Further announcements on Tier 2

The UK Home Office has confirmed a number of immigration rule changes to Tier 2 of the points based system.

The annual limit on Tier 2 (General)

• The annual limit on the Tier 2 (General) will be renewed on 6 April 2012, and 6 April 2013 and will remain at its current level of 20,700 per year until April 2014.
• The annual limit be operated in the same was as before, and unused places will not be carried over to another year.

Minimum Skills Level

• The minimum skills level for Tier 2 migrants, including Intra Company transferees, will be raised from NQF 4 to NQF 6 from 14 June 2012. This will unfortunately result in some middle-management jobs no longer being available to migrant workers.
• There will be some exceptions to this rule for jobs on the Shortage Occupation List and some creative occupations.

Resident Labour Market Test

• From 14 June 2012 there will be some relaxations on the Resident Labour Test;
• Jobs paid more than £70k and specified PhD level will need to be advertised, but not in Jobcentre Plus.
• For vacancies in PhD-level occupations, sponsors may select the best candidate, regardless of whether they are a resident worker.

BIC strongly recommend that clients who would like to apply for Tier 2 (General) do so without any further delay, especially those who will not satisfy the new minimum skills level requirement that will come into effect on 14 June 2012.

Today, 5 April 2012, is the last date on which the UK Home Office will accept Tier 1 (Post-study work) applications. This route will closes to all new applications on 6 April 2012.

However, if you are not able to make this deadline, all is not lost!

The good news is that under new provisions introduced by the UK Home Office, graduates who would previously been eligible under the Post-study route, will now be able to switch into Tier 2 (General).

The Tier 2 (General) will be open to recent graduates with a Bachelor, Master, PhD, PGCE or PGDE from a UK recognised or listed body. Applicants must have a skilled job offer from a licensed sponsor and be paid at least £20,000 per annum or the minimum appropriate rate for the occupation. The employer will not be required to complete a resident labour market test (advertising the post) and the job will not be subject to the annual Tier 2 limit.

You will also be able to sponsor dependants.

Please contact our office for more information at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The Tier 1 (Post Study Work) route will unfortunately close to new applicants on 5 April 2012.

However, the good news is that under new provisions introduced by the UK Home Office, graduates who would previously been eligible under the Post-study route, will now be able to switch into Tier 2 (General).

The Tier 2 (General) will be open to recent graduates with a Bachelor, Master, PhD, PGCE or PGDE from a UK recognised or listed body. Applicants must have a skilled job offer from a licensed sponsor and be paid at least £20,000 per annum or the minimum appropriate rate for the occupation. The employer will not be required to complete a resident labour market test and the job will not be subject to the annual Tier 2 limit.

You will also be able to sponsor dependants.

Contact us today for more information or to apply at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

BIC has become aware of a scam in which supposed Tier 2 employment are being offered to non-EEA applicants. One of our clients nearly fell in this trap had she not contacted us in time.

The scammers are not UK employers, and the employment being offered does not exist, neither does the UK employer.

The applicants are asked to pay the UK Home Office fees to the supposed UK employer, together with courier and other administrative fees. As soon as the monies are paid over, they are never heard of again.

Please be careful not to fall in their trap by following these caveats:

• Be wary if a job is being offered to you and no formal job interview took place.
• Be wary if you are asked to pay over any monies for UK Home Office fees. Application fees for entry clearance will not be paid by the employer, but by the applicant directly to the UK Home Office.
• In fact, be wary if you are asked to pay over any monies!
• Make sure the company offering the job is legit, by doing a background check on them. This can be done by asking around amongst UK friends or family, or at least doing an internet search.
• Never provide any personal details such as banking details.

If you are unsure or wary for any reason, rather contact Breytenbachs Immigration Consultants to check out the situation for you and advise you on the Tier 2 application procedure.

The rollover of Tier 2 sponsorship certificates is getting bigger every month, and according to the latest information from the UK Home Office there are 12,441 sponsorship certificates available for allocation in March 2012.  

