Consulting and Advisory Services
Our UK immigration experts act as trusted business advisors – supporting you in virtually any unique or complex immigration-related matter. Our UK team is able to manage the scope of immigration in large-scale projects and employee moves, as well as guide you through the immigration complexities involved in corporate restructuring and mergers and acquisitions.
Audit and Right to Work Services
We will support you in ensuring that you remain informed and compliant with UK immigration best practice. A Compliance Audit by our OISC registered immigration consultants will evaluate your existing HR systems and migrant worker arrangements, make recommendations for improvements and changes, indicate a rating against Home Office standards and provide a comprehensive written report.
Our Right to Work Audit Service works to mitigate the risk of hefty civil penalties resulting from illegal employment and ensures that you continue to meet your obligations under the UK immigration points-based system. We will check the veracity of an employee’s documents indicating their right to work in the UK and provide an Audit Certificate to confirm the individual’s entitlement to take employment.
Bespoke Training and Workshops
With the legislative burden on UK employers constantly increasing, we offer bespoke training and workshops to improve efficiency in immigration processes and increase overall control and compliance. We cover a wide variety of topics, such as:
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- Sponsorship requirements – what employers should know about sponsoring migrant workers
- Developing internal documentation and processes – keeping on top of legislative requirements
- Forgery detection techniques – how to spot falsified documents and what to do next
- EU Settlement Scheme – how to navigate the changing immigration landscape for EU nationals in the UK
Glossary of UK Terms
Biometric Residence Permit
The Biometric Residence Permit, or BRP, is credit card-sized card which holds details of a migrant’s name, date and place of birth plus a facial image and fingerprints. The BRP is proof of the holder’s right to stay, work or study in the UK, and shows their immigration status and entitlements whilst they are in the UK.
Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS)
To be eligible to apply for a visa under Tier 2 of the points-based system, a migrant must have a Certificate of Sponsorship, or CoS. The CoS is not a physical certificate but a virtual document with a unique reference number which holds information about the job and the migrant.
Entry Clearance
Entry clearance is the procedure of obtaining a visa to travel to the UK. All non-EEA nationals must obtain a visa before they travel to the UK if they want to stay for longer than 6 months or undertake employment activities. Sometimes, nationals of certain countries are permitted to visit the UK for 6 months or less without a visa; they are known as ‘non-visa nationals’.
Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS)
All non-EEA migrants applying for visas to come to the UK for longer than 6 months are required to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS). The payment goes directly to the National Health Service (NHS), entitling applicants to receive the same NHS treatment as a permanent UK resident (with some exceptions).
Immigration Skills Charge
All employers looking to sponsor a Tier 2 migrant for a period of 6 months or more will be subject to the Immigration Skills Charge. This payment was introduced to assist with tackling UK skill shortages and sponsors will need to settle this charge when a Certificate of Sponsorship is issued.
Leave to Remain
This is the name for permission to stay in the UK, granted from within the UK, to enable an overseas national to remain for a further period additional to their original permission.
Points-based System
The points-based system, or PBS, is the main immigration route for non-EEA migrants to come to the UK to work or train, study, or invest. The system is divided into five ‘tiers’, although Tier 3 is unused.
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- Tier 1 – aimed at highly skilled individuals, this tier caters for Investors and those with Exceptional Talent
- Tier 2 – taking in two sub-categories, General and Intra-Company Transfer, this tier covers skilled workers with a job offer from a UK-based employer
- Tier 4 – students
- Tier 5 – caters for the Youth Mobility Scheme and five sub-categories of temporary worker
Sponsor Licence
All UK businesses must apply for a sponsor licence to enable them to employ overseas workers under Tier 2 of the points-based system. Similarly, education providers that offer full-time study in the UK must have a Tier 4 sponsor licence in order to enrol students from outside the EEA.
UK Visas and Immigration
A department of the Home Office, UK Visas and Immigration, or UKVI, deals with immigration applications from migrants looking to visit or work in the UK. The department considers applications from businesses and educational institutions applying to sponsor overseas nationals, and deals with applications for UK citizenship.
