UNITED KINGDOM - Tier 2 (General) Oversubscribed For Second Month
The number of Tier 2 (General) Restricted Certificates of Sponsorship (RCoS) available for January 2018 was exceeded by demand for the second consecutive month.
- The total number of RCoS available to employers in January 2018 stood at 1651, after 91 RCoS were borrowed by the December 2017 allocation.
- RCoS applications submitted in January were rejected where the applicant’s salary was less than £50k, other than those employed in PhD-level or shortage occupations, or recruited via a milkround exercise for recent graduates.
- RCoS applications that were rejected last month may be resubmitted in February, provided that the advertising carried out by their prospective employer remains valid.
How does it work?
- Under the Tier 2 scheme, there is an annual allocation of 20,700 restricted certificates of sponsorship (RCoS), divided into monthly allocations.
- The monthly allocations are higher earlier in the year (from April) to ensure that there are enough RCoS available when demand is high in the summer.
- If allocations are under-subscribed in any month, the surplus is carried over to the next month.
- However, if demand outstrips supply, a points threshold is triggered. Each application is awarded points based on salary and occupation.
- Jobs at PhD level and those listed as shortage occupations are awarded a higher score.
The deadline for the next monthly allocation is 5 February. As it is likely that many of the unsuccessful RCoS applications from January are likely to be resubmitted, employers may find that February’s RCoS quota will once again be oversubscribed.
Action Items
- Affected employers in the UK should be prepared for the possibility of a qualifying application for a certificate of sponsorship under Tier 2 General not being granted on first request, and are advised to consult their immigration specialist.
The information in this alert was provided by Newland Chase.