UK Tier 2 Visa

Unfortunately, if the Home Office are correct in the points raised in their reasons for refusal letter, our opinion is that a new Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) is required. However, before doing so, a Resident Labour Market Test ('RLMT') needs to be completed. Unless the position is on the Shortage Occupation List, the Home Office are correct to insist that the Resident Labour Market Test (RLMT) be satisfied before requesting an Certificate of Sponsorship. Please check the Shortage Occupation List if you need to confirm whether or not the position is one which needs to be advertised for.

Assuming that the position is one which the RLMT applies, the starting point would be to advertise the position on two online platforms, one of which must be on Find a Job unless the proposed annual salary for the role is circa £80,000 per annum. The advertisements must run for 28 days and screenshots with the full URL and date must be taken on the first and last day of the campaigns. The company will need to interview all candidates that appear suitable on paper and make notes as to which candidate was selected and why. Once the RLMT has been completed, the company can then submit a request for a Certificate of Sponsorship ('CoS'). Below is a brief summary of which CoS you will need:

1. Unrestricted CoS - this is generally applicable where the candidate is already in the UK and permitted to submit their Tier 2 application from within the UK. This CoS can be applied for at any time

2. Restricted CoS - this must be applied by the 5th of a month in order to know within the same month as whether or not the CoS has been granted. There is a restriction of around 1000-2000 per month but given the proposed salary on offer, I would expect the company's CoS to fall within the quota for the large majority of months.

Because your application was for entry clearance it is likely that you will need a new Restricted CoS.

Once a CoS has been issued and assigned in your favour, you can then move onto the final stage and submit a new Tier 2 application. Alongside the CoS, you will need to show evidence of your maintenance (unless the company has confirmed that it certifies maintenance on your behalf) as well as evidence of your English Language.

In order to evidence maintenance, you will need to show you have held at least £945 for the 90 days leading up to your application as well as £630 for each dependant that may be applying with you. The only exception to this is where an A-rated sponsor agrees to certify maintenance.

In order to evidence English Language, you will need to show one of the following-

1. You are a national of a majority English speaking country;

2. You have at least a degree obtained from the UK;

3. You have at least a degree (or the equivalent) taught in a majority English speaking country;

4. You have at least a degree (or the equivalent) taught in English and UK NARIC provides the certifications required to confirm; or

5. You sit the B1 General examination and score 4.0 in each of the 4 fields: speaking, listening, reading and writing. Assuming you meet these requirements with the correct supporting documents, there is no reason why the application should be refused. However, please feel free to contact us where one of our Senior Associates can review the decision of the Entry Clearance Officer and advise you on the next steps.

This visa category is for non-EEA nationals who have received job offers to take up professional positions that cannot be filled by workers in the UK

The labour market test can be said to mean a procedure which an employer is mandated to follow before offering employment to an individual who is not residing full-time in the United Kingdom, if they can evince that there is no suitable resident worker who can take up the job.

For the employee to employ you to take up a job that is not in the shortage occupation list, they will be required to provide proof that there is no resident worker, citizen in the UK or European Economic Area (EEA) suitable to take the job. The employer is expected to adhere with the resident labour market test before issuing a Certificate of Sponsorship to you. If you are a tier 1 PSW visa or Tier 4 Student visa holder intending to switch into the Tier 2 General category you will be excluded from the labour market test if you have a valid leave and fulfill the criteria to switch into the Tier 2 General category.

It is required that you make a score of 10 points for English Language. You are entitled to get points if you can evince that you are a citizen of an Anglophone (English-speaking) nation; or you have succeeded in an adequate English Language Examination authorized by the Home Office UKBA; or you have a degree that was lectured in English Language which is also equal to a bachelor's degree in the United Kingdom. You can automatically fulfill the requirements for English Language and earn points without requiring further proof if:

You were issued entry into the United Kingdom formerly in any the following categories: Tier 1 (General) or Tier 1 (Entrepreneur), as a businessperson, a work permit holder, a representative of a foreign country's newspaper, news agency or broadcasting firm, an operational ground staff of a foreign owned airline, or a Jewish agency employee;

you were granted authority to stay under the Highly skilled migrant programme after the 7th of November 2006;

you seek for an extension of stay having previously been granted authority to reside under the Tier 2 category, and therefore proof that you fulfill the English Language requirement have already been given to the authorizing body.

