The Driver Behind Sponsor Licence Applications
For immigration solicitors, recent Home Office research into sponsor licences and skilled worker visas makes interesting reading. In this blog, our Sponsorship Licence lawyers take a look at the latest Home Office research findings on the drivers behind sponsor licence applications and skilled worker visa requests.
UK Online and London Based Immigration Solicitors and Sponsorship Licence Lawyers
For advice on sponsor licences and skilled worker visas call the immigration lawyers at OTS Solicitors on 0203 959 9123 or contact us online.
The sponsor licence and skilled worker visa Home Office research
In July 2022, the Home Office published research on the skilled worker visa after conducting interviews with UK sponsor licence holders and skilled worker visa applicants.
The research findings are important for UK employers as they may assist in helping companies decide if they should apply for a sponsor licence to sponsor skilled worker visa applicants. Alternatively, it can help businesses decide whether to renew their sponsor licence or to invest in training schemes to try to recruit UK based workers and to spend their money on providing training and apprenticeship schemes to enhance their settled worker’s skills.
For all employers, the more information you have, the better you are able to make informed decisions to meet your business and recruitment needs.
Your company may want to carry out highly sophisticated calculations to look at the cost of applying for and managing your sponsor licence, and the extra budget needed to recruit each skilled worker visa holder who is employed on a skilled worker visa. However, for general information, the Home Office research gives a helpful overview and shows that:
- Over half of skilled worker visa applicants are attracted to the UK work visa because it can lead to settlement in the UK through an application for indefinite leave to remain. That’s good news for UK employers who don’t want to go to the expense of recruiting from overseas and to then have a quick turnaround of overseas staff, with the associated expense and administration, such as the cost of a certificate of sponsorship allocation and the administrative expense of compliance with sponsor licence reporting and recording duties
- Over two thirds of skilled worker visa applicants got help with their skilled worker visa application, either through their own immigration solicitor or via their employer’s Sponsorship Licence lawyers
- Over three quarters of sponsor licence holders are recruiting from overseas because of the need to employ workers with specialist skills. From an employer’s perspective, if you train up a settled worker to enhance any existing skills, there is then a risk they will change employer. There is less risk of that happening with a skilled worker visa holder as they are limited to taking jobs with sponsoring employers
- Over three quarters of the sponsor licence holders who took part in the Home Office research indicated that they intended to recruit skilled worker visa applicants within the next twelve months
- Over ninety percent of skilled worker visa applicants were drawn to the UK because of their ability to speak the English language. The research shows that it can be the basics that attract talent. However, many employers are also offering support, such as payment of the visa application fee, paying the immigration health surcharge and making ‘welcome’ payments and helping overseas workers and their dependants with immigration advice
How the OTS Solicitors Sponsorship Licence lawyers can help your business
Whether you are a start-up, a SME, or your company is hoping to list, your business will need a helping hand to meet the complexities of UK immigration and employment law. At OTS Solicitors, we believe in keeping things simple. You are offered sponsor licence solutions while we sort out the immigration law problems in the background, leaving you free to focus on what is important to your business, whether you are a high tech firm needing a specialist or a busy London restaurant trying to keep your business open without the right staff.
Our Sponsorship Licence lawyers can help you with:
- Getting ready to apply for your first sponsor licence – by carrying out audits and training and advising on the paperwork needed and the appointment of key personnel
- Applying for your sponsor licence
- Advising you on the recruitment process for skilled overseas workers, the standardised occupational codes, and guiding you through the complexities of the minimum salary threshold and the allocation of certificates of sponsorship
- Helping skilled worker visa applicants apply for their work visas
- Sponsor licence renewal
- Sponsor licence management services
- Home Office audits
- Sponsor licence suspension
- Assisting with sponsor licence action plans to return to A rating
- Sponsor licence revocation and the cooling off period
- Skilled worker visa extension applications
- Dependant visas for the families of skilled workers
- Settlement of skilled workers
- Employment law and sponsored employees
- Right to work checks and queries
Whilst the ‘driver behind sponsor licence applications’ is undoubtedly the UK skills shortage, and the attraction of the UK to skilled worker visa applicants is their ease of transition because of their knowledge of the English language, Sponsorship Licence lawyers like to think that they are one of the driving forces behind successful sponsor licence and skilled worker visa applications.
UK Online and London Based Immigration Solicitors and Sponsorship Licence Lawyers
For professional supportive help with sponsor licence applications and skilled worker visas call the immigration lawyers at OTS Solicitors on 0203 959 9123 or contact us online.