Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of applications for visitor visas from each country were accepted in the last year for which records are available.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The information requested is given in the table below.
The latest Home Office immigration statistics on entry clearance visas, are published quarterly in the ‘Immigration Statistics, January-March 2015’, available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-statistics
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to her Answer of 2 July 2015 to Question 4295, if she will make it her policy to ensure that current employers of workers on tier 2 visas whose immigration status is changing as a result of 2011 immigration rules changes requiring workers who have been in the UK for more five years to earn more than £35,000 gross per annum are aware that these changes are now taking effect; and if she will provide support to such employers to identify employees whose immigration status may now change.
Answered by James Brokenshire
As a condition of sponsoring a worker under Tier 2, sponsoring employers are required to monitor the immigration status of their workers.
To ensure sponsors are aware of changes to Immigration Rules, UK Visas & Immigration regularly sends online notifications to sponsors, and the appropriate guidance documents are updated to reflect changes to the Immigration Rules. UK Visas & Immigration also operates a Business Helpdesk to support sponsors with any enquiries.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department provides to employers sponsoring workers on Tier 2 visas on potential changes to their employees' immigration status as a result of 2011 immigration rules changes requiring workers who have been in the UK more than five years to earn more than £35,000 gross per annum; and what steps she is taking to help employers support such employees.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The Home Office’s published guidance for sponsors advises employers that migrant workers may only be sponsored for a maximum of six years under Tier 2.
Employers and employees were notified that changes to settlement rules would apply to Tier 2 migrants who entered the route in April 2011, so have had more than four years to plan accordingly.