This visa allows multinational companies to transfer their employees from abroad to a UK branch, subsidiary or head office, to do a skilled job.

Employer requirements

As usual, the UK-based employer must have a Tier 2 (Intra-Company Transfer) sponsor license and they must offer the transferee a skilled job and issue them with a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS).

Employee eligibility requirements

• Have an offer of a skilled job from a valid Tier 2 (ICT) sponsor in a UK branch, subsidiary or head office
• Have a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) from their UK recruiter – 30 points on the PBS
• Meet the maintenance requirement – 10 points on the PBS
• If you want to extend your Tier 2 (ICT) beyond 3 years, then you must satisfy the English language requirement – 10 points on the PBS
• Must get paid at the ‘appropriate’ rate as outlined in the codes of practice – 20 points on the PBS
• Overall, you need 60 points in order to apply (if you want to extend your leave beyond 3 years, then you need 70 points)

Long-Term Staff

• This is for transferees who will be working in the UK for longer than 12 months
• They need to be paid the ‘appropriate’ salary that is different (higher) from that of short-term staff, graduate trainees and skills transferees
• UK recruiter needs to pass the Resident Labour Market Test

Short-Term Staff, Graduate Trainees, Skills Transferees

• Short-Term staff are those who will be transferred to the UK for up to 12 months and their UK recruiters will need to pass the Resident Labour Market Test
• Graduate Trainees can work in the UK for up to 12 months and Skills Transferees can stay for up to 3 months and both their recruiters are exempt from the Resident Labour Market Test

Minimum time the employee must have worked for their employer

If you need further information on Tier 2 (Intra-Company Transfer) visas, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us on +44 (0)20 7253 6888 by phone or info@ukvisapartners.com by e-mail.