https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... idance.pdf
Subject to parliamentary approval, legislation expected to come into force on 6 April
2017 means that you may be required to pay the Immigration Skills Charge where
you sponsor a worker from outside the European Economic Area (EEA).
The skills charge will apply to a sponsor of a Tier 2 worker assigned a certificate of
sponsorship in the ‘General’ or ‘Intra-company Transfer’ route and who will be
applying from:
outside the UK for a visa
inside the UK to switch to this visa from another
inside the UK to extend their existing visa
The skills charge does not apply if you are sponsoring:
a non-EEA national who was sponsored in Tier 2 before 6 April 2017 and is
applying from inside the UK to extend their Tier 2 stay with either the same
sponsor or a different sponsor
a Tier 2 (Intra-company Transfer) Graduate Trainee
a worker to do a specified PhD level occupation
a Tier 4 student visa holder in the UK switching to a Tier 2 (General) visa
You do not have to pay the skills charge for the worker’s family members
(‘dependants’).
The skills charge will be £1000 per year for medium or large sponsors and £364
per year for small or charitable sponsors. It will be payable upfront and for the total
period of time covered by the certificate of sponsorship.