Sponsored Workers in the UK (Tier 2)
The UK Government has indicated that:
- The Tier 2 cap for restricted Certificates of Sponsorship (used primary for new hires from outside the UK) will not increase from 20,700 per year;
- They do support revisiting the Tier 2 (ICT) route, used to transfer employees within global companies, by particularly focusing on the third-party contracting model. It is anticipated that we will see this emerge as a separate Tier 2 sub category with its own salary verges;
- They plan to continue to prioritise PhD roles; – No plans are in place to reintroduce the old Post-Study-Work visa and the Government has indicated that they are unlikely to change the current options open to students once they finish their study;
- We expect to see a rise in the minimum salary required across Tier 2, as the Government is clear that it hopes to reduce net migration;
Introduction of new services for applicants applying in India for UK Visa
The Home Office have announced the expansion of additional services now offered to applicants applying from India. Additional services are offered to applicants globally, to make their application process quicker.
These services are offered at an additional charge and vary from country to country. They are often referred to as priority services.
The Government announced the following amendments to current services offered in India:-
- They have expanded the visa application categories that can apply for a same day visa application decision to first time visitors and work visas;
- The 3 to 5 day decision service will also be expanded to visit, study and work routes; and
- The opening of a new visa Application Centre in Lucknow.
They also will offer a joint UK and Schengen visa application process, allowing applicants to automatically download a pre populated Schengen visa application, after submitting a visa application to visit the UK. The aim of these new services are to offer Indian applicants a quicker and smoother process when applying to visit the UK.
