Changes to UK Immigration Rules Will Come Into Effect On 6th November 2014

The announcement made by UK Government on 16^th Oct regarding changes to the Immigration Rules will come into effect on 6^th November. The changes are most likely to affect employers as amendments have been made to the Visitor, Overseas Domestic Worker and Tier 2 visa categories.

Visitor Visa Changes

Two major rules have been made to the Business Visitor visas, wherein new categories have been added to the list of permitted activities. These activities would normally allow working in the UK, but under the changed rules Business visitors will now:

• Under the scientists and researchers category- Will be permitted to enter as visitors, share expertise, advice and knowledge on any project being led by UK
• Under overseas lawyers category- Those who are employees of law firms having offices in UK, while on a visit can interact with clients on litigation or on transactions and should remain paid as long as they are employed in the country

These changes were a result of the direct representations to the Home Office by legal and academic professions.

Overseas Domestic Worker Visa Changes

This rule has been passed to protect the household staff/domestic workers who are brought into the country by employer under domestic worker visa. As per the new changes to the rule employers with their household staff, on a visit to UK cannot spend extended periods in the country frequently. This is to protect the domestic staff from being exploited.

Tier 2 Visa Changes

Under the points based system of Tier2 visa category, UK allows companies to sponsor non-EEA  (European Economic Area) nationals to take a skilled job in the country. Using this opportunity, many employers make use of two subcategories under Tier 2:

• ICT or Intra Company Transfer (which allows companies to temporarily transfer employees to work in UK) and
• General (wherein companies can employ non-EEA nationals in UK under permanent role)

The changes now made to the Tier 2 visa under both the sub categories are:

1. The job vacancy that an employer would fill using a non-EEA candidate is genuine and not created specifically for the candidate. Though this rule already exists, the UK Home Office can now have sufficient grounds to reject an application on the grounds that the job described by the employer does not exist or has been tailored under the ICT or General category of the Tier2 visa to bring an employee into the country. Misuse of the rule has resulted in many resident workers from not being considered for the post.
2. A sponsored employee under the Tier 2 category cannot work under a third party employer who is not the original sponsor.
3. Under the Tier 2 General application visa, an applicant who has been with the same sponsored employer continues to be exempt from Resident Labour Market Test, if he/she has submitted an application well before 28 days of its expiry.
4. A temporary waiver of the minimum salary threshold of £20,500 which was introduced in 2009 for the Tier 2 category is also being removed.

All these changes are an ongoing effort on the part of the UK Govt. to ensure genuine vacancies and reduce abuse of the immigration system.

News Source: macfarlanes.com

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