Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many scientists and engineers have been refused a Tier 2 (General) Certificate of Sponsorship since May 2015 due to the annual cap of 20,700; which Standard Occupational Classification codes have been affected by the cap; and how many applications have been refused for each such code.

An annual limit on Tier 2 migrant workers coming from overseas was introduced in 2011 as a key part of our strategy for reducing net migration. We have committed to maintaining the limit at 20,700 during this Parliament.

Since May 2015, we have not refused any applications for a Tier 2 (General) restricted certificate of sponsorship with a scientist Standard Occupational Classification code. We have refused 66 applications with an engineer Standard Occupational Classification code:

A full breakdown of all refusals since May 2015, for each Standard Occupational Classification code, has been placed in the House Library.