Tier 2 (Intra-Company Transfer) migrants are skilled workers moving from an overseas branch of a company to a UK branch.
Sponsors can assign to applicants Certificates of Sponsorship without the need to satisfy the requirements of the resident labour market test. Also, there is currently no limit on the number of applicants who can be granted entry clearance under the Tier 2 (Intra-Company Transfer) category.
There are four subcategories of Tier 2 (Intra-Company Transfer). Applicants in the short- and long-term staff subcategories must have been working for the company for a period of not less than 12 months prior to their applications. These subcategories are for people coming to work in the UK in a capacity which could not be filled by a recruit from the company's UK workforce. Short-term staff can be granted leave to enter the UK for up to one year, and long-term staff for up to five years.
Applicants in the graduate trainee subcategory have to have been working for the company for a period of not less than three months. Skills transfer applicants only need to show that they are employed by the company at the time of their application.
Applicants in the long-term staff subcategory must be paid the appropriate UK-equivalent annual salary for their job, which must be at least £40,000. They are admitted to the UK initially for a maximum period of three years and one month. This period may be extended, on application, to a maximum period of five years, after which the Tier 2 (Intra-Company Transfer) migrant must leave the UK. He or she cannot return as a Tier 2 (Intra-Company Transfer) migrant for a period of 12 months. (There is however no bar on making other applications for entry clearance.)
Annual salaries for short-term staff must be at the appropriate UK level for their job and must not be less than £24,000. Short-term staff are admitted to the UK for a maximum period of 12 months, after which they must leave the UK, with a bar on their returning in the short-term staff, skills transfer or graduate trainee subcategories for a further period of 12 months.
Applicants in the graduate trainee and skills transfer subcategories must also be paid an annual salary of at least £24,000. They are admitted to the UK for a maximum period of 12 months and six months respectively, after which they must leave the UK. They are not allowed to return in either of these subcategories or as short-term staff for a period of 12 months.
A Tier 2 (Intra-Company Transfer) migrant who has previously had leave in one of the short-term staff, graduate trainee or skills transfer subcategories will not be required to spend 12 months outside the UK before they can return in the long-term staff subcategory.
Tier 2 (Intra-Company Transfer) migrants who are already in the UK under the Rules in place before 6 April 2011 will be able to apply to extend their stay without being subject to the new graduate-level job requirement or the new salary thresholds. Those who are currently here in the established staff subcategory in place before 6 April 2011 can continue to apply to extend their stay beyond five years.
There is no language requirement to be met by applicants in the Tier 2 (Intra-Company Transfer) category unless they are extending their leave in the UK to beyond three years in total. As with Tier 2 (General) migrants, the requirement is for a command of English language at level B1 of the Common European Framework.
Tier 2 (Intra-Company Transfer) migrants have to meet a maintenance requirement. Applicants for entry clearance must show that they have funds of £900 or more at the time of their applications. Applicants whose Tier 2 Sponsors certify in the Certificate of Sponsorship that they will, if necessary, maintain and accommodate the applicant for the first month of the applicant's employment are exempt from this requirement, as are applicants seeking to extend their existing leave to remain under Tier 2.