You are making the application because you switched jobs and as such proof that you fulfill the requirements for Tier 2 English Language have already been given to the authorizing body.

You were issued authority to reside previously as a minister of religion on or after the 23rd of August 2004; and you are making the application because you have switched jobs.

The Certificate of Sponsorship can be said to be a 'virtual document' that is given to a migrant by a licensed sponsor (employer). The Certificate of Sponsorship number is required to be provided by the person whilst making an application for authorization to take up job in the United Kingdom under the Tier 2 General category.

You are permitted to take up additional work as long as:

• You will still work in the same sector and level;

• Your work on the jobs does not exceed 20 hours weekly;

• Your working time in the job is outside that contained in the Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) you were issued.

You are permitted to take up charity work but are not allowed to received payment for the job; payment for reasonable expenses is however permitted for charity work.

This can be said to be an official listing of specified work types that do not have sufficient resident employees to take up the available positions. An employer who seeks to employ foreign workers outside the European Economic Area (EEA) to take up positions available on the shortage occupation list may do so without embarking on a resident labour market test.

An individual who enters the United Kingdom as a Tier 2 General Migrant in order to undertake a specialized job contained on the shortage occupation list will be awarded all the required points for the application except points for maintenance and English Language.

In order for an employee to be sponsored to take up a job, the sponsoring employer must make sure the job meets the skill level required as well as the salary requirement in accordance to the code of practice applicable. The employer is not permitted to grant a certificate of sponsorship (CoS) if the job do not meet the requirements.

Application under this category made from certain foreign country can be submitted online. Online application from outside the United Kingdom should be done on this website:

You are correct to observe that as a Tier 2 (General) holder, you are entitled to work separate to your sponsoring employers. There are two basis in which you can do so.

The provisions relating to supplementary employment are regulated by the following provisions

1. That you are undertaking work as you are currently being sponsored as per your Certificate of Sponsorship.

2. That the work is for less than 20 hours a week.

3. The work is conducted outside of your sponsored working hours.

In the event that you meet these requirements, you will not need a new Tier 2 (General) visa to undertake such work.

Because you will be undertaking work in a different SoC code to which you are currently being sponsored for, you unfortunately will need to apply for another Tier 2 (General) visa to run concurrently with your current visa.

Other ways to potentially work in both roles would be to apply for a Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) visa. An application for a Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) visa has two stages

Stage 1:

You will first need to obtain an endorsement from the designated competent body. These bodies are as follows-

Arts Council England - for arts, culture, fashion, architecture, film and television applications;

The British Academy - for humanities and social science applications;

The Royal Society - for natural sciences and medical science research applications;

The Royal Academy of Engineering - for engineering applications; and

Tech Nation - for digital technology applications.

Stage 2:

Once you have received an endorsement, you can either submit an application with the endorsement letter and await for the Home Office to invite you to submit further documents (stage 2) or you can select to submit an application later with documents for both stage 1 and 2 in one go.

The documents the Home Office expect will vary on the industry you are in but generally speaking they will assess your application as to whether you are an-

1. Exceptional Talent - that you are a leader of your field; or

2. Exceptional Promise - that you have the potential to be a leader of your field.

Please feel free to contact one of our Senior Associates who will be happy to discuss your options in more detail and advise you further.

In order to apply for an extension of a Tier 2 (General) visa, you will need to show that your employee is continuing to be employed in a role which the Home Office accepts sponsorship for. This is known as the 'SoC' code. Once the relevant code has been identified, we can assess whether or not the employee's salary is sufficient to meet the requirements for an extension of leave. Once this has been established an Unrestricted Certificate of Sponsorship will need to be applied for (unless the company already has an Unrestricted Certificate of Sponsorship which has not yet been assigned) and assigned to the employee in question. There is no need to carry out a Resident Labour Market Test if the Employee is currently being employed in the same SoC code. If the role is to be varied, than a new Resident Labour Market Test will need to be undertaken (unless the role falls within a Shortage Occupation role) before the Employee can take that new role.

