Government Paper Published on Points-Based System Starting 2021

• No more job advertisement requirement. There will no longer be a requirement to offer positions to the resident labour market. 

• Confirmed job offer to be required. Foreign workers will require a confirmed job offer from a company holding a sponsorship license.  Companies that do not yet hold a sponsor license are encouraged to apply now. 

• Lower skills level to be required. The job will need to be skilled to at least Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF) Level 3 (which roughly corresponds to a skill level that would require completion of secondary education), instead of RQF level 6 as under the current system (which refers to degree-level work).  

• Trading of points. Trading of points between salary and qualifications will exist to a limited extent for jobs paying less than GBP 25,600 per year.  Above this threshold, a confirmed job offer with a licensed sponsor and at the required skill level will be eligible for sponsorship. Jobs below this threshold may also qualify, for example if the worker has a PhD in a related field.  

• Charges under new system. Sponsorship of all foreign workers will require payment of an Immigration Skills Charge and an Immigration Health Surcharge. 

• No new self-employment route. There is no intention to create a route for the self-employed beyond the existing Innovator route. 

• Regional variations for salary rules. The paper rules out the possibility of regional variations in salary requirements for regions, or Scotland. 

Impact 

Sponsorship of workers from Europe will become significantly more difficult due to: 

• Minimum skills threshold; 

• Minimum salary requirements; 

• Sponsorship and reporting obligations; 

• Government levies (skills charge and health surcharge); and 

• Greater administrative burdens. 

Employers sponsoring foreign workers from outside Europe are already bearing these costs.  The new proposals will lower the thresholds to sponsorship, but not the costs.