Migration Advisory Committee Launches Call for Evidence on UK Shortage Occupation List

 The situation

The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has launched a public consultation for business organisations to share information about medium skilled occupations (Regulated Qualifications Framework (RFQ) Level 3-5) that should be added to the UK Shortage Occupation List to help the MAC determine which skills are currently in short supply across the UK labour market.

Information on highly skilled roles is not being requested, since these are included in the existing Shortage Occupation List.

A closer look

In the UK’s new immigration system due to launch January 2021, the minimum skills threshold for sponsored work will be lowered from RQF 6 (degree-level roles) to RQF 3 (A-Level equivalent) and above. Sponsored workers must meet a minimum salary threshold but roles appearing on the Shortage Occupation List will be subject to a lower minimum.

Impact

Fragomen can assist organizations with submitting their evidence for the consultation. Contact your Fragomen professional for submission guidance.

Background

• Purpose of consultation. This consultation is part of the UK government’s preparations for the upcoming new points-based immigration system, to be launched January 1, 2021. The aim of the consultation is to include points that can be traded within the overall score for the employer-led skilled worker migration route. The Shortage Occupation List would be a significant factor in determining whether an individual would be able to score tradeable points and is therefore considered to be an important part of the future immigration system.

• Upcoming immigration system features. Key features of the new immigration system are outlined below, based on the UK government paper published in February.

 

                      

 

Looking ahead

The consultation will close on June 24, 2020. The MAC has confirmed that while COVID-19 may impact the ability of business and employers to respond to the call for evidence, it still intends to publish the report in September 2020. Fragomen will publish an alert on the report and its findings at that time.

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This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen or send an email to [email protected].