Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the role of Tier 2 Inter Company Transfer Visas in promoting skills in the ICT industries.

The Tier 2 Intra Company Transfer route is designed to allow multinational companies to transfer existing employees to temporary posts in their UK branch. Allowing such businesses to transfer staff in this way can encourage international trade and investment and can create UK jobs for resident workers, not just migrant workers.

Intra Company Transfers play an import role in bringing overseas IT professionals to the UK. The majority of applications under this route are for IT occupations. For the year ending September 2014, 76% (16,484) of short-term ICT visas and 47% (7,996) of long-term ICT visas issued were for IT jobs.