Help required - Sponsor Licence + RMLT for Tier 2 (General)

jrc010 wrote:Hi All,

I am a non-EEA citizen currently working in the UK for a small company (under 45 employees) on a Tier 5 (Youth Mobility) visa. This expires in March, 2012.

My company wish to sponsor me for a Tier 2 (General) visa, so that I can continue working for them beyond March. I know that I cannot transfer into this category, so I'd have to go home to apply for the visa.

The job I am doing is not on the labour shortage list, but is on the graduate job list for Tier 2 skilled workers, and I am paid an appropriate salary.

My company does not, however, currently possess a sponsor licence, although they do satisfy all the requirements to become a sponsor licence.

My questions are as follows:

1. What should my company put as the reason for requesting a sponsor licence? I assume, if they put something like "we have a non-EEA citizen working for us, who we'd like to continue working for us beyond their visa (if they get the job after advertising using the RMLT process)," this would immediately cause suspicion, as it would suggest that the RMLT process would not be conducted fairly?

If company says that they wanna employ non-EEA person to do work for them, no govt can deny the company their right to do so. So, you need not worry about that


Can a sponsor licence request be rejected based on the reason for application? If they put something like "we are rapidly expanding company, and would like the scope to employ a non-EEA citizen, if a project with a need for a specific skill set arises," would this usually be satisfactory?

Its well documented that if a company wants to employ non-EU person, they must register themselve etc etc (as written on ukba site) so yes, thats perfectly reasonable

2. My job could potentially be done by an EEA citizen, if they were trained up over a period of time. However, I do possess a wide combination of skills and experience, particularly with certain types of clients, which would mean that a job advert could be tailored quite specifically, so that I would be the only candidate capable of undertaking the role (I'm sure many HR departments do this already).
If your company does labour test and *feel* you are still the best candidate for the job, based on the skills requested in job spec, then they would employ you. UKBA cant interfere with employer's right to chose their own employees!

So, is it likely that a COS would be rejected based upon a job advertisement being too specific (obviously, we would not make it too blatant, but would ensure that the combination of skills / experience was likely to be unique to myself)? We would also ensure that other candidates were interviewed and all CVs were viewed/considered.

No, COS wont get rejected. your employer is perfectly within reason to NOT employ anyone who is not a 100% match to job description!

3. If you think it is worthwhile for myself and my employer to go ahead with the process, given the above information, would it be sensible, given that my visa expires at the start of March, to advertise the job in mid-January, even if a sponsor licence had still not been granted? This would mean that a COS could (hopefully) be applied for and granted before I leave, in which case I could apply for my visa as soon as I got home at the start of March.

All your employer need to do is satisfy labour market test. you will be issued with "restricted" COS and i think those type of COS are issued monthly provided artificial limit is not reached. So, do it as soon as possible really.

4. Finally, if all the above was successful, is it likely that a visa application would be rejected, if a COS had been granted and the correct process followed? I note that the monthly allocation has not been filled in any month since its introduction in April, so I do not anticipate this to be an issue.

No, its VERY unlikely. i think you will be OK provided you meet all requirements. The most time consuming stage is to get registered so better start working on it from Monday!

Sorry for the long-winded post, but it is very difficult to find case studies regarding similar scenarios. Thanks hugely in advance for any help or advice provided. It would be much, much appreciated.

no worries, just my two cents. wait for other replies too

Kind regards,
JC