Background information
A UK company providing senior care in London was struggling to find workers. They identified a suitable candidate for the role of care worker who was residing abroad, a national of Pakistan. They required a work visa sponsored by the company in order to take this role in the UK. It was imperative that the visa was obtained quickly, so that the worker could join the team and assist with their progressively high workload.
Since the company already held a sponsor licence, we advised that the next step would be for a certificate of sponsorship (CoS) to be obtained and then assigned to the migrant. The final step would be to make a visa application for them to enter the UK as a Skilled Worker with a Health and Care visa.
Request for additional CoS information
Since the candidate was based overseas, we assisted the company with making a request for a Defined CoS to be allocated. The Home Office have increasingly been demanding additional information when CoS are requested in the sponsorship management system by UK sponsor companies. This is despite the Home Office’s online system not having the functionality to provide more details than those asked in their very limited online form, nor having a channel of communication with their offices for sponsors to provide supporting evidence on their own volition. This unfortunately causes delays in assessing CoS applications.
We assisted by :
- including more details in the sponsorship management system’s form based on our experience with these requests and Home Office guidance, which are not always clear to sponsors. This ultimately assists with the Home Office’s assessment and can accelerate the process.
- when requested additional evidence, sponsors can also struggle with what documentation to include. We assisted the company by providing a detailed checklist and a submitting a thorough cover letter to the Home Office. It included a clear explanation of the evidence, the sponsor’s genuine need for the role and the candidate’s skills. Ultimately the CoS was granted without delays.
Visa application and interview
Once the CoS was successfully assigned, we proceeded with the visa application. We have observed recent changes in the Home Office’s attitude towards Skilled Workers. This includes occupations which UK employers struggle in finding candidates for, and where there is a clear shortage of workers in the UK settled workforce. This is the case of care workers, which are now also prevented from bringing their family members after the Home Office’s latest restrictions imposed on skilled migrant workers.
The candidate was called for an interview with the Home Office during the processing of his application. This meant further delays affecting the company. There was also an increased risk of refusal, since questions can be unpredictable, and candidates can be naturally nervous when facing the Home Office which may impact their performance.
We assisted by :
- providing full guidance to the candidate, including a mock interview. This was followed by a detailed assessment of their weaknesses and support to improve. We provided reassurance by sharing our experiences with other clients which brought comfort and confidence to the candidate.
The visa application of the candidate was promptly granted, and the UK company benefited greatly from having a new and knowledgeable member on their team.
Experience matters with immigration applications
We deal with a large number of sponsorship applications, including all stages from licence to CoS and visa. This exposes our team to a variety of scenarios, which aids with growing our knowledge of the Immigration Rules and the Home Office’s approach to each application type and each applicant’s circumstances.
Without our in-depth understanding of the sponsorship management system and the intricacies which CoS applications entail, the company would have faced significant difficulty in obtaining a CoS for the candidate. Our expertise allowed for the process to run as quickly as possible when facing the Home Office’s delays and their exceptional scrutiny, seen since the Immigration Rules’ changes of April 2024.
