Sponsoring potential employee's visa?
Discussion
We're currently attempting to recruit a couple of new developers but without much luck. Our area of expertise is fairly specialised and it's difficult getting any applicants with the relevant experience who are prepared to move to sunny Derby. The nearly all the CVs that are worth considering have come from abroad.
However, we had an application from a Jordanian chap who's just finished his MSc at Leeds and is currently on a Tier 4 student visa. He's got exactly the experience we're looking for, doesn't want silly money, is available now, and came across very well in the telephone interview. However, to employ him legitimately we need to act as sponsor for his Tier 2 visa.
The company I work for is very small - a dozen employees - do we're not exactly geared up for this sort of thing. It's not so much the fees (it will work out much cheaper than using a recruitment agent!) as the HR systems you have to have in place and all the hoops that need jumping through. Has anyone else gone through this process who can offer some insight on how long it all takes, what the stumbling blocks are etc? We're winning new work faster than we can turn it around and could really do with getting this chap started asap.
However, we had an application from a Jordanian chap who's just finished his MSc at Leeds and is currently on a Tier 4 student visa. He's got exactly the experience we're looking for, doesn't want silly money, is available now, and came across very well in the telephone interview. However, to employ him legitimately we need to act as sponsor for his Tier 2 visa.
The company I work for is very small - a dozen employees - do we're not exactly geared up for this sort of thing. It's not so much the fees (it will work out much cheaper than using a recruitment agent!) as the HR systems you have to have in place and all the hoops that need jumping through. Has anyone else gone through this process who can offer some insight on how long it all takes, what the stumbling blocks are etc? We're winning new work faster than we can turn it around and could really do with getting this chap started asap.
I'd suggest seeking out a 3rd party vendor who specialises in in-bound uk visas. I work for a global multinational and we use just such a vendor for all visa applications due to the huge complexity surrounding visas and they are worth their weight in gold. Also, I think your company has to be a registered sponsor company with whatever the UKBA is called now a days, although that might only be for companies that repeatedly require visas.
Parabolica has already mentioned registering as a sponsor & this is the first thing you need to do with the UKBA. It is a pain as you need various pieces of notarised supporting documentation, recently audited accounts, a vial of blood from your firstborn.
Once you are a registered sponsor & set up on the UKBA sponsorship management system (SMS) you can see if you have been allocated a quota of Certificates of Sponsorship (COS). This is what you use to sponsor a visa and the person you sponsor uses the CoS to apply for the Tier 2.
In order to grant the CoS you will first have to complete a resident labour market test ( http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/business-sponsor... ). The resident market test is where you confirm that there are no appropriate hires from UK or EU.
If your job vacancy isn't on the shortage list then you must complete this correctly. The last time I did it we had to advertise the role in Job Centre Plus & on one of the job boards specified for our industry for a period of 28 days. If you don't complete the test properly (with evidence etc) you will grant the CoS, pay the CoS fee and the visa will not be granted. At that point both parties will have spent a fair amount of money on this. You will also lose that CoS.
I've been there & done it, albeit the decision was subjective from UKBA as they deemed us not sufficiently multinational (offices & teams in 6 countries) to advertise the job on our website.
From our experience it took about 12 weeks to get registered and be in a position to sponsor people. It works for us but is hassle for a smaller firm.
I have, in the past, seen companies who will hire the individual on the Tier 2 visa and then you have annual contracts with those companies to have that individual as a pseudo-employee. With my limited knowledge of the relevant legislation this is fishy to me and I have kept well away.
Good luck!
Once you are a registered sponsor & set up on the UKBA sponsorship management system (SMS) you can see if you have been allocated a quota of Certificates of Sponsorship (COS). This is what you use to sponsor a visa and the person you sponsor uses the CoS to apply for the Tier 2.
In order to grant the CoS you will first have to complete a resident labour market test ( http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/business-sponsor... ). The resident market test is where you confirm that there are no appropriate hires from UK or EU.
If your job vacancy isn't on the shortage list then you must complete this correctly. The last time I did it we had to advertise the role in Job Centre Plus & on one of the job boards specified for our industry for a period of 28 days. If you don't complete the test properly (with evidence etc) you will grant the CoS, pay the CoS fee and the visa will not be granted. At that point both parties will have spent a fair amount of money on this. You will also lose that CoS.
I've been there & done it, albeit the decision was subjective from UKBA as they deemed us not sufficiently multinational (offices & teams in 6 countries) to advertise the job on our website.
From our experience it took about 12 weeks to get registered and be in a position to sponsor people. It works for us but is hassle for a smaller firm.
I have, in the past, seen companies who will hire the individual on the Tier 2 visa and then you have annual contracts with those companies to have that individual as a pseudo-employee. With my limited knowledge of the relevant legislation this is fishy to me and I have kept well away.
Good luck!
Looks like it's going to be a right old headache - just hope it's worth it 
I have no experience of doing it here but have done the same in other countries, mainly australia. My experience is that there is no substitute for understanding it yourselves rather than using an agent. Not only is it cheaper but you need to do the work and understand the process anyway.
Generally speaking its none of it that hard, you can just read it up but there is an investment of several hours required to do it.
Generally speaking its none of it that hard, you can just read it up but there is an investment of several hours required to do it.
Sorry but I think you may all be coming at it fromn the wrong side, if you are an employer are looking overseas for workers then I understand that you need to register get a quota etc, but when my wife applied for a job in the UK she did everything and the potential employer simply supported the application. This case look more like the situation my wife was in i.e. a forigner is applying for a job in counttry, not an emplyer looking to madvertise and recruit overseas.
Berw said:
Sorry but I think you may all be coming at it fromn the wrong side, if you are an employer are looking overseas for workers then I understand that you need to register get a quota etc, but when my wife applied for a job in the UK she did everything and the potential employer simply supported the application. This case look more like the situation my wife was in i.e. a forigner is applying for a job in counttry, not an emplyer looking to madvertise and recruit overseas.
How long ago was this? There was a major overhaul of the visa system around 24 months ago, and the latest update from the home office came out about 4 weeks ago.parabolica said:
Berw said:
Sorry but I think you may all be coming at it fromn the wrong side, if you are an employer are looking overseas for workers then I understand that you need to register get a quota etc, but when my wife applied for a job in the UK she did everything and the potential employer simply supported the application. This case look more like the situation my wife was in i.e. a forigner is applying for a job in counttry, not an emplyer looking to madvertise and recruit overseas.
How long ago was this? There was a major overhaul of the visa system around 24 months ago, and the latest update from the home office came out about 4 weeks ago.Under Tier 2 you first have to have a sponsor licence, this allows you to then issue certificates of sponsorship.
You estimate the number of 'Certificates of Sponsorship' you'll need per year and UKBA decide whether to issue this number, you can track these on the sponsor management system.
There are 2 types (for new entrants)- restricted (basically under 152k/year salary) and unrestricted (over £152k).
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