Dear Colleague,
Changes to immigration rules
The government has released its response to the Migration Advisory Committee’s review of Tier 2 and the full text can be found here.
In summary, the government will implement the following:
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Tier 2 (General) salary thresholds for ‘experienced workers’ (that is, those over 26 or applying for a Tier 2 visa of more than 3 years) will be increased to £25,000 in autumn 2016, and £30,000 in April 2017. The mechanisms of how this will work in practice have yet to be published, but we foresee this having only a negligible impact on our ability to recruit through Tier 2.
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The Resident Labour Market Test exemption (i.e. the exemption from having to advertise a role) that currently exists for Tier 4 students switching to a Tier 2 visa will be maintained.
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The Immigration Skills Charge will be levied on Tier 2 employers at a rate of £1,000 per person per year from April 2017, with a rate of £364 for smaller businesses and charities, and an exemption for PhD occupations and Tier 4 students switching to Tier 2. This is the formal announcement of this change following the discussion in the House of Lords. The University could have been liable for a charge of more than £800,000 every year, had every non-EU staff member incurred the levy, which is to be paid by the employer.
Yours sincerely
The Compliance Team