Tier 2 Intra Company Transfer Route criticised by Public Accounts Committee

Margaret Hodge, the Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee, said that \”Most workers enter through this route and, for instance, tens of thousands of IT workers have been brought in through intra-company transfers at a time when UK residents with IT skills are struggling to find work. Some two-thirds of the migrants using this route work in IT, and are potentially displacing resident workers with IT skills. The Home Office has now set a minimum salary requirement for this route of £40,000 (and £24,000 for those in the UK for less than a year), to better protect the interests of resident workers. The UKBA has not doing enough to protect resident workers and ensure that migrant workers and sponsoring employers comply with immigration rules\”.

At the moment the Tier 2 Intra Company Transfer Route does not fall under the Government Immigration Cap on skilled and highly skilled workers. Some bodies such as the Professional Contractors Group have criticised the Government over the decision not to include the route within the Cap, however any inclusion could have a significant impact on international trade between India and the United Kingdom.

The Committee also found that the UK Border Agency is not doing enough to ensure that the estimated 181,000 migrant workers and students whose visas have expired since December 2008 have actually left the country. On this issue Mrs Hodge said that “The UKBA has not got a grip on making sure that migrant workers whose visas have expired actually leave the UK. It estimates that 181,000 such workers are staying on without permission, but it can\’t even verify the figures, and does not try to enforce the employers\’ duty to ensure that people leave when they are required to do so. The fundamental point is that the agency lacks the management information needed to manage migrant numbers and ensure that the rules are complied with.\”

Commonwealth Contractors

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