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Get in touch 0117 325 0526
Tags: OISC, Skilled Worker Visa, sponsorship licence, UKVI
Categories: Immigration
Why are more businesses considering sponsoring overseas workers?
Employers who would never have thought about sponsoring an overseas worker are now doing so. This is driven by UK recruitment challenges, but also because immigration rules post-Brexit have changed. It is now far easier for employers to sponsor workers with lower salary and skills thresholds than existed previously.
We’ve tried to keep things simple with our answers to common sponsorship questions, so do take advice on your own specific circumstances:
Do we need a Sponsorship Licence?
A Sponsorship Licence allows a business to employ workers from overseas. Without one you cannot employ anyone who does not have the right to work in the UK. You can apply for and be granted a Licence without needing to use it immediately. A Sponsorship Licence allows you to significantly increase your pool of potential job applicants and if you do find a great worker from overseas, you can move quickly to make a job offer. Employing workers illegally is not a case of a simple slap on the wrist. Fines really are considerable.
Who can we sponsor?
It is worth looking at the list of eligible occupations for long-term sponsorship first. These are coded and allow you to choose the nearest code for the role you have in mind. (see skilled worker occupation codes)
With a Sponsorship Licence employers can hire people to work in one of the eligible occupations on the above list as long as they are paying a minimum salary. This is usually £25,600 p.a. but some employees may qualify for a lower salary threshold (contact us to discuss this). The most common routes to employ workers are:
What sort of costs are we looking at?
As a bare minimum, there will be a variety of Home Office fees to pay. At the moment they are as follows:
In addition you also need to pay Visa fees for the individual as follows:
As with most things, cost effectiveness improves with volume. The likely cost of your ‘first’ sponsored employee, with Home Office fees for a five-year visa is £6910. That decreases with your 2nd and subsequent employees. Also if spread that total over 5 years of sponsorship, that is pretty cost-effective to gain a skilled and motivated foreign worker. It could also be that certain employees could apply for indefinite leave to remain at the end of 5 years.
Do I need help or can I do this myself ?
You may want someone who knows what they are doing to make these applications for you, in which case you need to factor in legal fees to make these applications and/or manage your sponsorship duties. There is also the time and resource required to make the application to factor in – some businesses are just too busy to apply themselves. Costs vary by provider and the level of service. Employers can apply themselves for a Sponsorship Licence but be aware you will lose considerable time if you get it wrong (and businesses do). Visa applications are a full legal process so we would not recommend doing these yourself unless you really know what you are doing.
What about if the worker has dependents?
If your employee has a spouse or partner or children, you will need to discuss with them how their entry will be funded if they are to come to the UK too. You may of course be looking at offering a full relocation package, or you may consider offering something towards their dependents moving too but if not, they will need to be prepared to fund this themselves.
How long will it take?
At the moment, Sponsorship Licence applications are taking about 8 weeks. There is detailed guidance here for employers wanting to manage their own application together with details of the documents you will need to submit.
Then what happens?
Once you have a Sponsorship Licence you have strict duties and obligations – and you need to get to grips with them quickly because no business wants to be fined for non-compliance. You’ll also need to learn the Sponsorship Management System (SMS), a relatively simple on-line management system.
If you are looking for advice from an Immigration expert or legal representation for Sponsorship and/or Visa applications, we’d love to help. See details here or get in touch for a free 20 minute consultation
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