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Cleaver Fulton Rankin Immigration Update
from MPANI 20/21
by 4SMNI
Cleaver Fulton Rankin
Immigration Update
Since the Brexit referendum, the number of EU workers coming to Northern Ireland has fallen adding pressures to an already tight labour market. A number of roles in the construction, quarrying and mineral sectors are on the shortage occupation list, as the Migration Advisory Committee has confirmed that there is a lack of relevant available workers in the resident labour market.
Prior to Brexit, EU nationals could live and work in the United Kingdom without obtaining any visa. Now that the transition period has ended, in most cases EU nationals seeking to enter the UK labour market are now in the same position as non EU nationals, and so will need to obtain a visa. The main types of work visas including some new categories have been summarised below.
Skilled Worker Visa
This is essentially the same as the Tier 2 (General) Visa and is available for roles that meet certain skill (typically at least RQF Level 3) and salary (typically at least £25,600 per annum) requirements. It is a prerequisite that employers register with the Home Office for a sponsor licence and these visas are expensive. There have been a number of developments which make the Skilled Worker Visa easier to obtain than the Tier 2 (General) Visa was. These include the removal of the resident labour market test, suspension of the monthly visa cap and the lowering of skill and salary requirements. Therefore, we have found that organisations that were already used to sponsoring migrants have found some of the changes post Brexit to be helpful, and these have provided useful opportunities to recruit skilled workers. However, for organisations that were used to relying on the ready availability of EU migrants, the additional costs and requirements of this visa may be a shock to the system.
Nathan Campbell.
Global Business Mobility Visa
The Intra Company Transfer and Sole Representative of an Overseas Business routes, have been amalgamated into a new Global Business Mobility category and these changes came into effect on 11 April 2022. However, despite speculation that this route would now lead to settlement, that is not the case. Therefore, this visa is only likely to be of use in certain niche circumstances such as where there is an overseas linked entity that wants to send members of staff to the NI entity for a short term secondment, and wants to avoid the English language requirements associated with the Skilled Worker Visa. Scale-Up Visa
This is a brand new route which went live on 22 August 2022. Applicants on this route must have a job offer from an authorised UK scale up company. To register for this route a company will need to demonstrate that they have an annualised growth of at least 20% for the previous 3-year period in terms of turnover or staffing. Companies will also need to have had a minimum of 10 employees at the start of this 3-year period. Therefore, this will only apply to certain companies. The main advantage to this route is that it does not incur the Immigration Skills Charge (which can be up to £1,000 per year). It also allows the migrant more flexibility to switch employers after 6 months of employment. Though in most cases this is likely to be more of an advantage to the migrant than to the employer.
High Potential Individual Visa
This is another new route which went live on 30 May 2022. This visa allows graduates from top universities outside of the UK to live and work in the UK without a sponsor. A list of eligible universities will be compiled on an annual basis and they will be ranked in the top 50 of at least two of a prescribed list of ranking systems. The leave to remain will be for two years (three with a PHD) and does not lead to settlement.
The intention is therefore for a route which is similar to the graduate visa (which applies to graduates of UK universities) and which will give recent
graduates time to live and work in the UK and later switch to another category of visa such as a Skilled Worker, Start-Up or Innovator visa once they have gained experience. This could be a useful way to bring in talented graduates without the requirement for a sponsor licence and later sponsor them once the business is established. However, it seems likely that such individuals will be more likely to be attracted to a route which leads to settlement.
Analysis
Gordon Best, Regional Director, MPANI, has said: “The impact of Brexit to date on the local construction industry and its supply chain has been varied, mainly because of the UK Governments self-imposed grace periods that has kept friction in trade, mainly agri-food movements, between GB and NI to a minimum. This has enabled the long established “back load” logistics route from NI to GB to be reasonably unaffected, although costs have risen. The combination of Covid and Brexit on the construction industry, as like other sectors, has had a significant effect on the availability of labour. Many employers now find it difficult, and in some cases nearly impossible, to fill job vacancies across a whole range of job roles. In particular, lorry drivers and skilled mechanics have been difficult to find.
As endeavours by the EU and UK Government continue to reach a joint agreement on the Northern Ireland protocol, the free movement of workers across borders must be a high priority.” These new and revamped routes will offer new options which will be welcome and of use to some migrants and employers. However, the changes do seem to fall short of the mark in many respects. The complexities involved in determining eligibility and the level of costs incurred may put many off from using these routes. In order to ensure that businesses can attract the best and brightest, visa routes should be simplified, made cheaper, and give a clear path to long term settlement in the UK. This article has been produced for general information purposes and further advice should be sought from a professional advisor. Please contact our Business Immigration Law Team at Cleaver Fulton Rankin for further advice or information.
Nathan Campbell, Associate, Business Immigration Law Team, Cleaver Fulton Rankin, Solicitors.
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