Supporting Employees with UK Visa Costs: Important Considerations for Employers

UK visa applications can be costly; when a Skilled Worker visa is obtained for five years, total costs can exceed £12,000 for one applicant. As the year comes to a close and budgets are drawn for 2023, a key decision employers must make is the level of financial support provided to current or prospective employees submitting visa applications.

Common fees

For most UK work visa applications, government fees constitute the majority of the total costs, usually far exceeding the professional fees paid to immigration professionals for their assistance with the process. Government fees can include the visa application fee, the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS), the Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) fee, the Immigration Skills Charge (ISC) and optional services to streamline and expedite the visa process. Legally, the only government fee that employers cannot pass on to the visa applicant is the ISC.

Other disbursements may include translation costs, tuberculosis screening, English language testing or obtaining criminal record certificates. Many of these fees relate to mandatory parts of the visa process and can quickly add up, so it is important that employers have a holistic picture before deciding who is responsible for these additional costs. 

The level of cost assistance provided 

Some employers may already have well-established policies in place to guide them. These could range from the employer covering all fees to requiring employees to pay all fees, except for those that employers must legally pay. Others may take an ad-hoc approach and base decisions on a variety of factors, including the seniority of the applicant, their skill set, department budgets and whether the move is self-driven.

Below are some of the approaches we see on a regular basis:

1. Paying the full costs associated with immigration applications, including dependants. 
2. Covering costs for employees/prospective employees, but not supporting dependants.
3. Paying only professional fees and requiring employees to cover all other costs that can legally be passed on.
4. Paying all mandatory costs, with employees paying for any enhanced services, such as priority processing.
5. Fronting the costs of visa applications and then clawing the fees back through payroll, except those that must legally be paid by the employer.
6. Requiring a minimum length of service with clawbacks if the employee leaves early.

Important considerations for employers 

What are the key considerations for employers when finalising their support policies?

First, employers will need to factor in some of the wider trends in the labour economy, such as inflation, shortages of talent, the cost-of-living crisis, employer-led initiatives to improve the work environment for employees and the “Great Resignation.”

There have been examples of employees rejecting or withdrawing from job offers because of a lack of agreement on who pays for visa costs. One point of frequent contention is related to dependants; visa applicants with families may want their dependants to accompany them, but the substantial IHS and application fees can be a factor when deciding to accept an offer. It is therefore necessary for relocation packages to balance the high costs of some visa applications with ensuring they are best placed to attract and retain talent.

Employers should also be aware of the legal options available to them to protect the investments they make in respect to visa applications. They can, for example, potentially insert into the employment contract a minimum length of service clause. If an employee leaves before reaching the requisite length of service, the employer can claw back percentages of the visa fees that can legally be passed on. Employment advice should always be sought on these clauses.  

Consistency is also important. It is advisable for businesses to have a policy in place and ensure that, unless there are extenuating circumstances, the same policy is adopted for all employees. A case-by-case approach where, for example, employees from one line of business are provided with more financial support can lead to morale issues and potential discrimination. It is important to obtain advice from employment counsel on any case-by-case approach.

Need to know more?

Fragomen offers tailored support to businesses, including immigration policy and programme design, or refinement of existing policies and procedures. For further information and advice, please contact your account team.

This blog was published on 23 November 2022, and due to the circumstances, there are frequent changes. To keep up to date with all the latest updates on global immigration, please visit our dedicated COVID-19 site, subscribe to our alerts and follow us on LinkedIn, twitter, Facebook and Instagram.