Recent changes to Tier 2 Visa Route

The Tier 2 (General) category is for migrant workers with an offer of a skilled job from a licensed employer which cannot be filled by a resident worker. The following changes are being made to this category:

· Flexibility is being introduced to enable students to apply to switch to Tier 2 after their studies as soon as they have completed their courses. Currently, non PhD students cannot apply to switch within the UK until they have received their final results.

· Exemptions from the Resident Labour Market Test are being added for posts to be held by researcher applicants who are recipients of supernumerary research Awards and Fellowships, and for established research team members sponsored by either a Higher Education Institution or a Research Council.

· Pay rates for health sector workers are being brought into line with pay scales in England and each of the devolved administrations, and consolidated in a new table.

· Provision is being made to allow nurses to be sponsored under Tier 2 if they are undertaking an approved programme with a view to returning to practice.

· A provision that is currently set out in the Sponsor Guidance is being incorporated, which restricts how far a migrant’s start date may be put back before it becomes a prohibited change. The restriction now applies only to Tier 2 (General) Migrants, and only to any changes to start date which occur after leave has been granted.

· A minor correction is being made to the Shortage Occupation List.

Tier 2 (Intra-Company Transfer (ICT)) 7.20. The Tier 2 (ICT) category supports inward investment and trade by allowing multinational employers to transfer key company personnel from overseas to their UK branch. The following changes are being made to this category:

· A transitional arrangement which is no longer required is being removed. The arrangement ensured that migrants granted leave for 12 months or less under the rules in place before the Short Term Staff sub-category was introduced on 6 April 2011, were treated no less favorably than those granted in that subcategory in the context of the 12-month cooling-off period requirement.

· The definition of the Long Term Staff sub-category is being amended, to reflect the closure of the Short Term Staff sub-category on 6 April 2017.

For consultation on Tier 2 please contact us

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