08 January 2010

Government responds to intra-company transfer claims

The UK government has made a response to a claim by the Association of Professional Staffing Companies about the Tier 2 Intra-company transfer category of the points-based system.

The Intra-company Transfer Category allows an employer to fill vacancies in its UK operations by bringing across existing foreign-based staff.

The Association of Professional Staffing Companies claimed that the Intra-company Transfer Category is providing a loophole for Indian IT companies to bring foreign workers into the UK, and claim the Government refutes.

It has been claimed that this category enables jobs in the IT and other sectors to be taken by migrants who are paid less than resident workers, but the Government says this is not true as workers coming to the UK in the Tier 2 Intra-company Transfer Category must be paid the going rate.

This spring the UK Border Agency will be amending UK immigration requirements for this category, and workers under the Intra-company Transfer must have 12 months’ experience with their employer, rather than the current six months, before they can be transferred to the UK.

This category will also be closed as a route to permanent settlement in the UK.

Border and Immigration Minister Phil Woolas said ntra-company transfers were an important part of  making the UK an attractive place in which to do business.

“Workers that come in via this route must display the appropriate level of earnings and qualifications, and the numbers are strictly controlled by the points-based system - meaning only those the UK needs can come here,” he said.

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The UK Visa Bureau is an independent consulting company specialising in helping people lodge their UK Visa applications at the British Embassy.