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Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS)
A Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) is a digital document that allows a Tier 2 Licensed organisation to employ a migrant worker on a Tier 2 Visa; where that organisation has been unable to find an individual from within the resident labour market. Once a Certificate of Sponsorship has been issued a worker may use it to apply for a Tier 2 Visa (formerly UK Work Permit).Certificate of Sponsorship Allocation
Each Tier 2 License holder has a set allocation of Certificates of Sponsorship which is dependent on a number of factors including; size of company, business sector, history of sponsorship, length of time in business etc.For example a large International IT Consultancy such as Tata Consultancy Services (which has an established business and long term history of sponsoring non EEA nationals) may receive an allocation of 300 Certificates of Sponsorship, while a newly established IT Consultancy (which has little history of a requirement for non EEA nationals and a much smaller head count) may only receive 1 or 2 Certificates of Sponsorship.
It is up to the UK Border Agency to deicide how on many Certificates of Sponsorship to allocate to a Tier 2 License holder.
Certificates of Sponsorship and the Immigration Cap
On the 19 July 2010 the UK Government introduced a temporary Immigration Cap in order to reduce the number of Tier 2 General (formerly UK Work Permit) and Tier 1 General (formerly HSMP) workers coming to the UK. The temporary Immigration Cap will remain in force until a permanent Immigration Cap is introduced in April 2011. Prior to the implementation of the temporary Immigration Cap the UK Border Agency wrote to each Tier 2 License holder to inform them of their revised Certificate of Sponsorship allocation (which would remain in force until the introduction of the permanent Immigration Cap). Each sponsor found that their allocation had been reduced significantly causing many (especially those in shortage occupation areas) to encounter serious staffing issues. Prior to the introduction of the permanent Immigration Cap (in April 2011) the UK Border Agency will inform all Tier 2 License holders of their allocation for the year. The permanent Immigration Cap allocation is expected to be even more crippling than the temporary allocation.What Information does a Certificate of Sponsorship Contain?
A Certificate of Sponsorship is a digital document linked to a database entry on the UK Border Agency’s Sponsor Management System. It contains all of the relevant information relating to the hiring of the non European Economic Area (EEA) national by the Tier 2 Licensed Organisation.Certificates of Sponsorship Include details of:
- The Sponsoring Organisation, including:
- Company Name
- Sponsor License Number
- Registered Address
- Work Location
- Whether the Sponsor wishes to validate the Maintenance Requirement
- The Worker to be Sponsored, including:
- Name
- Contact Information
- Passport Number
- Date of Birth
- Nationality
- The Work to be undertaken, including:
- The SOC Code
- Description of main responsibilities
- Whether the job is on the Shortage Occupation List
- Any requirements for worker registration with a professional body
- The Recruitment Method Used:
- Recruitment Method (e.g. Newspaper, Web Advertising etc)
- Recruitment Response Information (details of resident nationals rejected)
- The Recruitment Agency Engaged (where applicable)
