Solicitors Laurence Keir-Thomas and Asif Hanif, of Fragomen LLP, discuss the UK immigration system and how it can help those in the online gaming industry
Solicitors Laurence Keir-Thomas and Asif Hanif, of Fragomen LLP, discuss the UK immigration system of rules and how it tin help those in the online gaming industry.
Recent changes to the UK in-migration rules hold provided increased flexibleness to businesses that want access to talent from around the world.
The new scheme is designed to be straightforward, sleek and flexible, to respond to the needs of the land and the economy.
The UK's online gaming sphere continues to grow, with revenue of nearly £7bn ($8.53bn) for 2021. In usual with the video gaming sector, the conflict for tech talent continues and many firms are sounding outdoors the UK to encounter their staffing needs. Thankfully, the stream UK in-migration rules may cater the solutions required to get together this requirement.
The to the highest degree mutual employer-sponsored visa inwards the UK is the Skilled Worker visa. Employers sounding to habituate this route testament require a physical front in the UK and a patronize licence. The licence permits employers to military recruit individuals from overseas to piece of work in the UK inwards a specific role.
Sponsors must ensure the employee’s role meets the prescribed acquirement and lower limit salary thresholds circle past the Home Office. The Sponsor also agrees to adhere to Home Office patronize licence compliance obligations.
The Home Office Shortage Occupation List (SOL) sets come out roles that are in myopic supply within the UK occupier labour market. Employers applying for skilled worker visas for roles on the SOL compensate reduced applications programme fees and tin can pay off salaries at 80% of the usual going rate. Software developers and many other IT professionals are easily placed to occupy advantage of these concessions.
The main downside to a Skilled Worker visa is that it is an expensive option. Sponsors pay off a licence fee (renewed every Little Joe years), the Immigration Skills Charge of £1,000 per year, per sponsored employee (a lesser burster of £364 per year applies to littler organisations) and a accuse to government issue a Certificate of Sponsorship. There are also visa fees and the NHS surcharge lodge to be paid.
A lay out of other visa options get been launched inward recent years that may appealingness to this sector: in particular, the Start Up visa. This is aimed at entrepreneurs starting their first UK business. There is no requirement for initial majuscule investment; however, the visa is only granted for II years and cannot follow extended, so individuals want to change over to another visa category at the death of this period.
The Innovator visa is for to a greater extent experient entrepreneurs looking to mark up a business sector inward the UK. This visa comes with a demand of at to the lowest degree £50,000 inward investiture funds.
The cay requirements to characterize for these visas is that applicants must obtain an indorsement from an approved endorsing organic structure confirming that their stage business idea is innovative, viable and scalable.
The Global Talent visa is designed to draw in the ‘best and brightest talent from around the world,’ and requires applicants to go away through a tight cognitive operation for an blurb from Tech Carry Nation before they canful apply. This offers great flexibility and is let down cost than a Skilled Worker visa but also carries to a lesser extent certainty.
As the UK continues to adapt its immigration system to a post-Brexit world, we put up anticipate farther changes to the system inward response to labour market place demands. Two such recent examples are the High Potential Individual (HPI) visa (May 2022) and the Scale Up visa (August 2022) both launch this year. The HPI route, in particular, offers a route to a two or three-year UK work on visa for graduates from a upside 50 world(a) university. Meanwhile, the Scale Up is aimed at supporting businesses sledding through and through speedy development by removing many of the costs relating to visa sponsorship.
All of the visa categories stated in a higher place allow certain family line members such as spouses, single partners and dependent children to conjoin the briny applicant in the UK. Most also offering a itinerary to lasting residence.
For the online gaming industry, the Skilled Worker visa offers a simplified route for those with an eligible sponsor. With farther Home Office announcements expected soon, travel along closely to follow kept upward to particular date with all changes.
Laurence Keir-Thomas is a Manager (Solicitor) and Asif Hanif is an Associate Solicitor at the global in-migration jurisprudence solid Fragomen LLP.