Skills Charge To Be Applied For Non European Economic Nationals Working In UK

03 Mar 2017

An “Immigrations Skills Charge” is set to be confirmed on the 6th April 2017, the Home Office has confirmed. The charge will make it more costly for companies to employ workers from outside of the European Economic Area.

The charge, which is still subject to approval by parliament, will be payable by companies who employ Tier 2 migrants. The charge will also be payable if an employee extends their working period or changes employers. Additionally,  Intra-Company Transfer and Tier 2 General categories will be subject to the fees.

Companies will be charged £1000 per year, per migrant. Smaller companies and charities will have a reduced fee of £364. The company will need to pay the full duration of the sponsorship, in advance.

Exemptions for the skill charge include the following:

General migrants or Tier 2 ICT whose sponsorship was issued before April 6 2017, now applying for extended Tier 2 visa or change of UK sponsor.

Tier 2 ICT Graduate Trainees

Tier 2 Workers in a particular Ph.D level occupation.

Students currently in Tier 4 and changing status to Tier 2 general

Tier 2 migrants families

Any funds collected from the Skills charge will be attributed to training programs and apprenticeships in order to develop the skills of the local labour force.

The increasing cost of employing non EEA nationals in the UK, is set to reduce the amount of skilled migrants that UK based companies are likely to employ. Applications which have already been submitted may now be cancelled, due to the additional costs.

Tier 2 migrants and there families have already been subject to additional charges, including a health surcharge at £200 per person, per annum.It is expected that these charges will also be applicable to Tier 2 ICTs in the next 12 months, 

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