Once this has been established, we will need to ensure that the employment has held £945 for 90 days and £630 for each dependant unless the company is willing to certify maintenance on the employee's behalf. Certification of maintenance can be confirmed on the Certificate of Sponsorship which will need to be assigned to the Employee.

In relation to the requirements for Indefinite Leave to Remain, the Employee's salary will need to be £36,900 or £37,900 (depending on whether or not the employee has reached 5 years as a Tier 2 (General) visa holder before or after 6 April 2022) or the one on their SoC code, whichever one is higher.

The company will also need to confirm that the employee's continued employment is required for the foreseeable future. This will be confirmed by way of letter.

Finally, the employee will need to have sat and passed the Life in the UK examination.

Please feel free to contact us if you would like to discuss any of the issues raised in this email in more detail.

Please find below a summary of the Tier 2 visa process.

Vacancy

The first step would be to identify the relevant Code for sponsorship. We attach a link to the relevant Codes-

Please feel free to have a look at Tables 1 and 2 to see if there is a Code that suits the vacancy.

The starting point for this vacancy would be that the company will need to advertise the vacancy on two platforms for at least 28 days. The general exemptions to this requirement are if-

1. The successful candidate is currently a Tier 4 student;

2. The vacancy is on the Shortage Occupation List.

Once we have established the Code and assuming any advertisement campaign has gone live, the company can begin preparing the documents relevant for the Sponsor Licence.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Once the Resident Labour Market Test (if one is required) has been completed, your sponsoring company will then need to assign a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) in your favour.

There are two different types of CoS and the main difference between the two types is when the company can make a request for the CoS-

1. Unrestricted CoS - this is generally applicable where the candidate is already in the UK and permitted to submit their Tier 2 application from within the UK. This CoS can be applied for at any time

2. Restricted CoS - this must be applied by the 5th of a month in order to know within the same month as whether or not the CoS has been granted. There is a restriction of around 1000-2000 per month but given the proposed salary on offer.

Tier 2 application

Once you have received your CoS, The successful candidate will be required to satisfy the requirements:

• have been assigned a valid Certificate of Sponsorship to do a skilled job in the UK which has passed the RLMT.

• have been offered a job which as the appropriate skill level of National Qualifications Framework (NQF) Level 6.

• will be paid the appropriate salary

• your evidence that you have the requisite funds to maintain yourself in the UK; your Employer will be able to certify your maintenance to satisfy this point.

• you have met the English language requirement.

A Tier 2 application will take somewhere in the region of roughly 5 - 30 working days depending on whether or not the Priority Service is paid for.

It appears that a previous application was refused on the basis that the wrong salary was calculated. The SoC code 2421 Chartered and Certified Accountants' appropriate salary is £20,800 (new entrant) or £30,000 (experienced) is based on a 39 hour working week.

We would advise you that a new Certificate of Sponsorship is assigned to the Employee in question and a new Tier 2 application is submitted within 14 days of the refusal of the initial Tier 2 application - unless the Employee continues to have valid Leave. In the Tier 2 application, it is fundamental to explain that the salary was miscalculated and that the appropriate salary is now correct. We can assist you in calculating the appropriate salary as well as drafting representations on your behalf to explain the misunderstanding as well as to set out the reasons why the application should now be submitted.

Our opinion is that so long as the salary has been calculated properly, using either the postal priority or super priority service would be suitable as the issue raised in the refusal of the previous application is relatively straightforward and easily rectified.

Please do not hesitate to contact one of our immigration solicitors if you feel you need further representations or assistance.

We write further to your enquiry.

The starting point for this vacancy would be to identify the relevant code. We believe that the code 2419 Legal professionals not elsewhere classified would be the best code to sponsor any successful candidate on. However, we provide a link to the Codes below-

Please review Tables 1 and 2 only to see if there is a better code that suits the vacancy.

Once a code is confirmed, the starting point would be that the company will need to advertise the vacancy on two platforms for at least 28 days. The general exemptions to this requirement are if-

1. The successful candidate is currently a Tier 4 student;

2. The vacancy is on the Shortage Occupation List.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Once the Resident Labour Market Test (if one is required) has been completed, you will then need to assign a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) in the candidate’s favour.

