Tier 2 General

The following information is given in order to provide you with a generalised overview of the Tier 2 (General) points based system. If however you wish to obtain further information or you wish to engage our services, please complete the ‘Contact Us Form’ at the bottom of the page to enable a member of our team to contact you and advise you further.

Tier 2 (General)

There is an annual limit on the total number of certificate of sponsorships available to a sponsor from 6th April 2011 to 5th April 2012. The total number of certificates that will be available in total will be 20,700; this will be divided up each month, to a minimum of 1,500 apart from in April 2011 when the number of certificates that could have been issued was 4,200.

If a sponsor needs to assign a certificate of sponsorship an application needs to be made to the UK Border Agency. The UK Border Agency meets on 11th of each month to decide how many applications will be approved and provide confirmation of the same to the sponsor.

It is therefore imperative the correct information is provided, to ensure the migrants Tier 2 application has the optimum chance of success first time round. In the event the application is refused the migrant will need to be issued with another certificate of sponsorship, this will delay the date when the migrant is able to commence employment with the sponsors company. This process is called Restricted Certificate of Sponsorship. Prior to applying for a restricted certificate of sponsorship, the sponsor must have conducted the relevant resident labour market test.

The following are exempt from the 20,700 limit:

• New Hires: where the migrant will be coming from overseas but the annual salary for the job is £150,000 or more.

• Extensions: where you need to extend leave for a migrant who is already in the UK working for the sponsor and has existing leave under Tier 2 (General) or as a Work Permit holder that was granted on or before 5th April 2011.

• Changes of Employment: where a migrant is already in the UK with valid leave under Tier 2 (General) or as a Work Permit holder and who wants to change jobs and start work for a new sponsor.

• Switching Immigration category: Certificate of sponsorship required for a migrant who is already in the UK under another immigration category and is eligible to switch into Tier 2 (General).

If you wish to employ a migrant who meets the above requirements, this process is called Un-restricted Certificate of Sponsorship.