Changes to the Immigration Rules from 6 April 2015

20 March 2015

A Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules was published on 26 February 2015. The changes, most of which are due to come into force on 6 April 2015, include the following which are of relevance to employers:

• Waiving the Tier 2 'cooling-off period' for short-term grants of Certificates of Sponsorship for 3 months or less. This will enable employers to sponsor interns and then bring them back to the UK for a permanent job within a year. This change will also help global firms who need to send some staff to the UK for short periods each year.
• Updating annual minimum salary thresholds for Tier 2 and appropriate salary rates for individual occupations.

See GOV.UK to access the Statement of Changes in full.