Home Office advised to tighten intra-company staff transfer rules

Greater checks needed on firms bringing workers in from abroad, says Migration Advisory Committee

Unite says some companies are taking advantage of migration rules

The Home Office Migration Advisory Committee has recommended changes to immigration rules that would make it more difficult for IT companies to bring foreign workers in from overseas.

Sponsored skilled workers from outside the EU can work in the UK under Tier 2 of the UK points-based immigration system if the appropriate workers can not be found in this country.

But the committee has now recommended that any vacancy be first advertised in the UK for longer than is currently the case.

It also proposed changes to the points for salary levels which effectively raise the threshold for entry for a graduate skilled worker to £24,000 – raising the required skill level for entry.

The committee reiterated that the route should not lead to a right to permanent residence and recommends that any overseas workers arriving in the UK should have been with the company for a year, rather than the current six months.

It also recommended the government gives consideration to whether the level of resource currently being devoted to enforcement of the intra-company transfers route is sufficient and whether the degree of transparency around enforcement of the system could be increased.

The Committee is only advisory and the Home Office has not yet adopted any of the recommendations as policy.

Peter Skyte, National Officer for Unite, which represents UK workers, said the union largely welcomed the recommendations.

"The points-based migration system and in particular use of the intra-company transfer route in the IT sector is open to misuse or abuse by employers with the potential to undercut pay rates and displace skilled resident workers as currently operated," he said.

"We welcome the recognition that the Migration Advisory Committee has given to the evidence submitted by the union in respect of the IT sector in the recommendations to government, although we are disappointed that these don't go further."