There are two different types of CoS and the main difference between the two types is when the company can make a request for the CoS-

1. Unrestricted CoS - this is generally applicable where the candidate is already in the UK and permitted to submit their Tier 2 application from within the UK. This CoS can be applied for at any time.

2. Restricted CoS - this must be applied by the 5th of a month in order to know within the same month as whether or not the CoS has been granted. There is a restriction of around 1000-2000 per month but given the proposed salary on offer.

Tier 2 application

Once you have assigned the CoS, the successful candidate will be required to satisfy the requirements:

• have been assigned a valid Certificate of Sponsorship to do a skilled job in the UK which has passed the RLMT.

• have been offered a job which as the appropriate skill level of National Qualifications Framework (NQF) Level 6.

• will be paid the appropriate salary

• your evidence that you have the requisite funds to maintain yourself in the UK; your employer will be able to certify your maintenance to satisfy this point.

• you have met the English language requirement.

A Tier 2 application will take somewhere in the region of roughly 5 - 30 working days depending on whether or not the Priority Service is paid for.

We would be happy to arrange a consultation to discuss these requirements further and advise you accordingly.

We write further to your enquiry.

The starting point for this vacancy would be to identify the relevant code. We believe that the code 2419 Legal professionals not elsewhere classified would be the best code to sponsor any successful candidate on. However, we provide a link to the Codes below-

Please review Tables 1 and 2 only to see if there is a better code that suits the vacancy.

Once a code is confirmed, the starting point would be that the company will need to advertise the vacancy on two platforms for at least 28 days. The general exemptions to this requirement are if-

1. The successful candidate is currently a Tier 4 student;

2. The vacancy is on the Shortage Occupation List.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Once the Resident Labour Market Test (if one is required) has been completed, you will then need to assign a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) in the candidate’s favour.

There are two different types of CoS and the main difference between the two types is when the company can make a request for the CoS-

1. Unrestricted CoS - this is generally applicable where the candidate is already in the UK and permitted to submit their Tier 2 application from within the UK. This CoS can be applied for at any time.

2. Restricted CoS - this must be applied by the 5th of a month in order to know within the same month as whether or not the CoS has been granted. There is a restriction of around 1000-2000 per month but given the proposed salary on offer.

Tier 2 application

Once you have assigned the CoS, the successful candidate will be required to satisfy the requirements:

• have been assigned a valid Certificate of Sponsorship to do a skilled job in the UK which has passed the RLMT.

• have been offered a job which as the appropriate skill level of National Qualifications Framework (NQF) Level 6.

• will be paid the appropriate salary

• your evidence that you have the requisite funds to maintain yourself in the UK; your employer will be able to certify your maintenance to satisfy this point.

• you have met the English language requirement.

A Tier 2 application will take somewhere in the region of roughly 5 - 30 working days depending on whether or not the Priority Service is paid for.

We would be happy to arrange a consultation to discuss these requirements further and advise you accordingly.

The Resident Labour Market Test (RLMT) is essentially an advertisement campaign. The campaign will need to be live for at least 28 days and be posted on Find a Job (unless the salary is circa £80,000 or higher) as well as one other online portal.

The Home Office's requirements on the RLMT also dictates that the advert specifies the salary on offer, the opening and closing dates for the adverts. It is also best practice to identify the relevant SoC code before the advert goes 'live'. We provide a link to the Codes below-

Please review Tables 1 and 2 only to see if there is a better code that suits the vacancy. Alternatively, please feel free to send us the Job Description and we can help identify a Code on your behalf. The Codes will not only ensure that the vacancy is one that can be sponsored, it will also dictate the relevant minimum salary that must be paid. Once we have identified the code, we can advise you on the minimum salary. However as a broad idea, the salary will be as follows-

New Entrant - where the candidate is under the age of 26 or is currently a Tier 4 (General) student

Experienced - where the candidate is over the age of 26 or is being sponsored for more than 3 years and 4 months

Screenshots with specific information such as the full URL of the advert on the date it was posted and the day it was closed will also be required.

