Regulating the flux of skilled workers crossing a developed country’s borders is a priority for immigration agencies. Countries like Britain and the US get several applications daily from people seeking a visa. In order to make the job less tedious for immigration agencies, the UK has a sponsorship program for visas.
A sponsor is a person who is willing to employ and sponsor a foreigner’s stay in Britain. When a prospective immigrant has a letter from his sponsor, the sponsor guarantees to help with his application process and stay in England. In case you are interested in visiting England and working there, you must know more about the UK sponsorship license.
What Is The Point-Based System For Obtaining A Visa
If you have an offer letter from an employer in England, the visa application process becomes quite easy. The authorities know that you have a job offer and you will be able to pay for yourself when you enter the country. However, an offer letter is not enough to enter Britain.
You must meet other criteria laid out by the immigration agencies before you can be permitted to work in Britain. The immigration authorities allow people to enter and work in the country when they have a cumulative seventy points. Some of the fields are mandatory, while others are tradeable.
Twenty Points For A Job Offer By An Approved Sponsor
An offer letter that clearly states the job for which you are entering the country is solid proof to the authorities that your application is not frivolous. However, a sponsor can give a letter only if the job has a specific pay and skill level. If the job does not demand any specific skills, employers are encouraged to hire people from their own country. The offer letter is mandatory, and you will not be permitted in the country if you do not have an offer letter from the sponsor.
Twenty Points If the Job Meets The Skill Level Criteria
As stated above, having distinctive skills that domestic workers may lack is one good reason to hire people from other countries. The UK has occupational codes that classify all jobs, and each code has a definite skill level.
For instance, the highest bracket is reserved for people who will be hired at the chief executive level or vice president level of any organisation. The next level is reserved for people who would join as managing directors or production managers. Again production managers in different sectors of the economy have different rankings. So people working in the manufacturing sector are ranked differently from those working in the mining sector.
Ten Points For English Speaking Skills
If a person is to work in England, he must be able to read, write and speak in the native language of the country of employment. Hence competency in English is a must when it comes to work permits. The authorities expect the prospective workers to prove that they can read, write and understand English to at least B1 level of the Common European Framework For Reference For Languages Scale.
Apart from this, you can prove your aptitude in English if you have an A grade in the Scottish National Qualification Level four or five. However, nationals of certain countries do not have to prove their English speaking or reading skills. So nationals of Antigua, Barbados, Australia, Canada, Malta etc., do not need to pass any test to prove their English speaking or writing abilities.
Likewise, there are certain professions that are exempt from proving their competence in reading or understanding English. So if you are a nurse, a doctor or a veterinary practitioner, you need to qualify for any English competence test. However you must have cleared an English assessment test approved by the concerned professional body.
Apart from the exceptions listed above, competence in English is mandatory. So you cannot get a work permit even if you get a cumulative seventy points if you do not have twenty points of English competence.
Twenty Points For Applying For A Job Where There Is A Shortage
There are some professions that have been classified as shortage occupations. This means that the domestic population does not have enough people to work in the shortage occupations.
Twenty Points For Having A Relevant Higher Education Degree
A higher degree like a PhD is highly valuable if you are applying as a research worker in science, engineering or mathematics. So if you have a relevant PhD, you get extra points. However, a PhD is highly useful in STEM fields, so you get twenty points. However if you have a PhD in your field that does not belong to the STEM fields, you get ten points instead of twenty.
Points Based On The Salary Offered
You can get from zero to twenty points based on the salary that is being offered. If you get a salary offer of less than twenty-three thousand pounds, then you get zero points. However, if you get a salary offer of more than twenty-five thousand and six hundred pounds, you get twenty points. However, even if you get less than twenty-three thousand pounds, you may get some points. In case you get more than ninety percent of the market rate for the profession, then you may get ten points.
Conclusion
Most people tend to think that getting an offer letter from a sponsor is the only thing that makes or breaks their visa application. However, an offer letter is not the be-all and end-all of work permits in Britain. There are other mandatory criteria like English speaking and writing competence that you must meet. Moreover, you must get a good enough salary and relevant higher academic qualifications to strengthen your application.
The immigration authorities consider multiple factors before granting a work permit to a foreign national. So your skill, age, salary, academic qualification etc., matter a lot when it comes to work permit applications. However, your life becomes a little easier if you are a professional, which is in great demand in Britain.
