We recently reported that the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) were seeking evidence from UK employers about maintaining or altering the criteria for foreign workers and their dependants coming to the UK under Tier 2 and Tier 1 of the Points Based System. There is a strong possibility that the Government will seek to place further restrictions on bringing over employees under the Intra Company Transfer and Tier 2 General schemes. This comes after many employers have spent large sums of money on applying for a Tier 2 sponsorship licence and on making changes to their HR and recruitment practices in order to comply with the UK Border Agency's requirements for having a licence.
The CBI has just produced a survey for employers to submit to the MAC via the CBI. If you wish to complete and send in this survey, the deadline is this Friday 22nd May. We have been advised that the way in which the Migration Advisory Committee has dealt with evidence in the past would suggest that it is necessary to provide answers to specific questions rather than simply noting protest in the free text section at the end because in the past the MAC has limited its consideration of evidence to hard facts and figures. The survey has therefore been designed to provide specific facts and figures. However, when it comes to the final part of the survey, we feel it is appropriate that clients who hold Tier 2 licences should highlight in the free text section the efforts and expenditure they have only just undergone to secure a sponsorship licence valid for 4 years and that there is a legitimate expectation that the Government should not seek to change the Tier 2 arrangements so soon after putting them in place.
The CBI has requested online completion of the survey via the web link below. Employers' details will remain anonymous outside the CBI. We urge all clients who hold Tier 2 licences to complete the survey and submit it by Friday 22nd May. Please note that it appears that all mandatory questions must have all fields completed before you can progress to the next section of the survey. We believe that senior managers and directors should be alerted to the MAC review and to this survey as any changes to the Tier 2 and Tier 1 schemes may fundamentally affect the way your business operates.
Click here to access the survey.
