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15 Apr COVID-19 guidance update

Posted on April 15, 2020 in Other Visas, Working in the UK by
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On 14 April 2020, the Home Office updated its COVID-19 guidance for Tier 2 and Tier 5 sponsors. The guidance states that sponsored employees will be able to start working before their visa application has been decided if:

  • The sponsor has assigned them a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS);
  • The employee submitted their visa application prior to their current visa expires;
  • The role they are employed is the same as the one on their CoS.

 

Please note that the sponsor should report the employee’s start date, and this should be the CoS issue date rather than the date of their visa is granted. Although the sponsor will not be able to report this information by using the Sponsor Management System (SMS), the sponsor should make a record and maintain all the relevant information set out in the sponsor guidance on the company’s own system.

However, other changes to the employee’s working arrangements or other information in relation to the migrant’s visa status must still be reported as usual.

Please also note that if the sponsored employee’s visa application is eventually rejected as invalid or refused, the sponsor must terminate his/her employment.

Tier 1 Entrepreneur visa holder

Tier 1 Entrepreneur migrants will no longer need to recruit at least 2 employees for 12 consecutive months each if their business have been disrupted under the COVID-19 pandemic. This can be made up of multiple employees across different months.

Time when the employees were furloughed will not count towards the 12 months period.

If the migrant has not been able to employ staff for 12 months in total by the time of his/her visa expires, the migrant will be allowed to temporarily extend the leave in order to meet the requirement.

Requesting a visa extension

If a migrant is in the UK, and his/her leave expires between 24 January 2020 and 31 May 2020, the leave will be extended to 31 May 2020 if the migrant cannot leave the UK due to travel restrictions or self-isolation under the COVID-19 pandemic.

Please note that migrants’ leave cannot be extended automatically, they must request an extension from the following website:

https://gov.smartwebportal.co.uk/homeoffice/public/webform.asp?id=199&id2=5C97E7

Contact Our Immigration Team

For expert advice regarding any aspect of the UK visa application, please contact our immigration team on 0203 384 3075.

The content of this article is for general use and information only. Since each case should be prepared on its own merit and in light of the constant amendments to the Immigration Rules, it is important to note that the information provided must not be relied upon unless Migra & Co has either given written consent or has been officially engaged in relation to a specific immigration matter. As a result, Migra & Co will take no responsibility for any damage, cost or loss resulting from relying on the information contained in this article, blog and website.