20 points

a. PhD in a subject relevant to the job = 10 pointsb. PhD in a STEM subject relevant to the job = 20 pointsc. Shortage occupation role = 20 pointsd. Applicant is a recent UK graduate or under the age of 26 = 20 points

CASE STUDY

Anna wants to come to the UK to work and has been offered a job as an Electronics Engineer for a salary of £45,000. She meets all the mandatory criteria, scoring 50 points.

Anna’s salary is above the going rate of £33,400 for Electronics Engineer so she scores 20 points for salary.

In this instance Anna also scores the 20 extra points by having a job offer in a shortage occupation.

GRAND TOTAL = 90 POINTS

Characteristic Points

Mandatory Offer of a job by an approved sponsor

20

Mandatory Job at an appropriate skill level

20

Mandatory English language skills at level B1 (intermediate)

10

TOTAL 50

Tradeable Salary is above going rate for the profession

20

Tradeable Job in a shortage occupation (as designated

by the MAC)

20

TOTAL 40

SHORTAGE 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

*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 SurchargeImmigration Skills Charge Calculator

Fee Work Permit (3 years)

Dependent (spouse)

Dependent (per child under 18)

Certificate of Sponsorship £199 per application £199 x x

Immigration Skills Charge£1000 per year or £364

per year for a small company

£3000 or £1,092 x x

Immigration Health Surcharge £624 per year £1,872 £1,872 £1,410

Home Office application fee Route dependent – per application £610 £610 £610

Total (medium or large company) £5,681 £2,482 £2,020

Total (small company) £3,773 £2,482 £2,020

COSTS - WORK PERMIT 5 YEARS

*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 SurchargeImmigration Skills Charge Calculator

Fee Work Permit (5 years)

Dependent (spouse)

Dependent (per child under 18)

Certificate of Sponsorship £199 per application £199 x x

Immigration Skills Charge£1,000 per year or £364 per year for a

small company£5,000 or £1,820 x x

Immigration Health Surcharge £624 per year £3,120 £3,120 £2,350

Home Office application fee Route dependent –per application £1,220 £1,220 £1,220

Total (medium or large company) £9,539 £4,340 £3,570

Total (small company) £6,359 £4,340 £3,570

ADDITIONAL 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 Managernargiz.garadaghi@newlandchase.comMobile: + 44 (0)7824 384 708www.newlandchase.comRegulated 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