Tough environment for employers of overseas workers
Responding to last week's high court victory by JCWI and the English Community Care Association in their challenge to the UK government's cap on skilled migrant workers, immigration minister Dominic Green will today lay new immigration rules before parliament reimposing the limit on numbers which has affected so many employers.
Home Secretary Theresa May introduced the limit of 24,100 workers a month as an interim measure ahead of a permanent cap. The legal challenge to it was upheld with high court judges ruling that ministers had "sidestepped" parliamentary scrutiny. The ruling nullified the current temporary cap, but only for a couple of days.
Since the cap was imposed in June this year, Latitude Law has noticed a change in attitude at the UK Border Agency to application by employers for sponsor licences, the first step towards employing a non-EEA (European Economic Area) worker. Applications are rejected on the basis of allegedly deficient documentary evidence, even where that evidence is supplied in complete accordance with UKBA's published guidance. It is therefore vital that, if you currently employ migrant workers on work permits and need to extend workers' stay, you seek legal advice as early as possible, and are prepared to provide all original documents requested from you, in order to give your sponsor licence application the best chance of success.
Before applying for a licence, remember too that you are required to provide a detailed business case for seeking an overseas worker, which must be set out on a separate application for an allocation of certificates of sponsorship - the tools you need to employ a worker from abroad.