Transcript TITLE OF PRESENTATION SUB HEADING/DATE/OTHER INFO

The Points-Based System
Sponsor Management Unit
Points Based System
Overview
The Points Based System:
•The biggest change to the immigration system in over 30 years
•Consolidates 80+ existing immigration routes into a
structured 5-Tier system
•Objective policy criteria (allowing self-assessment)
•A simplified one-stop migration process for those who wish
to work or study in the UK
•Sponsorship
•Administrative Review
Tier Structure
Tiers
Tier 1
Highly skilled individuals to contribute to growth and
productivity
Tier 2
Skilled workers with a job offer
Tier 3
Low skilled workers to fill temporary labour shortages
Tier 3 is suspended indefinitely
Tier 4
Students
Tier 5
Youth Mobility and
Temporary Workers
Tiers 2 to 5 are underpinned by the new concept of ‘sponsorship’.
Tier 1
Highly skilled individuals to contribute to growth and productivity.
•do not need a job offer and will have unrestricted access to the labour market
•will not need a sponsor
•English language requirement
There will be 4 subcategories:
General
Entrepreneurs
Investors
Post Study Work.
Tier 1 (General) was launched in the UK on 29 February 2008, in India on the
1st April 2008 and globally with Sub Categories on 30th June. The Sponsor
register is opening fully for Tiers 2,4 and 5 in July 2008.
There are certain key principles that will apply to all migrants under
Tier 2 general
The Job
•
All migrants must have a Certificate of
Sponsorship from an employer
•
Must be at National Vocational
Qualification level 3 – equivalent to A
levels, A – C grade.
•
The rate for the job must be not be less
than the ‘appropriate rate’ for the job
to prevent undercutting of the resident
labour market.
The Migrant
•
All tier 2 general applicants must show
competence in English to assist with
community integration. Basic user level
will be required for T2 General and
Sports people. An intermediate level will
be required for Ministers of Religion.
ICTs will not be required to show this until
applying for an extension.
•
Initial leave to enter will be a
maximum of 3 years (actual length will
depend on the contract) and migrants will
then be able to apply for extension for up
to a total of 5 years.
Tier 2 – Skilled workers
Statement of Intent published on 6 May 2008
At least 70 points are required from this table (including 10 for maintenance and 10 for English)
All jobs must be NVQ3 job at or above the appropriate rate
Section
Certificate of Sponsorship
Offer of job in shortage
occupation
A
(50
points
needed)
Prospective Earnings
(£
Qualifications
(or NARIC equivalents)
17,000 – 19,999
5
No qualifications
0
20,000 – 21,999
10
NVQ3
5
22,000 – 23,999
15
Bachelors or Masters
10
24,000+
20
PhD
15
50
Offer of job that passes
Resident Labour Market
Test
30
Intra Company Transfer
30
B
Maintenance requirement (10 points needed)
10
C
Competence in English (10 points needed)
10
Transitional Arrangements
Transitional arrangements will be put in place to minimise the impact on
existing work permit holders.
Where a migrant’s work permit leave expires after Tier 2 comes into force:
•the applicant must in possession of a Certificate of Sponsorship issued by
a licensed employer; and
•The Certificate of Sponsorship must confirm that the job is at or above NVQ
3 level and will be paid at or above the appropriate rate for the job.
They will not have to meet the Tier 2 specific criteria relating to
qualifications, prospective earnings and language requirements.
Tier 3
Limited numbers of low skilled workers needed to fill
specific temporary labour shortages (if required).
There are no current plans to introduce this Tier
Tier 4
Students
There are 2 types of student categories:
•General: (for the majority of students) – 15 hours a week organised day-time study except
where studying at degree level at a publicly funded Higher Education Institution
•School: for those below 16 years old (no work permitted)
Sponsors of migrants under Tier 4 will need to show that they:
hold valid accreditation from an accreditation body approved by the UK Border Agency; or
have passed an inspection by the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted).
Due for roll out Spring 2009.
Tier 5 – Temporary Workers and Youth Mobility Scheme
Statement of Intent also published on 6 May 2008
Tier 5 is for people coming to the UK to satisfy primarily non-economic objectives
and comprises:
Tier 5: Temporary Workers comprises the following sub-categories: Creative &
Sporting, Religious, Government Authorised Exchange and International Agreements.
