Recent changes in UK Immigration law have changed the landscape for employers seeking to recruit from outside Europe.

UK Immigration law has undergone a series of major changes in recent years, driven by the desire of the UK Government to attract skills needed in the UK while addressing increasing social concerns arising from immigration into the country.

In the words of former Home Secretary, Charles Clarke, on presenting the changes designed to revolutionise the previous approach, "the UK needs a world class migration system to attract the brightest and the best from across the world, while at the same time being more robust against abuse".

Recent changes have placed a greater responsibility on employers while restricting the categories under which people can enter the UK. In March 2006, following a wide-ranging consultation exercise, the Home Office published proposals for a new Points Based System (PBS) designed to manage the flow of migrants from outside the EU coming to the UK for work or study. The new points-based system is, according to the Home Office, the "biggest shake-up of the immigration system for 45 years".

In the global war for talent, organizations are seeking the best employees from an ever wider pool and the need to recruit from outside the EU can arise for a number of reasons. In some cases, overseas talent is needed to perform jobs requiring specialist skills, such as technical or language skills that are not available in the UK. In other cases, it may be necessary in order to fill vacancies for which there is a shortage of skills in UK applicants or to bring staff in on secondment or transfer from an overseas division for developmental assignments.

Recent changes have placed a greater responsibility on employers while restricting the categories under which people can enter the UK.

While EU and Swiss nationals are free to enter, live and work in the UK, other nationalities now face new restrictions. Ten new countries joined the EU on 1 May 2004 and the British Home Office has established a Worker Registration Scheme to monitor participation in the labour force from eight of these. On 1 January 2007 Bulgaria and Romania became members of the European Union, but Bulgarians and Romanians, often referred to as 'A2' nationals, still need work permits or their equivalent to take employment in the UK.

The new system is intended to ensure a clearer, more transparent and consistent system, while better identifying and attracting of migrants who have most to contribute to the UK, says the British government. Such skilled migrants are those the UK hope will help deliver high-level benefits for the country including increased economic competitiveness and cultural exchange.

Before November 2008 when Tier 2 of the new PBS was introduced, work permits were the main mechanism for employers to bring staff to the UK or to vary their status once they were within the UK. Today, Tier 2 is the route of most use to employers as it covers skilled workers with a job offer or who are intra-company transfers.

Under Tier 2, only employers that have registered with and are licensed by the Home Office are permitted to issue a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS). Certificates are issued to a named individual, who must then apply for permission to enter the UK based on a skill set, experience and profile broadly equivalent to previous work permit criteria.

The onus is on the employer to undertake a strict verification exercise in order to issue a CoS. The complex nature of the CoS has led to a lower number of licence applications by employers to date than was expected.

Tier 2 is the route of most use to employers as it covers skilled workers with a job offer or who are intra-company transfers.

Employers have to apply online to become a licensed sponsor. A Tier 2 licence costs £300 for small organisations (fewer than 50 employees) and £1,000 for large organisations. Each migrant's certificate of sponsorship costs £170. Approval is currently taking at least six weeks.

A licence will be issued only if the employer is able to show that it has the necessary monitoring and record-keeping systems in place. In checking this, the government looks at five specific areas of employers' Human Resources systems: they must be capable of monitoring immigration status and preventing illegal employment, maintaining migrant contact details, providing accurate record-keeping, tracking and monitoring migrants, and logging professional registrations and accreditations.

Of particular interest to professionals from Africa is the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP) that was introduced in 2002.

Organisations that want to use Tier 2 migrants must first prove that they cannot fill the post with a resident worker, unless the job is on a shortage-occupation list. To go on the lists, a job must require skills in short supply and it must be "sensible" to recruit those skills from outside the European Economic Area.

Highly Skilled Migrant Programme/Tier I
Of particular interest to professionals from Africa is the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP) that was introduced in 2002. This route into the UK was to provide stand-alone immigration permission for employment or self-employment for skilled, graduate professionals able to contribute the UK economy.

The HSMP was replaced by Tier 1 which was phased in from the end of June 2008 and keeps to the principle of stand-alone immigration permission for highly skilled migrants based on qualifications, age and earnings.

To apply under the points-based system and to be accepted into the highly skilled worker category, applicants must pass a points-based assessment. An applicant must score:

Applications will be refused where applicants do not score a minimum of 75 points for their attributes and 10 points for English language and 10 points for available maintenance (funds).

According to the UK Government, the new system is not intended to deter employers from using Tier 2 migrants. Jeremy Oppenheim, the senior civil servant who has been at the forefront of the points-based system, sees the new approach as simpler to understand and one that supports employers to bring in people who are "appropriate, right and skilled to do the job".

"The work permit system had potentially 80 different complex routes and sub-routes associated with it," he says. "The points-based system has five, with one currently in suspension. And the online approach means much of this work can be done almost instantly. People abroad can print out the relevant documentation to take to an entry clearance officer to enable them to gain entry to the UK."

* Source: CIPD