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Who is Subject to Pay the Immigration Skills Charge?
Unless an exception applies, a licensed sponsor holder (Certificate of Sponsorship (‘CoS’)) is subject to the Immigration Skills Charge. From 1 January 2021, the Immigration Skills Charge applies to all applications made on the Skilled Worker or ICT routes (Replacing the Tier 2 (General visa) and Tier 2 (ICT) Long term staff routes), if they are applying for a visa from outside of the UK to work within the UK for a period of 6 months or more or if they are inside the UK for any length of time.
The charge must be paid by the sponsor and cannot be passed onto the employee. Sponsors must pay the charge for each Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) they assign, unless an exemption applies.
You will not need to pay the Immigration Skills Charge if you’re Sponsoring:
- Individuals who are on an Intra-company Graduate trainee visa route
- Individuals who are on a UK study visa and then switch to a Skilled worker or Intra-company transfer visa, thereby extending their stay via the new visa
- A charge may not also apply if the worker was assigned a certificate before 6th April 2017. See the Gov.UK-Part 2-Guidance for sponsors
- For the worker’s dependants.
Additionally, you will not need to pay the Immigration Skills Charge if Sponsoring individuals fall under one of the following:
- chemical scientists (2111)
- biological scientists and biochemists (2112)
- physical scientists (2113)
- social and humanities scientists (2114)
- natural and social science professionals not elsewhere classified (2119)
- research and development managers (2150)
- higher education teaching professionals (2311)
- clergy (2444)
- sports players (3441)
- sports coaches, instructors or officials (3442)
The government has published a detailed guide on the Immigration skills charge.
How Can NA Law Solicitors Help?
As the Immigration Skills Charge is mandatory, it is exceptionally important to get this right. We can support you in identifying which fee would be appropriate to you, advise you on your concerns, ensure that you comply with the requirements and support you in the process of settling any liabilities you may have incurred.
The charge is dependent on the size of your organisation and how long the worker will work for you. The start date and end date on the workers sponsorship certificate will be looked at.
For small or charitable sponsors, the charge for the first 12 months is £364 and for each additional 6 months is £182. For Medium or Large sponsors, the charge for the first 12 months is £1,000 and for each additional 6 months is £500.
Charges must be paid in full.
5 years.
Refunds can be issued if the worker’s visa application is refused or withdrawn or successful, but they do not come to work for you. Partial refunds can also be applied for if, the worker gets less time on their visa than you originally sponsored them for, if they start working but then change to another sponsor or if they leave their job prior to the end date on their COS.
A refusal decision can be asked to be reviewed again. Refund is also issued within 90 days of the deadline. Contact us to know about the administrative review and for further support.