Strict UK laws seek to scan migrants job role MUMBAI: The United Kingdom (UK) recently tightened its immigration regulations for skilled migrants. Even applications for entry into the UK of skilled workers being deputed by Indian companies to their UK-based subsidiary will come in for scrutiny by UKs Home Office. Applications of all tier-2 (skilled workers) migrants will be scrutinized to ascertain that job descriptions and salary thresholds have not been exaggerated to meet immigration requirements and that local resident workers in the UK have been offered a fair opportunity to apply for these advertised jobs. Earlier, UK had made job advertisements mandatory if a UK-based company wanted to recruit a skilled migrant worker. It was also necessary to prove that there is no suitable UK resident worker available for the job. Now, the process of scrutiny has been introduced. According to Grant Thornton-CIIs tracker, there are over 700 Indian-owned businesses in the UK employing more than a lakh people (see table of top 5 companies). However, a break-up of those who are migrants from India and those who are resident employees (UK citizens) isnt available. The top 41 Indian-owned companies generate around 19 billion pounds (Rs 1.84 lakh crore) in turnover. The sectors represented are wide ranging and include pharmaceuticals, chemical, technology, telecom, automotive and manufacturing. A genuine vacancy assessment has now been introduced. These changes in the immigration rules empower UKs Entry Clearance Officer (ECO) to refuse applications for entry into the UK if there are reasonable grounds to believe that the job described by the sponsor company in its offer advertisements is exaggerated to meet the tier-2 skills requirements or is inappropriate for the job on offer. The ECO will also examine whether the job description has been tailored to exclude UK resident (local) workers from being recruited, explains Sarosh Zaiwalla, senior partner, Zaiwalla & Co, a UK-based solicitors firm. In order to qualify for tier 2, the job the applicant is applying for either has to be to a PhD level, for example biological scientists and biochemists, or an NQF Level 6, for example chief executives and senior officials, states Zaiwalla & Co. In order to be eligible for a tier-2 (general) visa, the applicant has to have an annual income of at least 20,500 pounds (roughly Rs 20 lakh) a year. Applicants who are being sponsored by their employer company and are working on a third-party site, will also be assessed closely to ensure that the employee is only conducting project-based services as part of the client contract. It is likely that the UK authorities will seek to review client contracts either at the time that the employees UK immigration application is made, or during a UK immigration audit at a client site. The companies affected - such as consultancy and IT firms in India - should take note of these measures and the additional delays the checks may cause, says Margaret Burton, partner, EY (UK). An immigration expert attached to a software company in India says, Smaller sized companies which carried on a one-off onsite project for their clients by deputing workers from India may be more adversely impacted by the change in norms. Care will need to be taken that the deputed workers are not engaged in ongoing routine work but are being deputed for project-based services. Large companies with UK subsidiaries are by and large already complying with the requirements and the minimum salary threshold limit should also not pose a problem. However, the scrutiny process will cause delays and need to be factored in. Subscribe us on Crown Immigration YouTube Channel for more information https://youtube/channel/UCnGy4uENJmddEbuHELUNI8g
Posted on: Tue, 09 Dec 2014 07:21:10 +0000
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