Wage inflation

UK: Tier 2 Certificates of Sponsorship to be staggered; Tier 2 minimum salary to be maintained

The Home Office has published new Immigration Rules that will impose the following changes:

  • The availability of Tier 2 Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) will be staggered throughout the year, instead of split equally in twelve monthly allocations. Starting April 6, 2016, 2,200 CoS will be available in the first month, gradually falling to 1,000 after a year.  
  • Unlike in other years, the minimum salary for Tier 2 workers will not increase in line with wage inflation. The Home Office has nevertheless indicated that a policy change may be made at a later date based on advice from Migration Advisory Committee’s (MAC) proposal.  It is likely that an announcement on the MAC’s advice will be made in the coming weeks.