Briefings & Newsletters

UK Border Agency pushes back the start of Tier 2 – sponsor applications must be received by 1 October 2008 to meet the launch

Date: 14th August 2008
Categories: Immigration

The UK Border Agency announced this week that Tier 2 of its Points-based system of immigration will be launched at the end of November 2008. The announcement of key dates relating to Tier 2 also revealed that applications from employers wishing to register as sponsors must be received by 1 October 2008 to guarantee their being processed before Tier 2 is launched.

Tier 2 will replace the current work permit scheme as the means by which UK-based employers can employ skilled non-EEA nationals to fill specific job vacancies in the UK. Employers will need to have registered with the UK Border Agency and obtained a sponsor licence before they can sponsor non-EEA employees and issue them with certificates of sponsorship.

Initial UK Border Agency guidance earlier this year said Tier 2 would be launched in Autumn 2008; this was later moved to the beginning of November 2008, but the launch has now been confirmed as the end of November 2008, although this is still subject to change. Any employer wishing to bring in a non-EEA employee after that date will need to bear in mind that sponsor registration may take up to six weeks (until 1 April 2009, when it should take four weeks). Employees will then have to apply for visas in their home countries. UK employers who are not already registered, will therefore need to add more than 6 weeks to their schedules when planning international recruitment or staff relocation from the end of November 2008 if a licence has not been granted by this date.

Please click here to view the UK Border Agency's ‘Are you ready?' guide to preparing for sponsor registration.

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