In November 2010 the UK Government announced that it was introducing an annual limit on the number of Certificates of Sponsorship that could be issued for Tier 2 workers.

This came into effect on 6 April 2011 and only 20,700 certificates were made available under the new annual limit for the first year.   

The annual limit of 20,700 certificates of sponsorship (CoS) were divided in 12 monthly allocations. In April 2011, 4,200 certificate of sponsorship were made available and thereafter a monthly allocation of 1,500 places is being made available. Unused places are rolled over to the next month. 

Due to the roll-over system, this means that 12,441 certificates of sponsorship are available for allocation in March 2012.

For more information or to apply please contact Hannes Breytenbach at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The UK Home Office has confirmed in a statement of intent that the Tier 1 Post Study Work route will close to new applicants on 5 April 2012. 

In its place, provision will be made under Tier 2 (General) for students who graduate from a university, and have an offer of a skilled job at a salary of at least £20,000 (or more in some cases) from a reputable employer accredited by the UK Border Agency, to stay and work in the UK. 

A new Tier 1 Graduate Entrepreneur route has also been confirmed, with up to 1,000 places for students working on world-class innovative ideas that want to stay and develop them but do not meet the requirements of the Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) route. 

Other announcements include:

• Young entrepreneurs or small company directors will get the chance to stay on in the UK after their studies if they have £50,000 to invest in their business;
• There will be an increase in the amount of money that students and working migrants (and their dependants) must prove they have to support themselves financially during their time in the UK;
• Work placements will be restricted to one-third of the course for international students who are studying below degree level to ensure that those coming to the UK are here to study, not to work; and
• The time that can be spent studying at degree level will be restricted to a general limit of 5 years.

The UK Home Office has announced that there are 11,817 Tier 2 Certificates of Sponsorship available for allocation in February 2012. This figure is getting bigger every month, due to the rollover system.

For more information, or if you are interested in obtaining a Tier 2 permit, please contact Hannes Breytenbach at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The UK Home Office has announced that from 14 February 2012, applicants applying under Tier 2 and Tier 5 and their dependants who are in the UK, will be able to apply online for permission to stay in the UK (Further Leave to Remain).

From this date, applicants will need to complete the online application form and make an online payment. Should a premium service be required, the applicant should also make an online booking for an appointment at a public enquiry office.

It seems as if the UK Home Office is increasingly making procedural and rule changes, which causes a lot of uncertainty and confusion amongst applicants. For this reason, Breytenbachs Immigration Consultants are posting rules and procedural changes as they are announced. However, our clients can rest assure in the knowledge that their case are in safe hands, as our consultants are trained to deal with all such changes!

The rollover of Tier 2 sponsorship certificates gets bigger every month, and according to the latest information from the UK Home Office there are 10,293 sponsorship certificates available for December.

In November 2010 the UK Government announced that it was introducing an annual limit on the number of Certificates of Sponsorship that could be issued for Tier 2 workers.

This came into effect on 6 April 2011 and only 20,700 certificates were made available under the new annual limit for the first year.   

The annual limit of 20,700 certificates of sponsorship (CoS) were divided in 12 monthly allocations. In April 2011, 4,200 certificate of sponsorship were made available and thereafter a monthly allocation of 1,500 places is being made available. Unused places are rolled over to the next month. 

The UK Border Agency operates the limit by not allowing any sponsor to issue a restricted CoS unless they first get permission using the monthly process. If the monthly allocation is over subscribed, the applications for certificates of sponsorship are ranked using a points system designed to favour jobs on the shortage occupation list, scientific researchers and higher salaries.  

All applications for restricted CoS must score a minimum of 32 points but applications are collate and prioritised, using the CoS allocation points table.  
 

Due to the roll-over system, this means that 10,293 certificates of sponsorship were available for allocation in December 2011. We can safely assume that due to the roll-over system there will once again be a substantial number of certificates available for January 2012.  

This is thus a golden opportunity for employers who would like to employ non-EU workers on the Tier 2 scheme!

If you are interested or would like to find out more about Tier 2 sponsorship, please contact Hannes Breytenbach at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it