Tier 2

Tier 2 largely replaces the old Work Permit scheme involving sponsorship by a UK based employer for a job requiring skills not readily available in the UK, and also caters for other categories where a specific post is on offer eg: Ministers of Religion. The skilled worker category is for people coming to the United Kingdom with a skilled job offer to fill a gap in the workforce that cannot be filled by a settled worker.

Shortages in certain professions are announced from time to time, and UK employers are able to sponsor these skill shortages without the need to first advertise a vacancy in the UK. Otherwise, the UK sponsoring employer must have tested the jobs market in the UK and not had any success in recruiting before supporting an application for an overseas national.

Salaries payable to overseas workers must reflect the nature of the position on offer, and not be below what the industry expects for the skill required. A work approval will be refused if the employer is under-cutting the wages market by bringing overseas workers. The UK employer will be registered with the Border & Immigration Agency under the registration scheme.