look news india
A very important and impactful news has emerged for millions of foreign professionals working in the United Kingdom (UK) and especially for Indian IT and healthcare experts. Britain’s Home Office has implemented a new and stringent amendment to the rules of work visa, especially ‘Skilled Worker Visa’. Under this new administrative decision of the government, if a foreign employee wants to leave his current sponsoring company and join a job in another company, he will have to go through an entirely new approval and assessment process. This rule, introduced with the aim of controlling the increasing number of refugees and immigrants in Britain and giving priority to the local labor market, has increased the concerns of the Indian community and Indian professionals living there to a great extent.
Under the old rules, when a foreign employee left his or her first company, the new company could easily transfer his or her visa sponsorship and the employee did not have to leave the country or face a lengthy vetting process. But under the new rules, the British government has now made the process of sponsorship transfer very strict. According to the new provisions, as soon as the employee leaves the old company, his work visa status will immediately come under review. If the new company does not have a valid ‘Sponsorship License’ approved by the government or the proposed salary for the new job is found to be less than the new higher minimum salary threshold set by the government, the visa application will be summarily rejected. Apart from this, the employee will also have to keep a detailed account of the time between the end of his old job and the start of the new job.
Indians constitute the largest number of foreign workforce obtaining UK work visas. Lakhs of Indians working in IT, software engineering, National Health Service (NHS), doctors, nurses and finance sector are being directly affected by this decision. This update is also very serious for the Indian workforce because many times Indian professionals used to change companies within a year or two for better salary, good working culture or promotion. Now due to the new rules, doing so may affect their visa status and eligibility for permanent residence in Britain i.e. ‘Indefinite Leave to Remain’ (ILR). Experts say that if an employee resigns from the old job without proper preparation or checking the documents of the new company, he can also be issued a notice to leave Britain (Curtailed Visa).
If you are working in the UK on a work visa and are planning to leave your current company or switch to a new job, you need to be extremely careful. First of all, you need to ensure that the ‘Certificate of Sponsorship’ (CoS) of your new company is completely valid and updated. Second, the salary received in the new job should be completely in accordance with the new salary standards of the UK government. Third, there should not be a long gap between the expiry of the notice period of the old company and the date of joining in the new company, otherwise the Home Office may initiate action to cancel your visa. Fourth, you must keep your complete immigration history and tax records up to date. Ultimately, the safest strategy for you is to seek advice from a certified UK Immigration Solicitor before taking any major steps.