How do I sponsor a migrant?
Tier 2 - intra-company transfer
This page explains the duties you have as a sponsor under the tier 2 - intra-company transfer category of the points-based system.
On this page
Your sponsor duties when assigning a certificate of sponsorship
Before you assign a certificate of sponsorship you must make sure that:
- the migrant has been working for your organisation, either inside the United Kingdom as an intra-company transferee or outside the United Kingdom, for at least six months directly before the transfer;
- the job is at S/NVQ skill level 3 or above; and
- the migrant will be paid the appropriate salary rate for the job.
Additionally, any migrant entering the United Kingdom under the tier 2 - intra-company transfer category must not be directly replacing a settled worker.
Working for your organisation for the past six months
You do not have to carry out a resident labour market test before sponsoring an intra-company transfer. However, a migrant coming to the United Kingdom on an intra-company transfer must have been working for your organisation for at least six months directly before their transfer.
This work can have been done inside or outside the United Kingdom, or a combination of both. However, if any of it was done inside the United Kingdom, the migrant must have had permission to work for you as a tier 2 - intra-company transfer migrant and/or as an intra-company transfer work permit holder.
The only exception to this six-month rule occurs where the migrant has been on maternity, paternity or adoption leave during the previous six months. If this is the case, and you have employed the migrant for at least six months in the last 18 months, they can still be employed in this category as long as they meet all the other requirements.
When they make their tier 2 - intra-company transfer application, the migrant may have to send us evidence of that they have been working for you over the previous six months. Evidence may take the form of:
- payslips for the past six months; or
- personal bank or building society statements covering the past six months; or
- a building society pass book.
If the migrant sends payslips, you may have to certify them. They should be either formal payslips or on company-headed paper. If payslips are on unheaded paper or are printouts of online payslips, the migrant will have to send us a letter from you confirming the payslips' authenticity. This letter must be on company-headed paper and signed by a senior official.
Appropriate salary level - exchange rate and allowances
The migrant must be paid the appropriate salary rate for the job, which must be at or above S/NVQ level 3.
Salary may be paid in the United Kingdom or abroad. If the migrant will be paid abroad in a currency other than pounds sterling, the salary amount entered on the certificate of sponsorship will be based on the exchange rate for that currency on the day the certificate is assigned, taken from the rates published on the currency website Oanda.
When calculating the migrant's total salary for the purposes of awarding points and assessing whether the salary passes the 'appropriate rate' test, we will take account of:
- basic pay excluding overtime; and
- allowances (daily payments to cover the additional cost of living while the migrant is in the United Kingdom, but not expenses to cover travel between the source country and the United Kingdom).
If an allowance is made available solely for accommodation purposes (whether in cash or in kind), the maximum that the allowance can contribute to the total gross salary package is 30%. If the accommodation allowance accounts for more than 30% of total gross salary, we will disregard the excess.
However, we will allow the accommodation alllowance to contribute up to 40% of total gross salary in situations where:
- you have issued a certificate of sponsorship for 12 months or less to a migrant who is applying from outside the United Kingdom; or
- the migrant is applying for an extension from with in the United Kingdom, but their total stay here will still be 12 months or less.
Terms explained
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Certificate of sponsorship
This is a virtual document (a unique reference number) that an organisation gives to migrants they want to employ, and that the migrant uses when applying.under the points-based system for coming to the United Kingdom to work, train or study. Also known as confirmation of acceptance for studies.
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Resident labour market test
This is the process an employer must follow before employing a person who is not a permanent resident of the United Kingdom if he/she is first required to show that no resident worker could be found to take a job.
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S/NVQ level 3
This refers to either the Scottish Vocational Qualification or the National Vocational Qualification at level 3. A qualification at this level is one that shows competence that involves the application of knowledge in a broad range of varied work activities performed in a wide variety of contexts, most of which are complex and non-routine. There is considerable responsibility and autonomy and control or guidance of others is often required.