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Following the first Tier 2 visa allocation meeting of 2018, the number of Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) available for February 2018 stands at 1,615, according to UK Visas and Immigration data. The department published its January report citing that its figures were correct as of 18 January, 2018. Restricted UK visa tier 2 certificates of sponsorship are needed by employers with tier 2 sponsorship licences to employ overseas workers who need to apply for a tier 2 visa from abroad.
Sanwar Ali workpermit.com comment:
It looks as if in the first three months of 2018 the tier 2 visa restricted CoS shortage is continuing. In many cases salary rates of less than £50,000 per year will not be sufficient to gain enough points. Many companies and their prospective employees are hoping that the points requirement will go down in April 2018 when the new annual quota becomes available. The tier 2 visa scheme is expensive and bureaucratic. UK Government fees include an immigration skills charge in many cases and health surcharge.
An employer with a Tier 2 Sponsorship Licence needs to apply for Certificates of Sponsorship for immigrants they wish to employ. Under the current UK immigration system, unused Tier 2 restricted CoS to employ people who are currently based outside the UK can be reclaimed after three months. This increases the availability of restricted CoS used.
The number of certificates reclaimed as not used and made available for the month of January totalled 257.
The January Tier 2 Certificate of Sponsorship allocation meeting took place on 11 January, 2018. All valid applications lodged by 5 January were successful, provided they scored 46 points or more, up from the usual 21 points needed for an application to be approved, but down on the 55 points needed during December’s allocation.
The breakdown of Tier 2 CoS for the month of January looks like this:
Number of Tier 2 Certificates of Sponsorship from annual limit set aside for allocation meeting in January. | 1,409 |
Balance of Certificates of Sponsorship carried over from previous month (December). | 0 |
Number of certificates returned during previous month (December). | 0 |
Number of certificates reclaimed as not used within three months. | 257 |
Number of certificates granted by exceptional consideration outside of monthly allocation during previous month (December). | 6 |
Total number of certificates assigned to Croatians in previous month (December). | 9 |
Total number of Certificates of Sponsorship available for allocation in January. | 1,651 |
Minimum point score for successful applications in January. | 46 |
Total number of Certificates of Sponsorship granted in January. | 1,536 |
Tier 2 (General – New hires under £159,600). | 1,528 |
Tier 2 (General – Tier 4 dependant switching to Tier 2). | 8 |
Balance of certificates borrowed from February 2018. | 115 |
Number of certificates of sponsorship available for allocation in February 2018. | 1,615 |
The UK Visas and Immigration allocation meeting took place on Monday, 12 February, 2018 and indicated the number of Tier 2 CoS available for the month of March, 2018.
Workpermit.com can help with Tier 2 Visa Sponsorship Licences and Tier 2 Visas
If you need help with a Tier 2 visa, or a Tier 2 Sponsorship Licence, including help with complying with your Tier 2 Sponsorship Licence obligations, workpermit.com can help.
More and more employers are facing sudden unannounced onsite inspections. Contact us for a copy of our free Tier 2 Sponsorship Licence Compliance guide.
For more information and advice on UK immigration law and UK visa applications please contact us on 0344 991 9222 or at london@workpermit.com
