Which Sponsored Workers Qualify as New Entrants for Salary Reductions?

Posted onSeptember 26, 2024

With the increase in the minimum salary threshold for sponsored employees on Skilled Worker Visas, UK employers understandably want to know which sponsored workers qualify as new entrants for salary reductions.

In this article, our Immigration Solicitors look at the immigration rules and Home Office guidance for new entrants. If your business has a sponsor licence and needs Immigration Law Training or Sponsor Licence Management Services our specialist Sponsorship Licence Lawyers can help.

UK Online and London-Based Immigration Solicitors and Sponsorship Licence Lawyers

For immigration advice call OTS Solicitors on 0203 959 9123 or contact us online.

The minimum salary threshold for the Skilled Worker Visa

The minimum salary threshold for the Skilled Worker Visa is an income of £38,700 gross per annum or the going rate for the job, whichever is higher.

Some Skilled Worker Visa applicants may struggle to justify this salary level in some sectors of the economy. There are solutions, such as recruiting an international student on a Graduate Visa. The Graduate Visa is a Work Visa where there is no sponsorship requirement, no need for the job to be on the list of jobs with a standard occupational classification code and no need to pay the employee the minimum salary threshold for the Skilled Worker Visa.

Some international students don’t want to be employed on a Graduate Visa. Nor do some employers want to recruit students on Graduate Visas. For the student, the Graduate Visa only lasts two to three years and is not a route to settlement. For the employer, whilst the Graduate Visa gives flexibility, many want their graduate employees to stay longer in the UK to justify the investment in ongoing training. For these recruits and employers finding out about salary discounts for new entrants may be the answer.

Salary discounts for new entrants

If an employee qualifies as a ‘new entrant’ they can be paid less than the minimum salary threshold for a Skilled Worker Visa holder.

The discount is a percentage reduction from the general salary threshold of £38,700. The immigration rules say the new entrant’s salary must equal or exceed both:

£30,960 per year and
70% of the going rate for the standard occupational classification 2020 code

If the job the recruit has secured is on the immigration salary list the salary must equal or exceed both:

£23,200 per year and
70% of the going rate for the standard occupational classification 2020 code

Who qualifies as a new entrant?

Home Office guidance defines a ‘new entrant.’ The guidance states:

‘’A ‘new entrant’ means a new entrant to the labour market, in other words someone who is near the start of their career, who meets certain criteria. It does not mean an applicant who is making their first Skilled Worker application or entering the UK for the first time’’.

A job applicant is classed as a new entrant if they are under the age of 26 on the date of their visa application or if they are applying for a post-doctoral position in one of several specified occupations, such as a chemical scientist or higher education teaching professional.

Other job applicants would qualify as new entrants if they:

Are working towards a recognised professional qualification in a UK-regulated profession or
Are working towards full registration or chartered status with the relevant professional body for the job they are sponsored for or
Meet the criteria that their most recent permission, other than as a visitor, was under Tier 4 (General) or the student route. However, to qualify the applicant’s permission must be current or have expired less than two years before their visa application. The immigration rules also specify that the applicant must have been sponsored to study one of several specific courses, such as a UK bachelor’s degree, UK master’s degree, UK PhD or other doctoral qualification, Postgraduate Certificate in Education or a Professional Graduate Diploma of Education
The most recent permission, other than as a visitor, was under the Graduate Visa route but to qualify the permission must either be current or have expired less than two years before the date of the visa application

Investing in Immigration Law Training on new entrants or checking the rules with a Sponsorship Licence Lawyer can be cost-effective when recruiting as the new entrant definition and the evidence required by the Home Office can be confusing. For example, some employers don’t realise that a new entrant can be aged over 26 or that for someone on a Graduate Visa to qualify as a new entrant they must either have a current Graduate Visa or their Graduate Visa must have expired less than two years before the date of their visa application and the applicant’s most recent permission, other than as a visitor, must have been under a qualifying route.

Our Sponsorship Licence Lawyers can advise on whether an applicant meets the new entrant criteria and assist with ongoing ad hoc immigration legal advice on matters such as certificate of sponsorship allocation or reporting duties. Alternatively, we can provide a full Sponsor Licence Management Service for a fixed monthly retainer.

UK Online and London-Based Immigration Solicitors and Sponsorship Licence Lawyers

For immigration advice call OTS Solicitors on 0203 959 9123 or contact us online.

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