REC says Tier 2 ICT route must be properly policed and Implemented

The Head of Public Policy at the REC, Gillian Econopouly, said that “Fundamentally, the immigration system needs to be flexible to business and this includes the ability to bring senior internal people across from other countries in order to lead projects and create more jobs. The exemption for ICTs is a sensible step in this regard, which the REC has long supported. However, if the exemption is not properly policed and implemented there is the potential for abuse. The minimum salary of £40,000 must be rigorously enforced by the UK Border Agency to ensure employers do not use allowances to create an artificial salary that allows them to bring in an overseas worker to do a job for less money.”

“The REC appreciates that the UKBA has the hugely difficult task of designing and operating an immigration system which enables the UK to access the skills it needs, while at the same time protecting the interests of workers already resident in this country. However, with recruiters on the ‘front line’ we firmly believe that our members can help the government identify the evolving needs of the UK labour market and we will continue to work with the government to identify and address skills shortages.\”

Margaret Hodge, the Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee, said that \”Most workers enter through this route and, for instance, tens of thousands of IT workers have been brought in through intra-company transfers at a time when UK residents with IT skills are struggling to find work. Some two-thirds of the migrants using this route work in IT, and are potentially displacing resident workers with IT skills. The Home Office has now set a minimum salary requirement for this route of £40,000 (and £24,000 for those in the UK for less than a year), to better protect the interests of resident workers. The UKBA has not doing enough to protect resident workers and ensure that migrant workers and sponsoring employers comply with immigration rules\”.

Commonwealth Contractors

At Commonwealth Contractors we partner with OISC Registered Private Immigration Firms and Tier 2 Licensed Healthcare and IT Consultancies who may be prepared, where required, to sponsor an individual on a Tier 2 Visa (formerly UK Work Permit). If you are a highly skilled International professional and you would like to work in the UK Commonwealth Contractors can help. Our OISC Registered Partners specialise in Tier 1 General (formerly Highly Skilled Migrant Programme) visa applications and can assist those highly skilled individuals that either wish to apply or extend a Tier 1 General Visa.

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