Tier 2 limit maintained and skill level raised in yet another Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules
10 April 2012
Glaringly absent from the recent extensive statement of changes to the Immigration Rules called HC 1888 was the figure for the limit on Tier 2 (General) applications for the year 6 April 2012 to 5 April 2013.
The limit has to be specified in the Rules themselves (and not in guidance published by the UKBA) so as to avoid a rerun of the government's disastrous initial attempt to introduce the limit, as we reported back in January of 2011.
So last week, hot on the heels of HC 1888, came yet another statement of changes to the Immigration Rules: Cm 8337, in which the government has indicated that, after careful consideration, it is not going to change the limit. The limit will also apply to 2013 to 2014.
Rather more dramatically, the statement of changes raises the skill level required to be satisfied by the jobs people do both as Tier 2 (General) and Tier 2 (Intra-Company Transfer) migrants, from National Qualification (NQF) Level 4 (which the government described as "graduate level" back in February last year) to NQF level 6.
The skill level changes come into force on 14 June 2012, with the remainder taking effect on 6 April 2012, just two days after the statement itself was laid before Parliament. The changes do not apply to people who have been offered a job which appears on the United Kingdom Border Agency (UKBA)'s Shortage Occupation List.
Cm 8337 was accompanied by a statement of intent, in which the government explains that the decision to maintain the Tier 2 (General) limit at 20,700 per year for the next two years was taken notwithstanding the fact that, as it turned out, the limit for 2011 to 2012 was heavily undersubscribed (which, without wishing to be unkind, does lead to the inevitable inference that there really wasn't any need for the limit anyway).
The Statement of Intent also says that the resident labour market test, which Tier 2 (General) migrants have to meet to show that the job for which they are to be recruited cannot be filled by anyone from within the UK and the rest of the European Economic Area, is also to be relaxed a little (i.e. the requirement for the job to be advertised in Job Centre Plus is to be removed) for jobs with a salary of £70,000 or more. And, interestingly, Tier 2 Sponsors will be allowed to select the best candidate for the job in "PhD level" vacancies, even if a suitably skilled settled worker is available.
The Statement of Intent lists the Standard Occupation Codes (SOCs) showing exhaustively the jobs which are regarded as being at NQF level 6, and points out that the raise in skill levels "will result in 27 occupations being removed from the Tier 2 eligible list".
As has been stated before on this site, the endless changes to the legal landscape of the Points-Based System make it essential for anyone affected by it to seek specialised immigration advice from your solicitors.