Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) | Employer

A Certificate of Sponsorship is the all important electronic document that a Tier 2 Licensed Employer must issue to a prospective migrant in order to allow him or her to gain a Tier 2 General Visa in respect of the company.

An individual cannot apply for a Tier 2 General visa until he or she has been issued with a Certificate of Sponsorship by a prospective employer.

Are you an employer who is considering sponsoring a skilled individual under Tier 2 General? Do you need to discuss your situation with a professional OISC registered immigration advisor? If so call Commonwealth Contractors now on  0330 390 9021 or Submit your Details and we will get right back to you!

What Information does a CoS Include?

Certificates of Sponsorship include basic information about the individual / role and must more detailed information that effectively sets out the basis for the employment and sponsorship.

The following table outlines the basic information associated with the individual and role.

 

Category

Information

Personal Information

Including;

  • First Name
  • Last Name
  • Nationality
  • Place of Birth
  • Country of Birth
  • Date of Birth
  • Gender
  • Country of Residence

Passport Information

Including;

  • Passport Number
  • Issue Date
  • Expiry Date
  • Place of Issue of Passport

Current Home Address

Including;

  • Residential Address
  • City or Town
  • Postcode
  • Country

Identification Numbers

Including;

  • UK ID Card Number
  • UK National Insurance Number
  • National ID Card Number
  • Employee Number

Work Dates

Including;

  • Start Date
  • End Date
  • Total Weekly Hours

Main Work Address

The should include full details of the main work address and also and other regular work addresses

Agent

If the role was sourced through an agent full details must be provided including;

  • Company Name
  • Contact Name
  • Address
  • City or Town
  • Postcode
  • Country

The second part of the CoS includes much more detailed information about the role, whether the individual is working further to a contract and very importantly, the resident labour market test. Information from the second part of the CoS has been set out below.

Category

Information

Job Title

The individual’s full job title should be detailed. Care should be taken to avoid using acronyms

Job Type

You must choose the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code that most closely matches the job title. Please note that each SOC code has a minimum salary associated with it. You MUST pay the migrant at least the minimum salary as detailed further to the SOC code otherwise there will be issues at audit time.

Summary of Job Description

You should detail the main duties of the role. Where the SOC code has multiple jobs listed under it, you should state which job the salary has been assessed against within that code.

Gross Salary in Sterling

Detail the total gross salary that you will be paying to the individual.

Gross Allowances

Detail any gross allowances that you will be paying to the individual.

Job on a Client Contract

If the job is on a client contract you must tick this box

Summary of Client Contract

Details should be provided of the client contract. This is a free text box so you should simply provide as much relevant information as possible.

Details of the Resident Labour Market Test

You must detail where you advertised the job and the dates each advert ran for. You must also include any reference number for each advertisement, for example a Jobcentre plus vacancy reference number.

Maintenance Confirmation

If you are an ‘A-Rated’ Sponsor you can validate the maintenance requirement in respect an individual. This will make the process of applying easier as the individual will not need to provide at least 90 days bank statements however you do have further legal responsibility.

Useful link:
Further Tier 2 Employer Information

Find out More

To find out more about our solutions call now on  0330 390 9021 or Submit your Details and we will get right back to you!

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