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Employing Foreign Workers

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If you are a UK employer and you are looking to employ a foreign worker, you will need to meet different requirements depending on their nationality and skill-set as well as the contract length.

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If you are employing someone on a Tier 2 General Worker Visa or a Tier 5 Temporary Worker Visa, you must hold a Sponsorship Licence.  You must also be registered to sponsor employees to transfer a worker to the UK from an overseas office. If you are hiring a non-EEA (Third Country) worker who is in the UK with a Tier 1 Exceptional Talent Visa, you will not be required to hold a Sponsorship Licence. It is important to bear in mind when hiring foreign workers that the Tier 3 Visa has been suspended. As a result, you can no longer hire unskilled migrant workers in the UK. 

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For those intending to hire religious workers or sports person, a Sponsor Licence will be necessary to sponsor their applications for entry clearance.

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We offer high-quality advice on employing foreign workers. We can assist with applications for Sponsorship Licences. We can also help you appeal if you have received a Civil Penalty or had your Sponsor Licence revoked.

 

Those who are highly skilled and exceptionally talented workers, or investors and entrepreneurs, can apply to enter or remain in the UK without needing a job offer, although in most cases the points-based assessment still applies. The Home Office applies a points-based system in conjunction with other category-specific requirements under the Immigration Rules.