By the end of the 28 days, the company will then finish interviewing all relevant candidates and should keep all notes taken in order to explain who was selected and why they were the best candidate for the position. Although these notes are not strictly required for the Certificate of Sponsorship ('CoS') application, it is common for the Home Office to ask to see the selection process before making a decision on the CoS application. This is for the Home Office to ensure the there is a & amp; amp;#039;genuine vacancy& amp; amp;#039; and that the position was not one which was tailored to a specific person in mind.

Please feel free to contact us for further advice or assistance in the Resident Labour Market Test or in the CoS or Tier 2 application.

Yes, leave whilst on section 3c of the Immigration Act 1971 does not as lawful residence in the UK.

Generally speaking in order to be successful for Indefinite Leave to Remain under the 10 years Long Residence application, you will firstly need to demonstrate 10 years' lawful residence'. This includes time spent on section 3c. any breaks in visas for 14 days or less (or 28 days before November 2016) will be disregarded and therefore will not break continuous residence. Further you will need to establish continuous residence. This means your absences must be under 540 days in the 10 years relied on (absent exceptional circumstances) and no one absence of 180 days or more (again absent exceptional circumstances).

There must not be reasons why your application should be refused such as criminal convictions (whether previous or pending), cautions or warnings or any immigration breaches whilst in the UK.

You will need to provide evidence to meet the English Language requirement. This requirement can be met in one of the following ways-

1. Passing the B1 Life Skills examination with Trinity College

2. Obtaining a degree or higher from the UK;

3. Being a national of a majority English peaking country

4. Obtaining the equivalent of a degree or higher from a majority English speaking country (as certified by UK NARIC)

5. Obtaining the equivalent of a degree or higher in a course that was taught in English (as certified by UK NARIC)

You will also need to provide evidence that you have passed the Life in the UK examination.

We would be happy to discuss your specific circumstances in more detail and advise you further. If you require assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.

In order to qualify for Indefinite Leave to Remain as a Tier 2 (General) visa holder, you must demonstrate that you are currently receiving a salary of £35,800 or the appropriate salary on your SoC code - whichever is higher. Your sponsor must also provide a letter to confirm that your employment is required for the foreseeable future.

You will need to meet the English Language requirement. You should have passed this in your initial Tier 2 application, but generally speaking you will provide evidence of one of the following-

1. Passing the B1 Life Skills examination with Trinity College

2. Obtaining a degree or higher from the UK;

3. Being a national of a majority English peaking country

4. Obtaining the equivalent of a degree or higher from a majority English speaking country (as certified by UK NARIC)

5. Obtaining the equivalent of a degree or higher in a course that was taught in English (as certified by UK NARIC)

You will also need to provide evidence that you have passed the Life in the UK examination.

We will be able to assist you in advising and preparing your application. We will also complete the online application form and prepare written representations on your behalf. Please feel free to contact us to arrange a free consultation so that we can advise you further.

We write further to your enquiry.

In order to qualify for a PBS Dependant visa (that is being a dependant of a Tier 2 visa holder) you will first need to establish that you are either married or have lived together with your partner for at least 2 years. In order to marry in the UK (if this is something you are currently considering) you will need to contact your Registry Office to deposit your notice of intention to marry. Because both yourself and your partner are subject to immigration control, there will be a referral to the Home Office who will then decide whether or not they want to investigate your relationship to determine whether or not the proposed marriage is one of convenience. If no investigation is made by the Home Office than you will be free to marry 28 days after. This period will be extended to 70 days in the event that the Home Office do wish to conduct an investigation - of which will normally be a request for further documents and/or an interview.

Assuming you are married or have lived together for 2 years you then have the option to submit a PBS Dependant application. You will need to show that you have held £630 for 90 days unless your partner's sponsoring company has or is willing to certify maintenance on your behalf. If the sponsoring company has already certified maintenance, this would have been confirmed in your partner's Certificate of Sponsorship. However, if this has not been confirmed but the company has since changed its mind, the company can provide a letter to confirm that it is now willing to certify maintenance on your behalf.

Depending on your circumstances, it does appear this can be achieved by 17 September 2019. Please feel free to contact us so that we can take further instructions from you in order to advise you further as well as to confirm what needs to be done in order to meet this timeframe.