Tier 2: Visas for Skilled Workers (Work Permit)
Tier 2 of the Points Based System replaces the work permit entry route to the UK.
Applicants are required to have a job offer to submit a successful application. Tier 2 caters for people with qualifications or work experience in a wide range of sectors. Tier 2 visas are meant to fill jobs where there are shortages in the labour market such as engineering, information technology, and teaching and nursing.
Applying for a Tier 2 visa requires a certificate of sponsorship from your sponsoring company. Tier 2 visa applications are employer led, whereby it is the employer who submits the application, as it was in the old UK work permit application.
The Points Based System (PBS) is also in effect for Tier 2 visas and applicants are required to score sufficient points on a skills and experience assessment, prove that they are proficient in the English language and satisfy maintence requirements.
After 5 years in the UK you would be eligible to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) or permanent residence. Once this is achieved, you would be able to naturalise as a British citizen.
Employer responsibilities
Employers recruiting candidates through the tier 2 work permit system must provide a sponsorship certificate detailing the job title and demonstrating that the salary offered is appropriate for such a position. The certificate acts as confirmation that the candidate has the necessary skills and the intention to fill the specified position.
Where a position being offered is not on the shortage occupation list, the employer must show that they have attempted to fill the role from the domestic workforce, without success.
In circumstances where a candidate wishes to change employment, a new certificate of sponsorship will be required and a re-assessment against the points system need to take place.
Intra Company Transfers are catered for by tier 2 visas and it is the responsibility of the employer to show that a position cannot be filled from within the domestic workforce and that the salary is appropriate.
Dependants
Under the Tier 2 of UK immigration services family immigration will be permitted for your dependants, meaning that your wife, husband, civil partner, unmarried partner and/or dependent children would be eligible to join you in the UK. Spouse immigration and dependency immigration will continue to operate along similar lines to the current dependency visa. Furthermore, the marriage visa, unmarried partner visa and fiancé visa categories will remain distinct from the new visas for points based immigration.
Please call our immigration lawyers on 020 8952 1587 for your free initial assessment.