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IMPACT – HIGH
What is the change? The Migration Advisory Committee has released a much-awaited report, recommending significant changes to Tier 2 visa categories for migrant workers.
What does the change mean? Among the changes, the committee recommended that the government raise minimum salary thresholds for Tier 2 (General) and Tier 2 (ICT), extend the Immigration Health Surcharge scheme to all intra-company transfers (ICTs), impose a new “Immigration Skills Charge” on employers across nearly all Tier 2 categories, and set up a separate route for third-party contracting of Tier 2 ICTs. The changes would make employing migrants, including assignees, significantly more difficult and expensive.
Background: The government commissioned the committee to make recommendations on changes with an eye toward limiting net migration into the U.K. The committee is an independent group of five senior economists charged by the government to advise the Home Office on migration policy issues in light of independent socioeconomic data.
The key recommendations in the nearly 400-page report are:
BAL Analysis: The Migration Advisory Committee took the approach that the best way to stem skilled migration is through price. If the committee recommendations are adopted, employers will face higher costs in the form of increased Tier 2 salaries and a new Immigration Skills Charge for most Tier 2 workers as incentives to reduce the reliance on migrant labor. Tier 2 ICTs servicing third-party contractors will have to meet higher salary thresholds in order to limit this route to senior managers and specialists, although the committee recommended further research on skills shortages specifically within the information technology (IT) sector. On the positive side, the committee did not recommend absolute time limits on jobs listed as shortage occupations or eliminating the automatic right to work for spouses of skilled migrants.
This alert has been provided by the BAL Global Practice group in the United Kingdom. For additional information, please contact uk@bal.com.
Copyright © 2016 Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. All rights reserved. Reprinting or digital redistribution to the public is permitted only with the express written permission of Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. For inquiries please contact copyright@bal.com.
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