The Tier 5: Youth Mobility Scheme is for sponsored young people from participating
countries who will come and experience living and working in the UK for up to 24
months, while young UK nationals enjoy similar opportunities in participating countries.
•Normal prohibitions on access to benefits/social housing.
•No switching into other tiers.
Tier 5: Temporary Workers
•Points can be earned against two sets of objective criteria:
•Entry clearance is mandatory across Tier 5: Temporary Workers, except for
non-visa nationals coming to the UK for up to three months in the Creative &
Sporting sub-category.
•Tier 5: Temporary Workers will be allowed to take supplementary work for up
to 20 hours per week, with some restrictions.
Principles of Sponsorship
• Sponsorship is a key element of the Points Based System
• Any organisation that wishes to employ migrants or enrol them on a
course of study must have a Sponsor Licence
• Those who benefit most directly play their
part in ensuring the system is not abused
• Those applying to come to the UK to do a job
or study are eligible to do so
• Attract only reputable employers and
Educational establishments to take migrants on
What it means to be licensed
•Licenses are valid for four years and sponsors will remain on the
register for this period of time (unless removed or withdrawn)
• Once licensed, the sponsor is eligible to apply for Certificates of
Sponsorship (CoS) or Certificates of Acceptance to Study (CAS)
• Sponsors can apply for a CoS for Tier 2 and Tier 5 from
November 2008. Tier 4 is currently scheduled for implementation in
Spring 2009 when a CAS may be issued
• Should the Sponsor use their allocation of certificates, they can discuss
with their Account Manager and arrange further certificates if required.
Costs
• To join the register of sponsors, a fee must be paid appropriate to the
size of the organisation
• There are 2 different fees for Tier 2 (General)
• £300 if you are a small sponsor (on or after 6 April 2008)
•Turnover of not more than £5.6 million
•Balance sheet not more than £2.8 million
•Number of employees not more than 50
• £1000 for all other sponsors
Key Personnel
During the application process you will have to provide details of the
following key personnel:
•
Authorising Officer (AO) - The Sponsor will be held fully responsible for the actions
of its AO, and so should ensure that it appoints a senior and competent officer from
within the organisation to this position.
•
Key Contact - The key contact is the person who will act as the main point of contact
between the Agency and the sponsoring organisation.
•
Level 1 User - will undertake the day-to-day operation of the Sponsor’s activities
through the Sponsor Management System.
Application and Consideration Process
• On-line application only, no paper version
• Applications must be made by the organisation themselves (not by a 3rd party)
• Applications will be considered by the Sponsor Licensing Unit
To get a licence, you must meet the following criteria:
• you are a legitimate organisation working within the law in the UK;
• there are no reasons to believe that you are a threat to
immigration control; and
• your organisation is committed to fulfilling its sponsorship duties.
• Pre-licensing visits maybe arranged with the potential Sponsor.
• Further guidance about how potential sponsors will be assessed is available at:
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/employers/points/sponsorduties/assessment/
Approved applications and ratings
• If application approved, Sponsor rated A or B
• Suitability criteria for A or B will be assessed against a 1-3 marking:
1. Meeting all of the criteria
2. Only meeting some of the criteria
3. Not meeting any of the criteria
• We will work with B-rated Sponsors to help them bring their systems into
line
•Once granted a licence you will be given access to the Sponsor
Management System when it is opened for your relevant Tier/s
Refused Applications
•Applications may be refused if the Sponsor does not comply with the rules
governing Sponsorship: These include:
The Submission of false documents
A conviction of a serious offence within a specified number of days
Been convicted of a serious within specified number of days
•The online Sponsor Application and the website details the obligations and your
Account Manager can also advise you
• There is no right of appeal against refusal of an application for a licence
but
• Potential Sponsors can reapply at any time, using their Account Manager and
the reasons for refusal to assist with further applications.
Responsibilities of an Organisation
As a sponsor, you must fulfil certain duties to make sure immigration
controls stay effective. The sponsorship duties are:
•record keeping;
•reporting;
•compliance;
•co-operating with us;
•tier specific duties.
