The U.K. has found itself dealing with a significant skills gap across a number of fields, with the tech sector being no exception. While its true that the government has been investing in digital skill building, and attempting to boost skills in general through programmes like the apprenticeships scheme, these are long term solutions and don’t solve the short term issues that a skills gap can cause within organisation.
The increasing popularity of remote working during the Covid-19 pandemic helped businesses take a more flexible view of recruiting, meaning that the lowered dependence on in-office presence allowed them to search further afield, including recruiting from overseas. While this can be a great solution to a lack of available skills within a particular country, there are still roles which require workers to be physically available and not just working within a digital space.
For businesses that find themselves in this position, they do have options available under the present Home Office policies and immigration system. Different visa routes will allow organisations to recruit workers from overseas, allowing them to temporarily gain the skill sets they need in their workforce, until the U.K. labour market is ready to provide them.
The first visa to discuss here, is the High Potential Individual visa. As the name suggests, it’s aimed at individuals born overseas who are highly qualified and wish to come to the U.K. to work. The visa is open to workers with the equivalent of a U.K. bachelors degree or above gained from a list of universities from around the world. It allows qualified individuals to pursue employment with an established business, or to be self-employed for the length of the visa. For those with a bachelors equivalent this is up to two years, and a doctorate or equivalent is eligible for three years. The visa is not able to be extended or renewed, but for some this forms part of the appeal of the HPI visa.
For the visa holder themselves, it allows them to gain experience for a short amount of time within a word leading business, who may not be located in their home country. For the employer themselves, it provides a short term solution to the problems caused by the skills gap in the U.K. but it also has a benefit to the holders home nation. At the end of the visas term, the visa holder will return to their country of origin, allowing them to add the skills and experience they’ve learned during their time in the U.K. to their home nations labour pool.
Some employers of course will wish to retain the visa holder past the time allowed by the HPI visa. While that visa cannot be renewed, its expiry doesn’t mean that the individual has to return to their home country. Instead, an employer has the ability to ‘sponsor’ them by obtaining a U.K. sponsor licence. This would then allow the individual to remain working within the country for a further five years, at which point they would be eligible to apply for indefinite leave to remain.
Unlike the HPI however, someone employed under the terms of sponsor licence visa will find that their visas eligibility is more closely tied to their employment status. As such, your organisation has more responsibility overall for the visa holder, and their conduct.
When an individual gains a U.K. visa, they agree to live by a set of terms and conditions that determine the way they behave while in the country. Under a sponsor licence, your organisation is partially responsible for ensuring that these terms are adhered to, and must report any conduct which would be termed as a breach to the Home Office.
If your sponsor licence is granted, it will initially be given a licence rating of A. This indicates that your organisation is able to sponsor an individual under the scheme, and as long as your organisation and the visa holder conduct yourself correctly, this rating will not change. If you find yourself in the position where you need to report a conduct breach to the Home Office however, your licence may be downgraded to a ‘B rating’. This will mean that you are then unable to sponsor individuals in this way.
The downgrading of the licence rating doesn’t have to be permanent however, and it is possible for you to regain your ‘A rating’ if certain steps are followed. The UKVI will, for a fee, help you to create an action plan which, when completed, will allow your original rating to be restored. This will then enable you to sponsor workers for your organisation through the scheme.
The process of applying for a sponsor licence can be a complicated one, and as with any hiring process, there are costs which your company must pay to see it through. As well as the usual onboarding costs of hiring a new employee and inducting them into your business, you’ll need to pay an application fee for your sponsor licence. For charities or small businesses, this fee is £536, whereas medium to large scale organisations will pay a fee of £1476.
It is possible for a business to undertake the process from start to finish without consulting any legal professional, and there is guidance available on the process through the government, however, a ‘do it yourself’ attitude isn’t always recommended. If your companies application is rejected, there is currently no avenue to appeal the decision with the home office, and as a result, you will lose any fees you’ve paid at that point in the process. You are able to re-apply following a ‘cooling off’ period, but you would need to pay the fees again as this would be counted as a new application. While it may be tempting to try and save the fees associated with consulting professional immigration advisors, it is more likely that consultation and advice will help your application to be successful. In the long run, this may end up being a more cost effective method of navigating the process.
