Regulation 4 Exemptions from the charge

The obligation to pay the charge does not apply where a sponsor assigns a certificate of sponsorship to a skilled worker—

(a)

in respect of an occupation coming within any of the following codes in version 5.1 of the Standard Occupational Classification 2010 Index^f1—

(i)

2111 (chemical scientists);

(ii)

2112 (biological scientists and biochemists);

(iii)

2113 (physical scientists);

(iv)

2114 (social and humanities scientists);

(v)

2119 (natural and social science professionals not elsewhere classified);

(vi)

2150 (research and development managers);

(vii)

2311 (higher education teaching professionals);

(b)

who is intended to be the subject of an intra-company transfer as a graduate trainee, that being a temporary posting for a period of no more than 12 months, to the United Kingdom branch of a multi-national organisation as part of a structured graduate training programme, which clearly defines progression towards a managerial or specialist role;

(c)

in respect of whom the sponsor has already assigned a certificate of sponsorship (“the first certificate”), but only to the extent that any subsequent certificate of sponsorship is assigned in respect of a period of prospective leave which does not exceed the period in respect of which the first certificate was assigned;

(d)

who has leave to enter or leave to remain for the purpose of study;

(e)

in circumstances where—

(i)

that sponsor has already assigned a certificate of sponsorship to that individual (“the first certificate”); but

(ii)

by virtue of paragraph (d), the sponsor was not obliged to pay the charge when the first certificate was assigned; and

(iii)

the assignment of any subsequent certificate of sponsorship relates to the same role as the first certificate;

(f)

who seeks entry clearance for a period of less than six months.

Annotations

Footnotes

f1: Published by the Office of National Statistics on 16th August 2016 and accessible via: http://www.ons.gov.uk/methodology/classificationsandstandards/standardoccupationalclassificationsoc/soc2010/soc2010volume2thestructureandcodingindex.