If you fail to comply with any of you sponsorship duties, you may be
down-graded to a B rating or have your licence withdrawn.
Certificates of Sponsorship
• A CoS/CAS is a virtual document, it consists of a
unique reference number (URN)
• Sponsor issues the certificate to a migrant it wishes to sponsor to enable
them to apply for entry clearance or leave to remain
• A certificate does not guarantee that prior entry clearance
will be granted to a migrant
More about Certificates of Sponsorship….
•
The information needed to complete a CoS or CAS varies from
Tier to Tier
•
A Certificate of Sponsorship is not a piece of paper — it is just a
unique reference number which is passed from Sponsor to
Migrant and checked by UKBA
•
Certificates of Sponsorship can be produced in groups or
batches
Application process
• First, find your migrant worker or student…….
• Check out their ability to do the job or to complete the
course of study — the ECO will no longer check this
• Will they meet the points criteria?
• Use the self assessment tool to help you to check?
Points-Based Calculator
www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/pointscalculator
Points-Based Calculator
www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/pointscalculator
Issuing Certificates of Sponsorship
If you are now ready to sponsor the worker or student…
•
Log onto the Sponsor Management System
•
Complete and pay for the certificate
•
When completed and paid for, you will be given a unique
reference number to pass to the person you wish to sponsor
For employers, the above procedure replaces the work permit
process
Overview of the Migrant Application Process – Within the UK
•
If self-assessment successful, they should then apply to UKBA
for leave to remain submitting: application form; fee; passport;
passport photos; Police Registration Certificate (if applicable)
and other supporting documents as required.
•
UKBA verifies the supporting documents and CoS
•
UKBA notify the applicant of the decision
We are working on providing this service via the PEO network but we don’t yet have
an implementation date for that
Overview of the Migrant Application Process – Overseas
• When the applicant has a CoS/CAS, they should then self assess
on the UKBA website
• The application, supporting documents and fee are taken in
person to our Commercial Partner in the country where the
applicant is normally resident
• The applicant will have their biometrics captured at this point
• The ECO will ensure the application is valid and all supporting
documents are verified.
• Under the single stage decision making process, the decision will
now be taken entirely by the ECO overseas
Administrative Review
Only applies to refusals of PBS applications taken overseas
•
If a PBS application is refused overseas, there are no statutory rights of
appeal
•
Instead, it will be open to the migrant to ask for an Administrative
Review
•
An Administrative Review is a review of the original decision by an
Entry Clearance Manager not involved in a management (or other)
relationship with the ECO who made the initial decision
•
Applicants submit their request for an Administrative Review on a form
available from the UKBA website at no charge but no new information
can be submitted with the Administrative Review
Preventing Illegal Working (1)
Under section 15 of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 employers may be liable to pay a
civil penalty of up to £10, 000 per illegal worker if they employ someone who is:
–subject to immigration control;
–aged over 16; and
–not entitled to undertake the work in question.
Under the new law, employers can establish an excuse against liability to pay a civil penalty for
employing an illegal migrant if they check and copy certain original documents before someone
starts working for them. If the person has a time limit on their stay in the UK, the employer will also
have to carry out repeat checks on their documents at least once a year to have the excuse.
However, if the employer knows that they are employing a person who is not permitted to work, then
they will not have an excuse and they could be prosecuted under section 21 for knowingly employing
an illegal worker, regardless of whether they have carried out any document checks.
Sections 15 and 21 only apply to individuals employed on, or after 29 February 2008.
Preventing Illegal Working (2)
Guidance on Preventing Illegal Working is available at:
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/employersandsp
onsors/preventingillegalworking/
•The Verification Service is offered through the Employers Helpline (0845
010 6677).
•The Employers Helpline is available between 9am – 5pm (Monday to
Friday).
•Details of immigration rules are on the Employers Toolkit
(www.employingmigrantworkers.org.uk).
Useful Links
UK Border Agency
www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk
Points Based System
www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/employers/points/
Guidance documents for employers and sponsors on the Points Based System
www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/employersandsponsors/pbsgui
dance/
General Queries about the Points Based System
• Sponsorship and Employer Helpline - 0845 010 6677
General Queries about Work Permits
• Contact Centre Sheffield - 0114 207 4074