Tier 2 - New Company registering for Sponsorship Licence

[KayCalvin]

Hello

My company is a PVT LTD. and into print publishing and have never required to register with UKBA for sponsored workers so far.

But, one of our employees who has been working with us for 2 years on Tier 1 (Post Study Work) and has been unable to apply to switch to Tier 1 (General) because of recent changes to salary bands, has asked us to help him get the work permit on Tier 2 (General).

Our question is:

1. We have read the instructions on registering, and understand it is elaborate. If we have the documentation in hand it must take 30 minutes to register online as a sponsor. But any idea how long it will take to get to the point of having a 'Certificate of Sponsorship' after that? I mean, after we post it? I know there are checks that have to be carried out after company visits etc. Approximate time might help so we know if we are ok to proceed with registration to give him the CoS on time before his visa expires end of June (June 30).

2. My employee's visa expires on June 30, so do we have enough time to get registerd and give him a Certificate of Sponsorship, assuming we have all documentation right from our side?

3. As our employee doesn't come under shortage occupation list, (he is senior creative) but has been eligible to be sponsored by us without us having to pass the resident labour market test (because he is switching from Tier 1), can we have him sponsored by another company and deployed to work for us? (because they already are licenced to sponsor and we just want to get his visa done fast to retain him, as otherwise the process becomes elaborate, including him losing his Tier 1 status on returning back to his country, and we having to conduct the resident labour market test!)

Appreciate any help at the earliest friends!

Thank you all in advance.

[arsenal49]

Hello

My company is a PVT LTD. and into print publishing and have never required to register with UKBA for sponsored workers so far.

But, one of our employees who has been working with us for 2 years on Tier 1 (Post Study Work) and has been unable to apply to switch to Tier 1 (General) because of recent changes to salary bands, has asked us to help him get the work permit on Tier 2 (General).

Our question is:

1. We have read the instructions on registering, and understand it is elaborate. If we have the documentation in hand it must take 30 minutes to register online as a sponsor. But any idea how long it will take to get to the point of having a 'Certificate of Sponsorship' after that? I mean, after we post it? I know there are checks that have to be carried out after company visits etc. Approximate time might help so we know if we are ok to proceed with registration to give him the CoS on time before his visa expires end of June (June 30).

Sorry i dont have any info for you and do not want to mislead so wait for other replies

2. My employee's visa expires on June 30, so do we have enough time to get registerd and give him a Certificate of Sponsorship, assuming we have all documentation right from our side?

I cant cite you the source, but i read somewhere that it is relatively straight forward procedure and you can reasonably expect to be on register within 3 weeks of application. Why not contact UKBA on employers helpline as they will be able to guide you. It might take a while to contact them but you will get authentic info...

3. As our employee doesn't come under shortage occupation list, (he is senior creative) but has been eligible to be sponsored by us without us having to pass the resident labour market test (because he is switching from Tier 1), can we have him sponsored by another company and deployed to work for us? (because they already are licenced to sponsor and we just want to get his visa done fast to retain him, as otherwise the process becomes elaborate, including him losing his Tier 1 status on returning back to his country, and we having to conduct the resident labour market test!)

I am assuming he is on Post study work visa(Tier 1). He needs to have worked for 6 months for your company to be able to skip resident labour test. The "sponsor" must be in one way or another connected to your company. E.g your company could be one of the branch of that sponsor in another city.

Otherwise, i am afraid that employer cannot "sponsor" an employer who will be working for you only i.e seperate company. So you have to apply to be a sponsor first, 3 weeks maximum. Once that is done, you will be in position to issue him certificate of employment. This process will definitely be completed in 4-5 weeks. As long as your employee has certificate of employment on 29 June, he will be able to proceed and apply for tier 2 visa. He MUST apply for tier 2 application BEFORE 30th otherwise he risk getting refused straight away.

I am no authority on the subject so please do wit for other replies.

Regards

Appreciate any help at the earliest friends!

Thank you all in advance.

[KayCalvin]

Thank you arsenal49 for the reply.

We are procuring documents and will be registering in the coming week or two. It helps to know the time it takes to be prepared. If it takes up to 6 weeks to get to the CoS, we must be fine to go ahead in two weeks I guess. We will wait to see if someone replies before we are ready to do so, will keep checking here.

We have contacted UKBA on phone regarding this once earlier, and yes it takes a long time as they put us on hold for about 10 minutes every time we ask a new question! (They are themselves new to the rules I can guess!). Will do that again this Tuesday April 6th.

Yes my employee is on PSW now and he has worked for more than 6 months with us in the same position, which has made it is easier for us to sponsor.

If he goes back to his country after June 30, then we will have to sponsor him still to come back, but this time with Resident Labour Market Test completed, as he will lose his Tier 1 PSW status (please do correct if wrong).

Thank you for the info on sponsorship by another company, that helps.

Will keep posted here as we proceed.

Thanks.

[arsenal49]

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Yes my employee is on PSW now and he has worked for more than 6 months with us in the same position, which has made it is easier for us to sponsor.

If he goes back to his country after June 30, then we will have to sponsor him still to come back, but this time with Resident Labour Market Test completed, as he will lose his Tier 1 PSW status (please do correct if wrong).
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Thanks.

I am not too sure about the bit in bold. Its a points based system. If he can show that he has worked for you for 6 months and that he was on PSW visa then he will get the points (30 points). it doesnt matter what his visa status at the time of tier 2 application is (when applying from home country).

Unless someone can prove me wrong, i am pretty sure i am right.

One piece of advice; do get your employee's visa sorted while he is in UK. It may sound very appealing to allow him to go back home and apply from there as the waiting period is couple of weeks in most countries as opposed to 4-6 weeks in UK.

Thats my personal opinion and thats how i would do if i was seeking tier 2 visa.