Changes being brought by the PBS:

i) No more work permits! – Work permits would be replaced by Sponsorships by licensed employers in the UK.

ii) Applications for Licences by the UK based employers (Categories A&B).

iii) Applications for licences by the UK based educational institutions for overseas students. (Categories A & B).

iv) Sponsorships by the employers and educational establishments.

v) Criminal offences and other penalties


No More work permits!

It is intended from the first quarter of the year 2008 that new PBS would be enforced bringing in a number of changes in the existing legislation and the procedural rules regulating immigration control.

There would be an end to the issuance of work permits, and the new system of sponsorship would replace it. It would put more responsibility on the shoulders of the UK based employers who would play the part of the Border and Immigration Agency by informing them about all the developments regarding the nature of business, compliance of the rules and attendance (for students) by the sponsored persons and other material changes.

Applications for Licences!

All UK employers who wish to issue certificates of sponsorship would be required to register with the Border and Immigration Agency and obtain licence. The licence would be valid for four years and can only be obtained if they are able to provide the documents required to establish their physical and trading existence in the UK. There are different sets of documents required for different nature of businesses asking for general documents relevant to all UK employers and specific documents relevant to the particular trade and business.

This application can be made by the employers / educational establishments themselves and by the assistance of persons regulated by the OISC or the relevant professional body like The Law society.

There would be two types of licences which would be issued to the applicants i.e. A category and B category.

A Category would mean that the employer has established itself as a genuine employer who is willing and able to sponsor overseas workers to work for the company. While B category would mean that the Border and Immigration Agency have got some reservations on the employer and would let them know what to do upgrade their status to A category. The educational establishment having a B category status would not be allowed to sponsor students to do sandwich courses.

There would be rigorous checks on the employers whether they are vigilant enough in compliance of their legal responsibilities or not. In case of any employer found non-compliant, its status of A-category might be downgraded to B category or the licence itself might be revoked. In the event of revocation of licence, the employer / educational establishments would not more be able to issue sponsorship certificates.

If the sponsored person is also found to be complicit in the non-compliance of the employer, his leave to remain would also be curtailed and be given leave for 28 days to leave the UK. In case of the innocence of the applicant, he would be given 60 days leave to enable him look for another sponsor and obtain leave to remain in line with the new sponsorship certificate.

Skilled Job:

The level of position has been maintained to be at the level of NVQ level 3 or above. The sponsor can only issue a certificate of sponsorship if:

- he has carried out resident labout market test; or
- the job is in shortage occupation list; or
- the salary for the job concerned is at least £40,000 per year; or
- the sponsored person is the subject of intra company transfer; or
- the sponsored person is a religious worker (separate conditions apply in this case).
Unskilled Job:

There is no intention to introduce this in the upcoming PBS.

Students

A certificate of sponsorship which, for students, will be known as a "confirmation of acceptance of studies" may only be issued under Tier 4 by the licensed educational establishment.

Certificate of Sponsorship

A certificate of sponsorship is a virtual documentsl it is not an actual certificate or paper documents like a work permit. It would consist of a unique reference number which the sponsor would issue to the migrant and which makes the migrant eligible to apply for entry clearance or leave to remain.

However, the issuance of sponsorship would not guarantee the issuance of visa. The applicant would then have to fulfil the criteria of seeking entry clearance in line with the certificate of sponsorship.

Criminal Offences & Penalties

A comprehensive list of criminal offences and penalties relating to immigration matters would also be given to make the stake holders aware of the consequences of their non-compliance.