Businesses Unable to Recruit as Visa Limit is Breached for Sixth Consecutive Month

New data from the government regarding Tier 2 visa allocations for the month of March showed that sponsorship certificates had hit their limit once again, making this the sixth consecutive month where this has happened.

The March report from the UK government's visas and immigration department included figures for the allocation of 'certificates of sponsorship'. These documents are restricted, meaning that only so many can be issued each year. This limit covers non-EU workers who are immigrating through the Tier 2 program.

This is the sixth month in a row that the limit has been breached, raising questions over whether the caps are appropriate, and implying that thousands of applications from businesses must have been rejected by the government.

New Caps

Many business owners feel that this is the result of the new Tier 2 cap that was introduced in December 2017. If this current situation is found to be the result of the introduction of these caps, and if the limits continue to be exceeded, it could force a rethink from the government.

There has been increasing pressure on businesses owing to the monthly quotas, and they are now significantly impacting the ability of businesses to recruit talented workers from overseas. In some cases, this is meaning that individuals who would previously have come to the UK with a job already lined up, may now instead choose to join a spouse in the UK by applying for a UK spouse visa.

Tier 2 applications have been used by two types of worker, general skilled workers, and graduates. They are also sometime used for the purposes of intra-company transfers. It is the most widely used of all the visa categories in the UK system.

Certificates of Sponsorship

Restricted certificates of sponsorship are needed by businesses who want to hire a non-EU or EEA national on the basis of a Tier 2 visa when those individuals need to apply for their Tier 2 visas from outside the UK.

For skilled workers who are coming to the UK from outside of the EU or EEA, the Tier 2 visa is now the main route into the country. But these latest figures suggest that some sectors could be facing, or even undergoing, a recruitment crisis. This crisis is being driven, at least in part, by the new restrictions placed on Tier 2 visas.

Building Pressure

Many employers are already facing the increased pressures that come from reduced immigration from Europe. Now that this is being coupled with a reduction in the number of skilled workers from outside the EU that businesses are able to employ, businesses find themselves fighting a two-front war. An interim report from the Migration Advisory Committee suggests that employers in all sectors are now raising concerns about the impact of new rules.

When the first caps were introduced in 2011, they didn't pose much of a problem as the country was just exiting a recession. Demand for these visas was lower back then, which is why the effects of the caps have not truly been felt until now.